Children's wear too genderized?

[MimiR]

Hi
Is it only me who thinks that children's wear (both day wear and sleep wear) is just too genderized and segregated? It's not just the pink and blue thing but even the prints. I am yet to see a girl's tshirt with trucks or spaceships on it and a boys tshirt with rainbows. Are spaceships too masculine and rainbows too feminine? Who decides these things?
Honestly I would be willing to pay a bit more to see a wider spectrum of clothing prints/colours for our little ones and was wondering what you all thought.

[StinkPickle]

Have a look at frugi. My son has loads of rainbow things from there.

But I agree with you 100%

[Beansonapost]

Is there anything stopping you from buying a boys shirt/print for your daughter?

Or the other way around...

[PodgeBod]

You're right. It's a shame as there is so much children's clothes available but so little variety. Mothercare's Little Bird range has some items that you might like, it seems to buck the gender trend a bit.

[PodgeBod]

I live for the day I can afford frugi. It's all so gorgeous.

[Mysterycat23]

It's the slogan tees that really wind me up. Supermarket tee for girls said "follow your dreams".

Yet somehow boys don't need t shirts giving them permission to do that

[FatLittleWombat]

You're right op, most makes are very strict about what's for girls and what's for boys. Frugi is definitely an exception, I have a couple of things with flowers and rainbows that are unisex. Unfortunately, the more expensive brands seem to be the more creative!

[Notso]

Mini Boden usually have a small range of dresses and skirts with a 'traditional boys' print, spaceships, dinosaurs etc. Nothing 'girlish' for boys though.

I don't think frugi do much unisex past the baby wear, last time I looked it was the same as everywhere else, bugs and creatures for boys, prettier things for girls.

A lot of the Scandi brands are good, Molo etc, otherwise try some of the wahm sites on Facebook or Etsy for custom items.

[CreamCrackerundertheSettee]

I emailed Boden recently asking why they divide their clothing into boy/girl when so much is unisex. They sent an irritating reply to say that people like having a 'feminine touch' like a sequin or bow for girls .

At least Boden do nice classic children's clothes compared to the sexy, cut off t-shirts available on the high street. My dd is 8 and the older girl ranges in places like M&S are depressing.

[weebarra]

Frugi and a lot of the Scandinavian stuff. Lots of unisex stuff there and you can buy it second hand. There are often good sales on too.

[skyzumarubble]

It's better now than it was even 5 years ago but still ridiculous.

[Spam88]

It's the lack of unisex stuff even for newborns that gets me. We haven't found out the sex of our baby and have been pretty surprised that some ships don't offer ANY unisex clothes at all.

[Nzou1050]

I saw a nice skirt in Sainsbury's sale, so not this season, with embroidered dinasaurs on it. But that is definitely an exception, probably why it stood out to me & I remembered it.

[Wolfiefan]

I hate the "here comes trouble" that I've only ever seen on clothing clearly intended for boys.
And any mention of princess?!?! FFS.

[skankingpiglet]

Spam I often find the brands that don't offer any unisex stuff as standard often have items I would class as unisex in the boys' section. All the items in the girls' section always has to have some little thing on it to 'pretty' it even if it would otherwise be neutral, but the boys' will contain a number of bits that aren't overly gendered. The rule seems to be if it isn't 'girly' it must be for boys IYSWIM?

I love Little Bird, Polarn O. Pyret, and Frugi although DCs are 2.10yo and 10mo so have yet to hit the problem of gender neutral for older children. I'm not sure I will anytime soon either as DD1 is already very opinionated about her clothes and will mostly only tolerate the 'pretty' stuff, although I can win her over still with bright and bold primary colours for the time being.

[RicottaPancakes]

Sainsburys had some girly dinosaur pyjamas. Didn't see any boyish fairy pyjamas though!

I am not sure why children should wear gender neutral clothes though. Most adults don't.

[EssentialHummus]

It's the lack of unisex stuff even for newborns that gets me. We haven't found out the sex of our baby and have been pretty surprised that some ships don't offer ANY unisex clothes at all.

I'm expecting a girl and this is on my mind a lot. So far Gap (to a limited extent), Boots and M&S have come up trumps for this.

[RedStripeIassie]

Easy on really young baby. Lots of colours for everyone. The pink and glittery shit just multiplies as they get older .

[NewBallsPlease00]

I think people look to be offended
I've seen so many dinosaurs on dresses, space ships with cats etc on skirts and 'boys' tshirts in Colours etc
I don't understand why people don't just purchase what they like?
As kids grow their shape changes so that has a baring on the gender and fit
Sure there are princess slogans but some kids love princesses, I can't get upset about it!!

[Semaphorically]

I am not sure why children should wear gender neutral clothes though. Most adults don't.

Of course adults wear more gender-neutral clothes than children; adults don't have to deal with the ubiquity of pink for a start.

Gender-neutral doesn't mean androgynous. Today I wore grey jeans, grey trainers, a navy top and a navy coat. No pink, no fairies, no bows or hearts, no "feminine touches", but I didn't look either masculine or androgynous.

[FusionChefGeoff]

John Lewis now do a 'clothes' section as well as a 'boys' and 'girls' so there's some great gender neutral options in there.

Next sometimes have a good selection of non pink stuff.

[Justgotosleepnow]

YES
Makes me cross

[SquedgieBeckenheim]

Can't you just buy from the opposite section? My DD's have plenty of clothes from the boys section.
I agree though. Until puberty hits, children's body shapes aren't that different, so why does there need to be boys and girls section? Just have clothes with varying degrees of masculinity and femininity and let children choose.

[Sometimespostingalwayslurking]

The prices at Frugi are ridiculous! £19 for a tshirt for my 3 year old?

[shazkiwi]

It doesn't just affect prints & colours though, but durability also. I'm convinced that female apparel - especially shoes - is less durable over time. Time is money & when the shoes wear out faster or the glitter on the t-shirt wears off you wind up spending more sooner on female clothing.