do you.......

[linzoid]

dress your same sex children in matching outfits even if they aren't twins, say an 8 yr old and a 5 year old? Do you think it's a bit naff or do you just buy two of everything if their sizes are there?

[Nutcracker]

Sometimes i do, like if they are having their photo done or something, or if the outfit is in the sale maybe. Only thing is though that dd2 gets to wear everything twice then which gets a bit boring.

Wouldn't do it all the time but occasionally is fine i think

[Janh]

Very very naff, linzoid. Please don't.

ds1 has a friend with a brother 4 years younger - 16 and 12 now. They were dressed identically (from M & S mostly) from the word go - coats and everything. The elder was ribbed mercilessly.

(Apart from anything else, what do you hand down? Unless you want younger child to wear the same clothes twice!)

[eddm]

Oh, think it can look nice as long as you don't do it all the time. Have happy memories of some dresses my mother made for me and my sister ? we loved wearing them (3 yr age gap). And we had similar tartan skirts (this was the 70s). But it wasn't an everyday thing.

[Janh]

For the 2 I'm talking about it was all the time!

My dds had lots of identical dresses, made by grandma, but generally wore them at different times. We never even did the matching clothes for photos thing - made a point of not doing, in fact. Maybe I have some sort of phobia!

[SenoraPostrophe]

my mum once made 3 identical dresses for me and my 2 sisters. We didn´t wear them often but I don´t remember any teasing. Maybe it´s just boys?

[charliecat]

I have 2 dds, ones 3 and ones 6 every so often I buy them matching things, but because im so disorganised they tend to wear them on seperate occasions as I cant find either the top or bottom half of one of the sets. I do try and keep them both in pink/blue/purple sort of colours at the same time, even if ones in a dress and the others in shorts. They just look better strolling along together if they are wearing similar colours...to me anyway!

[noddy5]

my mum made my sister and I some matching outfits when we were kids-horrors!Don't do it we lookes like tweedle dee and tweedle dum!

[misdee]

my girls get the same clothes, and sometimes they were them at the same time. but even tho there is 2.5yrs between them they wear the same, and dd1 likes the same clothes as her younger sister. she tells me off if one of them is wearing jeans and the other is wearing a skirt.

[tigermoth]

I wouldn't do it as a rule. I have awful memories of seeing sibling friends dressed identically. Inevitably one of the siblings would look better in the outfit than the other - perhaps one was more physically awkward, had the wrong colouring, had a bit of puppy fat, etc.The identical-ness of the outfits just threw their physical differences into sharp relief. Particulary painful if the outfit was designed for a young child, so made the younger sibling look cute while making the older child just looked silly.

Also, what do you do about shoes - lots of childrens shoe styles are only available in a set size range, so if you have a small footed and big footed sibling duo, you can't make the identical thing work from head to foot.

[tallulah]

No No No!!!! Don't do it!!!

My mum used to dress me & my brother (2 years younger) in identical shirts/jumpers/shorts in the summer. Parents then treated us as "a set" rather than 2 individual children. I hate seeing children of different ages all dressed the same (& usually with identical hairstyles). As tigermoth says, it won't suit all/both of them & one will look daft.. I've only ever once had the same outfit for my 3 boys & then only because it was in the Asda sale & no choice of colour! I felt very very uneasy on the rare occasions when they ended up all wearing it the same day. (& as it was green/black the colour did DS1 no favours).

I also feel very silly when DH gets up & puts on a matching shirt to me without realising, & we have to go out..... feel like wearing a banner that says "I got dressed first" !

[coppertop]

Noooo! My mum used to do this when we were children. I had to wear the same clothes as my little sister even though she was 7yrs younger than me and blonde. She looked really sweet. I just looked as though I'd put on the first thing I could find!

[Kittypickle]

Someone I know does this with her two girls (3 & 4.5) all the time - I have never seen them dressed differently. I find it a bit spooky & think it looks awful. It's as if they aren't individuals,I really don't understand why she does it.