My kids look like hobos. Before I got pregnant, I thought my children would look like this:
I love fashion and assumed my girls would always look adorable in cute outfits I hand-picked. They, however, have had other plans. From early ages they expressed very strong opinions about what they did not like to wear, and that included anything cute. Their favourite clothes are, of course, the ugliest articles of hand-me-downs we happened to inherit, and there’s no stopping it. It bothered me at first, as we have drawers filled with sweet clothes they refuse to wear, meanwhile choosing the homely Dora sweater they got from an older friend, but I have grown to not really give a thought to it. If there is ever a special occasion, I will insist they dress appropriately, but in the everyday excursions we go to, does it really matter if they’re not looking as stylish as the kids in the J. Crew catalogue? I would rather them feel as though they get a taste of autonomy in choosing their outfits; it gives them a bit of control and choice when so much of their lives are currently dictated by grown-ups. As it stands right now, both older girls have atrocious fashion sense, but I love that they feel great and confident in the things they choose to wear.
Do you make the fashion choices for your children or let them decide what to wear?
My babe currently looks like she stepped out of a magazine but she is just shy of 1 and has not the know how or language skills to tell me she’d prefer to wear something else.
However, after reading this, I am making a mental note that anything I hate/think is hideous won’t make it into her wardrobe so when she does choose, she can mismatch things that i have chosen only. 😉 So I’ll be letting her choose but not really.
WIN.
When they were littler, I did what I could with their clothes, but their hair was always disheveled within minutes and they usually had food on their faces.
Now that they’re older (8 and 6) they do a pretty good job (sometimes) of keeping their faces tidy and they can do their own hair (kind of) and keep it straight, but now they’re not letting me co-ordinate their outfits any more. They wear what they want.
Sometimes it’s hard sending them to school. Today Adora wore purple velor pants with a very bright and colourful pink floral patterned t-shirt. One grandma bought the pants, the other grandma bought the shirt, Adora loves them both and even though they were never meant to go together, there was really nothing I could do but sigh loudly and walk away.
Reality is harsh.
Have you see the neighbours kid?!?! hahahaha
I’m sort of a combo. I for sure buy Will a cool shirt if I see one but I send him daycare in all the hand me downs that I may have never picked out myself but I SO appreciate having received them. I also lucked out totally and found this woman on craigslist who has two kids older than Will – she has great taste and well behaved kids becuase the stuff is in great shape. now she calls me and gives me first dibs. I got a massive back full of gap, roots and polo stuff….and some awesome Chuck Taylor’s…..for $50! I went to Baby Gap today and saw jeans I loved for him for $40…yeah not likely…
in the last couple weeks – he’s totally into picking his own clothes…I find it odd for a 2.5 year old but I just let him…
I don’t let the ugly hand-me-downs in the house at all either. I’d say much of their stuff is in a palate that just works for them (no red pants here, and everything is cute) but I still choose their clothes in the morning… I think my almost-seven year old son is gonna be a hipster. Madame loves a tutu, so something in gun-metal grey with black t-shirt and leggings rocks pretty hard. I admit, anything that makes me cringe leaves the house pretty fast. They’re still young, so this method works for me so far. This makes me pretty happy 🙂
My kids have each developed their own sense of style over the years, and I think it’s great. My eldest son dresses like a jock; sweat pants or track pants, long or short-sleeved shirt. Doesn’t want to stand out in a crowd.
My middle guy has style. He’s the one who will rock the fedora, skinny jeans and skater shoes. He wore pink long before it was cool, and asked for a Bieber cut when he was 8.
I’d hoped to dress my daughter in tutus, skirts and matching outfits, but she has a style all her own, too. She’s all about leggings and t-shirts. Lately she’s taken an interest in her hair and will head off to school with every hair accessory she owns under her hat.
I love that their differences are reflected in their styles and though I occasionally cringe looking at a photo of my daughter in a belly-baring t-shirt sitting with Santa, or my son in a mix of plaid and stripes, I try to embrace their differences!
OK… I don’t even let ugly hand-me-downs in the house so my kids are always happy with what they wear b/c they get to pick in the morning (but all our shirts and pants are cute anyway) & they don’t know any different, no hobos here… and I’m happy too 🙂
My daughter is actually the third one from the left in the photo above.
Nah, just playing. She wears track pants most of the time because I think they are more comfortable for her to play in. She’s always on the floor and running around, and, well, that’s what track pants are for right?
Like you say, on special occasions we dress her up, and we are starting to put real pants on her when we go to the mall and stuff, but 9 days out of 10, she’s a track star.
Then again, she is only 2 and a bit. She rarely has a strong desire to wear one thing over another.
Ah, we’re in the thick of that too. It used to be an issue of matching or not but we’ve moved on to “should I intentionally look crazy or just be mellow?”. I am thrilled that my 9 year old is confident enough to go out in her wizard’s robe without a second thought but some days I lose my patience with the ensembles. It’s surprising how often older girls will compliment her when she’s wearing her wildest, most beloved outfits. If I love it all, it must go together, right?
My kids are the ones wearing Halloween costumes to the grocery store….in March. It’s just not worth the fight, I’m saving my energy for the teen years.
there are times when i insist…formal pictures being the biggie but they put their pants on the bottom half and the sweaters on the top half and are weather appropriate so it’s all good.
they have their own way of matching tho….i have learned that the striped skirt looks like stems to the flowered top and the spotted tights are actually plant food…duh! 🙂
hahaha!!! SO true!!! As much as I would LOVE to dress my kids in Crew Kids, the $80 SALE price tag for a cardi just isn’t going to happen! I do, however have less restraint than you…and I KNOW I should just let go a little more often. Since Eve is still under 2, she of course wears whatever I want her to, but Nevaeh is now a Kindy girl…5 years old and has a mind of her own. I have to admit, I make her THINK she’s making the rules up, but isn’t. I pull out a few outfits the night before, put them on her bed and she chooses what to wear. One school day of the week she can wear whatever her very mismatched heart desires. Today, it was lavender leggings, brown polka dot top with a gold sweater and a plaid scarf. Oh, don’t forget the rainbow mitts and striped legwarmers. They need the freedom, but I just can’t always help myself!
To fully understand, we need pics of the real thing!
I totally get it. My daughter is such a tomboy and worships her big brother to the point that her top choice for clothes are his hand-me-downs. He is nearly 4 years older and way bigger than she was at the same age. So not only are they boy clothes but they are not even in style! She is totally cute though.
Again, pics please!
As long as their choice is weather and occasion appropriate, they always pick their own clothes. Abby picks her clothes for school and has actually gotten pretty good at putting together outfits after a few years of horrendous trial and error.