Mine wear Columbia powder lite puffer jackets, I buy new as needed the same model with a hood. They're warm and pack away well.

My tween this year has a puffy coat that she loves. It’s actually kinda thin so not great for the real cold, but it has a hood and has the puffy coat look so she’s happy.

I wouldn’t worry about this personally. I’ll make sure they always have a proper coat that fits, but if they would rather be cold, it’s fine. Our climate is mild. They’ll survive just fine or decide they’re cold and wear a coat. I’m not needed for that internal conversation.

hoodies most of the time, with a beanie, gloves and possibly scarf until near freezing temps and then my DD switches to puffy jacket with fur hood that her grandma left during one visit. Those terribly cold days she wears a long down jacket with hood that is mine. I have offered to buy her a proper jacket but she sees no reason when she has several high quality jackets to choose from for the two to three weeks per year when it gets really cold outside (20s-30s.)

My teen boys will only wear jackets for skiing or maybe if we’re in some northern town where they don’t know anyone and we are spending significant time outside in subfreezing temperatures. Maybe. Otherwise it’s hoodies.

If we didn’t ski, I don’t think I’d bother to buy them jackets.

Anonymous wrote:Are jackets and coats just not in style with this age group? I can't seem to get my 6th and 8th graders (one boy, one girl) interested in anything but hoodies.

Has anyone found a coat or jacket their middle-schoolers are willing to wear? I'm hoping if I find something they think is at least moderately cool they might use it, but neither of my kids are any help.

I have girls so it’s slightly different because they tend to have slightly more common sense about the cold. They will still choose hoodies until they absolutely cannot stand it any more, but they both have a Costco black puffer jacket (it’s the packable kind so it stuffs down very small) and they will wear it to the bus stop on the colder days. They also shove a pair of thing gloves and a hat in the pockets for absolute desperation.

Anonymous wrote:The locker issue is real. But on the real cold days my kids will wear their ski jackets. One has a ll bean one and one has one that’s maybe jelly Henson.
My non skier has a lightweight down pack able that she’ll wear on cold days and it packs down to nothing to put into her backpack.

+1 It's definitely a locker issue. My MS actually does have lockers for kids and requires them to be used since backpacks have to be stored during the day. All my DDs wore jackets in MS. In high school, they have lighter weight down jackets they'll use on really cold days. They do wear gloves and hats so it works.

Mine still wears a Patagonia down jacket, though if the one from last year doesn’t fit I’ll probably order a chess version this year

The locker issue is real. But on the real cold days my kids will wear their ski jackets. One has a ll bean one and one has one that’s maybe jelly Henson.
My non skier has a lightweight down pack able that she’ll wear on cold days and it packs down to nothing to put into her backpack.

Someone is bound to post this so I’ll get it out of the way now.

The answer to everything for this age is a hoodie.

Cool, hot, freezing, freezing rain, warm rain, torrential rain, sledding, flurries, below zero, windstorm, drizzle, any weather condition.

They will insist on wearing a hoodie. It’s not a battle worth fighting.

Mine usually only wears a hoodie to school as no lockers so they have to carry it and heavy bags all day. I just have a cheap coat for weekends and other times.

Are jackets and coats just not in style with this age group? I can't seem to get my 6th and 8th graders (one boy, one girl) interested in anything but hoodies.

Has anyone found a coat or jacket their middle-schoolers are willing to wear? I'm hoping if I find something they think is at least moderately cool they might use it, but neither of my kids are any help.