Would you let your public school kid wear a very expensive item of clothing to school?

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't let my kid wear it only b/c it's ugly AF and people might think I bought it for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just to be very clear, rich kids in the elite private schools like STA, Sidwell and Potomac wouldn't be caught dead in a sweater like this. Tacky and clearly intended for the new-money no-taste rap folks. omg.

Even non-rich kids with any class wouldn't be caught dead in it. Super tacky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't let my kid wear that just in the house. $1,300 for a hideous piece of clothing. I guess money doesn't buy taste.

"Taste" is subjective. At least it's better than the sweater

.

HIDEOUS. Money can’t buy taste.

[Anonymous]

Oh for Pete’s sake. Let him wear it, quick, before it goes out of fashion. Everyone will assume it is a knock off. Done and done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh for Pete’s sake. Let him wear it, quick, before it goes out of fashion. Everyone will assume it is a knock off. Done and done.

Hahaha that's pretty funny. Literally the ONLY reason anyone would wear something like that is to advertise the fact that they have money, and to try to get status by giving the impression that they can afford something that everyone else can't afford. And you think everyone will assume it's a knock off. I love it.

[Anonymous]

The longer I read this thread, the more those hideous sweaters grow on me ...

I guess that's how it works. If your friends all wear them, you get to like them. You can only see how awful they are at first glance.

[Anonymous]

This is a good opportunity to have a conversation with ads and talk about pros and cons of wearing he sweater to school. Being a kid, he likely hasn't thought of them all, or thought them through. This is a teaching moment.

Then let him decide for himself. There is no safety risk to wearing it and obviously he can afford to lose it or have it stolen.

I would not let him wear it on the metro for safety reasons, but that probably won't be a problem in Loudoun.

[Anonymous]

*DS, not ads

[Anonymous]

If I hadn't just googled this and had instead seen it on some kid wearing it at school or on the street, I would never have known it was Gucci or expensive. It looks kind of juvenile for a teenage boy, I would think, because the only people I know who wear shirts with animals on them are little kids, but it isn't obnoxiously objectionable, or even something that kids who aren't wealthy would even recognize. I say it's fine. Silly, but fine.

[Anonymous]

The funniest thing about this thread is how much insecurity it has exposed in the adults!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just to be very clear, rich kids in the elite private schools like STA, Sidwell and Potomac wouldn't be caught dead in a sweater like this. Tacky and clearly intended for the new-money no-taste rap folks. omg.

Yep! There's no way you'd see that on any kid in our private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The funniest thing about this thread is how much insecurity it has exposed in the adults!

So true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just to be very clear, rich kids in the elite private schools like STA, Sidwell and Potomac wouldn't be caught dead in a sweater like this. Tacky and clearly intended for the new-money no-taste rap folks. omg.

Yep! There's no way you'd see that on any kid in our private.

There's no way you'd see that on any kid in most public schools.

While I know both public and private school kids who listen to rap, across both groups, they would never actually WEAR this crap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To all the people who are ripping on this teenage kid for wanting this (admittedly, ugly and ridiculously overpriced) sweater -- did you never as a teen want to wear the "in" thing? When I was in junior high it was Guess jeans and those hideous polo shirts with "BENETTON" slapped on the front (yes, I am dating myself here). I so desperately wanted them that I would totally have let my grandparents buy them for me if I had had wealthy grandparents, which I didn't. I saved my money and did finally get both of those things on sale -- and I felt so good about what I perceived as "fitting in," which as a young teen feels so important.

I'm not saying that a $1000 sweater is okay -- but I am saying that it's normal for kids to want to feel cool, so I am not gonna slam this boy for that.

That said -- OP, in this situation I might be thinking about having a conversation with my kid about privilege.

+1
I was in middle school in the 80s. Some of the stuff we wore was truly awful (pink acid-wash jeans!), but we didn't think so. The fact that this thing is hideous doesn't mean anything--fashion is all subjective anyway. So the question is just whether I would let my kid wear or bring anything that expensive to school. If I were the parent in this case, I would think--I didn't pay for this. My kid knows that if it gets ruined, I am not replacing it. It's not an item that is necessary for any sport or other activity, such that not having it would cause any problems (especially any problems that I would have to deal with in anyway). So, fine, wear the stupid sweater. Maybe the other kids will be jealous, maybe they'll think it looks stupid, too. If I saw that sweater, I would not know it was really expensive; probably many of the kids at school won't know, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child wore a North Face coat to an eastern Loudoun elementary, took it off, left it in the recess coat pile and never saw it again. DC even had kind teachers and staff looking all over school for it. That doesn't sound like a big deal but it is to me. Our kids are not allowed to wear expensive items to school anymore.

Every kid in Loudoun County has a North Face- which isn't special. Someone probably just thought it was theirs.