School Clothes for the Fall

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's one of the saddest threads on here in a long time. And that's saying something.

Law #14 and #15. Thread can close now.

[Anonymous]

Wow. I love clothes and fashion, but refuse to spend a fortune on it. I have a husband and two sons who could give a rat's ass about clothes. One kid wears a uniform, so that's easy. The other kid dresses in the most unusual combinations of his own choosing. Both children are happy and have lots of friends, none of who seem to care about clothes either. Having read the entire thread, I'm now truly thankful for this. And yes, they're in private school.

[Anonymous]

To the 12:52 poster - You hit the nail on the head. This is exactly what I do with my clients. Wardrobe is atool which allows them to more easily reach their stated goals, whether it be career advancement, a healthy body image or an active social/dating life.

I don't work with children (thankfully) and believe the whole childrens' clothing issue is a separate rationale.

I believe the reason why children see clothing as important is a great desire (especially in the tween and teen years) to fit in. Let's face it - we all want to liked and to be popular. Kids, for the most part, don't want to be "different" when they are young.

A balanced approach to all issues is always a good way to go. I believe it is infinitely better for parents to allow their children to offer input and have some kind of influence in their choice of clothing when balanced with their parents' perspectives. Afterall, our job as parents is to encourage our children to be self-advocating. on't cut them out of the process entirely. How much leeway you give them in helping is up to you.

[Anonymous]

Mini Boden is nice, but you have to wait for the sales. Kinda spendy.

[Anonymous]

The anti-fashion brigade has succeeded in creating a dichotomy between fashion/pricey and "health outlook"/cheap. That just isn't accurate. You don't have to buy Crew Cuts to have your kid look nice and fit in (in fact I think their clothes are a little precious).

Plus taking extreme points is just cheap debating. Like the anti-fashion person who said that people who want their kids to fit in with other kids think that a preschooler is a ruffian if he isn't wearing a blazer and flannel pants. That's just ridiculous and trivializes the other point of view without refuting it. It's the way of a lot of DCUM discussions, however....

[Anonymous]

Not a close reader of texts, are you? It was a pro-labels poster who said that it's hard to behave like a ruffian when you're dressed in a blazer. And "Crewcuts" was suggested by a pro-labels poster as representing a more appropriate pricepoint for Big 3 elementary schoolers than Gap. This stuff is beyond parody.

Conversely, I guess you didn't notice the repeated assumption that anyone critical of the emphasis on labels is no doubt sending their kids to school in potato sacks or burlap.

[Anonymous]

Maybe some people are not so much pro-label as pro-quality. I am an Ebay buyer. My son has to wear blazers and ties every day (I actually do think he's a bit of a ruffian, but that's beside the point), and I buy a good used blazer, not a new cheap one. Why? It looks better. I can't imagine anyone will ever see the labels of his dress shirts, but I buy good shirts (either on sale or used) rather than cheap ones, again because they look better and last longer. Cheap shirts, after a few washings, start to get lint pills on them.

Maybe I look brand conscious, but I actually think I'm saving in the long run. I can tell you from my own wardrobe, I have bought cheap and more expensive, and not only do the more expensive items generally last longer (although, I also buy used clothing for myself too), but they are the pieces I prefer.

[Anonymous]

Actually, on DCUM it's not how people look but how they sound! So, yes, some people buy particular labels because that brand looks better, wears better, fits them better, or whatever. No one here has argued that no one should ever buy/wear/dress their kid in particular brands. In fact, one of the opponents to branding clearly likes the clothes but resents the labels (aka free advertising). X makes good clothes (or clothes I really like) is a fine reason to buy X.

The negative reaction has been to posters arguing that dressing kids in this or that brand is essential to their social success and/or mental health.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not a close reader of texts, are you? It was a pro-labels poster who said that it's hard to behave like a ruffian when you're dressed in a blazer. And "Crewcuts" was suggested by a pro-labels poster as representing a more appropriate pricepoint for Big 3 elementary schoolers than Gap. This stuff is beyond parody.

Conversely, I guess you didn't notice the repeated assumption that anyone critical of the emphasis on labels is no doubt sending their kids to school in potato sacks or burlap.

You're tiresome.

[Anonymous]

So's "Lilly"!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So's "Lilly"!

I'm willing to wager the Lilly poster was made up by an anti-label person who wanted to make people who buy nice clothes look like raving idiots.

[Anonymous]

I'm really beginning to hate the word "pricepoint."

[Anonymous]

Then my job's done here, LOL!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So's "Lilly"!

I'm willing to wager the Lilly poster was made up by an anti-label person who wanted to make people who buy nice clothes look like raving idiots.

Yup, she's been working hard on this thread to make normal people look like lunatics.

[Anonymous]

No need. The lunatics have been outing themselves.