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Original poster

AIBU to ask DS16 to wear lighter clothes in spring

56 replies

happyandhealthy4 · 09/04/2026 22:26

It's spring and it's getting warmer, yet DS16 is still dressing in a black puffer jacket and black tracksuits. I've been telling him to stop wearing dark clothing at this time of year like a gangster but he is refusing to listen. AIBU to tell him to wear different clothing?

OP posts:
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SemiRetiredLoveGoddeess · 11/04/2026 18:26

socks1107 · 10/04/2026 08:03

I’d leave him be: he’s 16 it’s up to him what he wears and if he’s hot that’s his fault

Dear me. He is 16 years old not 16 months old and can wear what he wants.

You need to get a life.

busyd4y · 11/04/2026 09:54

You clearly don't care enough to come back but why would you waste head space on something that doesn't matter one jot?

PissedOffAndStuck · 11/04/2026 09:43

Posted on wrong thread!

Peonies12 · 10/04/2026 12:09

"Should I ask an adult to change their clothes because i think they should" is what you meant to write. Obviously not.

PollyBell · 10/04/2026 12:08

Why on earth for? Is this some reverse thing?

TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 10/04/2026 11:58

Wait until the weather gets really hot and then offer him some cash to buy some summer clothes. Most of what's in the shops by then will be appropriate in weight if not colour.

The alternative is to keep your eyes peeled for any sign of an alternative to the black puffer jacket trend in his age group and get ahead of it but best of luck. My daughter's clothing is moving to short sleeves but she still takes that monstrosity with her everywhere on top. 😂 It's going to honk !

toomuchfaff · 10/04/2026 11:38

How would you react if your mother/your husband berated your clothing and told you to wear different clothes?

Leave them alone. Teach them by your actions they have body autonomy and can wear the clothes they want; they aren't wearing mankini's or anything inappropriate.

SugarPuffSandwiches · 10/04/2026 09:29

takealettermsjones · 09/04/2026 22:27

Pick your battles girl!

This
16?!
You'll be wasting your breath 😁
They'll do what they like when it comes to whether they wear a coat or not.

Thatcannotberight · 10/04/2026 09:28

DS 14 has black walking trousers and black t shirts for spring/summer and jeans and hoodies for winter.

Lomonald · 10/04/2026 09:21

Pizzahncher · 10/04/2026 09:06

I think I may have cocooned myself and slept in it too! Especially on a sand dune somewhere next to a campfire 🤣

Those days were fun!

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Oh no I am sure you were not melting at all😀

pinkpony88 · 10/04/2026 09:19

All you can do is make sure there is photographic evidence so when he’s 40 he can look back at them and laugh 😉

Everybodysinthehousetonight · 10/04/2026 09:10

I would definitely suggest it, my 18 and 15 year old would be fine with me saying anything like this, whether they do it is up to them. I have the opposite problem though as mine are always in shorts when it's freezing.

IdentityCris · 10/04/2026 09:09

Surely you've worked out by now that telling a 16 year old what to wear is a total waste of time?

Pizzahncher · 10/04/2026 09:06

Lomonald · 10/04/2026 08:51

I am a good bit older than my sister, I remember she had this jacket she wore it everywhere including my house when she stayed for the weekend.im not convinced she didn't sleep in it 😂

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I think I may have cocooned myself and slept in it too! Especially on a sand dune somewhere next to a campfire 🤣

Those days were fun!

Catcatcatcatcat · 10/04/2026 09:05

Did you wear what your parents told you to wear when you were 16?!

RoseField1 · 10/04/2026 09:04

He's 16. Mind your business.

PeopleLikeColdplayYouCantTrustPeopleJez · 10/04/2026 09:03

God, why on earth are you bothering to be arsed about this? He’s 16, let him express himself through what he wears like everyone else.

Evenstar · 10/04/2026 09:01

My brother as a child and young teen in the 70’s had a Levi hooded sweatshirt that my mother used to practically rip off him to wash. He had the hood up all year round.

IncessantNameChanger · 10/04/2026 08:57

I swear they feel no heat changes at that age. I took my four out yesterday. One with a thick hoodie with nothing underneath so couldn't strip down when it got hot. Two took coats they then left in the car so was freezing after 4pm. Dd in ugg boots, Nike pro shorts and a tshirt so not much skin covered at all, turning blue in late afternoon happy as Larry. Adult accompanying us also made bad clothing choice and had to put on dd age 10 hoodie as freezing. Hilarious as I did "tell you so". Being old I took a light dress AND a hoodie.

It's fine to gently suggest. It's also OK to eye roll and inwardly chuckle when they are boiling/ freezing a short time later.

TinyGingerCat · 10/04/2026 08:55

this is not the hill to die on OP. My favourite photo of my then 16 y.o. DD is her on a beach in Norfolk wearing Vivian Westwood style bondage trousers, massive DM boots and a huge black hoodie. I’m sat in a deck chair next to her in my swimming costume.

EwwPeople · 10/04/2026 08:52

It’s going to be max 12 degrees today. Where is this spring you are talking about?

Lomonald · 10/04/2026 08:51

Pizzahncher · 10/04/2026 08:44

I'm 40! When I was 16 I wore a thick white puffer jacket with Hooch plastered all over it with a massive hood and a fur trim. I wore it everywhere in the blazing sun 🤣 including sitting on the beach with my CDs falling out my pocket (yep, sandy CD's)

It even had two dangly white Pom poms for good measure.

Don't worry I'm neither a drug addict or a gangsta 🤣

Edited

I am a good bit older than my sister, I remember she had this jacket she wore it everywhere including my house when she stayed for the weekend.im not convinced she didn't sleep in it 😂

ExpressCheckout · 10/04/2026 08:51

Ha ha, that's the standard uniform for lads around here 😂I think it's boring and can look scruffy, but it's up to them I suppose, and in a couple of years time it will be something else.

This said, it makes me giggle. When we were their age, we all wanted to be 'different', and now they all want to look the same!

coolcahuna · 10/04/2026 08:51

Maray1967 · 10/04/2026 08:47

Yes, same here. DS18 appeared in shorts last summer for the first time in years. We both stared at him in shock.

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Lol, surreal isn't it. I haven't seen his legs in about 8 years !

MyballsareSandy2015 · 10/04/2026 08:48

Pick your battles OP.

This sort of thing never bothered me when mine were teens … a lot of other things did but I always let them wear what they wanted.

Never really thought about it but my adult DD recently told me how much she appreciated that at the time as a lot of her friends mums insisted on certain clothes.

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