To think clothes become chavvy after age 2.

Zara have nice bits for boys along a more cute skater, outdoorsy vibe but I do agree generally with most affordable shops it's nasty stuff. My boys is 4 and I generally don't like most Next stuff.

There's plenty of nice kids stuff about. But tracksuits, leggings etc are immensely comfortable and practical for active children.

What's with the 'chavvy'? What you are actually saying is these clothes are not to your taste. Clearly they are to many other people's tastes or the retailers wouldn't sell them.

Why can't you just say you don't like them? Why do you have to use a derisory term which is aimed, by implication, at denigrating those people who do? The word chav is offensive and used far too freely on Mumsnet. Substitute chav for the name of an ethnic group and you'll see what I mean.

Find a Tesco superstore with a large childrens clothes section. They do little cotton dresses, cord skirts etc without logos, all in cotton. There's some garish stuff but if you persevere you'll find plenty.

None of those things have ever happened to my DD, so I guess I'll have to take your word for it. She's always up a tree or climbing something. She's way faster and more confident than most other kids her age on an obstacle course. I get the bit where it falls down when she's upside down so she sometimes wears cycling shorts.

I did put her in trousers once and they were a nightmare because she doesn't really have a waist yet, so they kept slipping down all day and giving her a builder's bum.

I find trousers really uncomfortable and only wear dresses too.

@LittleLegsKeepGoing i agree. But also I don’t want my child to only be dressed in t-shirts with slogans on all the time. Doesn’t mean I dress them inappropriately for activities! It also doesn’t mean I’m obsessed with the ‘aesthetic’, I just don’t want to buy clothes that I don’t like.

I want to dress my child practically and for them to be comfortable (not in jeans etc) but also not head to toe everyday in peppa pig/superheros or cartoon dinosaurs, or t-shirts that say ‘mummy’s little man’, which seem to be the majority of options in the high street shops. Of course we do have a couple of character t-shirts as ds likes them but I don’t want that to be the only thing I can find in the shops. Nothing wrong with wanting joggers/leggings and t-shirts in plain nice colours, or nice designs (not all mustard, and sludge green etc) which are so much harder (but not impossible) to find once they outgrow the baby section.

Quick search for clothing for boys aged 5yo at Tu.

Pack of long sleeve neutral coloured tops https://tuclothing.sainsburys.co.uk/product/tuc144470589

Pack of striped t-shirts https://tuclothing.sainsburys.co.uk/product/tuc143779331

Linen shorts https://tuclothing.sainsburys.co.uk/product/tuc144128370

Chino shorts https://tuclothing.sainsburys.co.uk/product/tuc143713340

And for girls how about...

Flowery dress https://tuclothing.sainsburys.co.uk/product/tuc144465819

Flowery, pink and navy leggings https://tuclothing.sainsburys.co.uk/product/tuc144527952

Plain long sleeved tops https://tuclothing.sainsburys.co.uk/product/tuc144461009

Cycling shorts in plain colours and a peaches design https://tuclothing.sainsburys.co.uk/product/tuc144075271

Yes there's plenty of slightly inane slogans, gaming stuff, pokemon, some of the cuts of the girls stuff is a bit teenagerish. But there's budget frugi esque or plain stuff out there as well.

I think it’s far worse for girls. The cheap supermarket stuff bifurcates at about age 3 between basically superhero stuff for boys (fine if you are into that but mine wasn’t) or really gross girls stuff which is either really flowery with unnecessary bows everywhere or proto sexual stuff (mini skirts, off shoulder t shirts and t shirts with slogans like “heartbreaker”). It’s as if we are training our girls either to be consumers of Country Casuals or Shein). There’s something vaguely Madonna/Whore about it. Also highly impractical if you have a girl child who doesn’t want to look like a bridesmaid or a Boohoo model.

Yes you can find ways around it if you pay more or go the Vinted route but it’s still pretty depressing that marketing people still think this is what girls like.

I don’t think this is true. Also you might think Biden/Frugi/Blade and Rose are nice but a lot of their stuff is ugly in my opinion. Those B&R leggings are awful.

Yes to all of this!

If they don't remember to took the skirt bit out the way when the go to the toilet, it ends up with wee/poo on it.

If they want to climb trees, it gets tangled round their legs and in the way.

If they want to do hand stands, it falls over their head.

If they want to crawl round pushing cars or building train track, they kneel on the shirt bit, and trip themselves up.

I agree (but absolutely hate that you used chavy to describe it- such a nasty classist word!)

But yes I agree, as soon as the baby section finishes it’s all slogans, and nasty designs; especially for boys! It is possible to find nice bits in all the usual places but it does take some searching and being picky. I’m loving Vinted at the moment more than regular shops (again I probably spend hours searching and don’t always find things I like)

Dungarees are ridiculous in the early toileting years...and especially while the fine motor skills are developing. If your child can't independently remove clothing to toilet then it shouldn't be worn!

This almost certainly drives the trend for looser more accessible outfits. It's less about aesthetic and more about being practical.

Parents obsessed with aesthetic beyond is it clean and appropriate for the activity are rather pathetic IMO, far more than the parents who happily let their children be decked out head to toe in Bluey.

The clothing market is absolutely saturated and there’s an enormous amount of pre-owned naice labels out there too — perfectly possible to find decent kids’ clothes (though admittedly there’s a lot of crap to wade through).

What on earth is wrong with joggers though? Children’s clothes need to be one thing: comfortable. I know a few kids who are always dressed in little pinafores, who aren’t allowed trainers, etc, and it always strikes me as rather odd.

This is going to sound odd, but look in the school uniform pe section for plain t-shirt. They're 100% cotton with no labels or slogans and come in a range of primary colours

H&M or M&S here. DS doesn’t want to wear anything “nice” I’ve bought, now he’s 4. He picks the bright / character stuff himself.

But why? Dresses are way easier for potty training, they only have one layer to pull down rather than two. I've never understood what is impractical about a dress. It seems way more comfortable and practical to me, with the added bonus that it's an all in one outfit so you don't end up with mismatched leggings and t-shirt combos.

At this age I primarily dressed mine in second hand Scandi/Frugi/Boden stuff from ebay (Vinted wasn't a thing yet) or the FB selling groups (might still be worth it for Scandi as they can be very few and far between and/or exorbitant on Ebay and Vinted).

Do people really dress older kids in that stuff? It's not practical gives an oh no Tarquin no messy play for you vibe.

H&M and Uniqlo

Agree with other comments re practicality. Dungarees are a no no from when they start potty training at 2ish until 5ish when they can do them up themselves. Needs to be leggings, t shirts,zip up hoodie etc, with fancy dresses kept for parties.

I have had no issues getting nice practical clothing which isn't logos or brands up to about 7, Sainsbury's have a great selection. After then though, the clothes do become a bit too grown up for my taste with garish colours and crop tops. My 7 year old is extremely tall and slim and wears age 9 clothes, and it's really hard to find clothes which she feels aren't too girly/babyish, but also age appropriate. We just came back from Ireland where Dunnes stores do lovely clothes for her age/height and got loads of things which were very reasonably priced, so if you are going over there anytime soon, take a look.

Totally agree from what I've seen OP! One thing I would say is I've noticed a HUGE difference in types of clothes you get based on the location of the same shops so city centre primark near me has gorgeous babies/ kids stuff, primark in my town and a nearby large shopping centre was absolutely foul... same shop, same season but a huge difference in what you'd get so maybe plan a trip to your nearest larger city? Mama loves high street on instagram is great for signposting to nicer kids stuff :)

I think that you need to shop around more. In my experience you can’t get a whole wardrobe’s worth at one shop but you can buy plain tops without patterns or slogans very easily.

Joggers become popular from age 2 because of potty training- boys need to be able to get their clothes off to go to the toilet so dungarees aren’t practical.

I actually find it worse for my 8 year old. A lot of stuff is slogans, PlayStation, Minecraft etc that he is not interested in. He wants to wear similar things to his younger brother and can’t as he is too old! I wish children were encouraged to be children when they still are!

However, I don't think clothes are chavvy for 2yo - rather adults hanging around in ill fitting joggers and slogan T-shirts are wearing toddler clothes!