To wonder why people with lots of money dress their kids so badly?

I've never schlepped anywhere in my life up to this point.
I feel it's the sort of activity done by people of a certain social status.
I'm going to give it a go.
Any tips you can offer for a good schlepp?
I feel that to truly be able to schlepp I too may need to buy a horse!

I do think there is nothing worse than seeing an under 2 in an ‘outfit’ that is hard for them to play in. Jeans on a 6 month old baby, pretty dress their parents ban them from getting muddy etc. Now that’s poor parenting!

My guess is the children have chosen their own clothes from a random selection of serviceable hand me downs and high end children’s brands. In our part of soggy countryside I regularly see rainbow tights and tutus with wellies.

ETA I’m exaggerating, I sometimes see rainbow tights, tutus and wellies. But it’s definitely a look.

PS there’s unbrushed hair and then there’s unbrushed hair ie not been touched for days. It’s the latter I think is unacceptable

😂I miss this emoji, bring it back MN! @UserName00767

I think you and @TheGreatPotato nailed it.

As someone who sometimes dresses in the aesthetic I think you are describing, I can tell you that’s it’s actually the Jigsaw sale rack and the Toast archive sale that we run through 😂

Im not wealthy, but my DD chose her own clothes and dressed herself from the age of 2. If I dressed her she'd simply take the clothes off and put others on, if she didnt like them. We had battles over food and bedtime, if her clothes were clean and weather appropriate then that was enough. She went through quite a Boho phase with lots of mis-matching clothes, (lots from charity shops) but her hair was tidy. DS was the opposite, he had tidy clothes, although not neccessarily matching - i dont think thats a crime- but looked like hed been dragged through a hedge backwards half the time. Even after brushing his hair! 🤣

What? Kids are supposed to be messy and comfortable. Knitted sweaters are effing adorable.

My nephew had long unbrushed hair because he is autistic and the sensation of hair brushing was like an intense type of torture for him and a barber would terrify him. He now lets his mum cut it. But hair brushing is a really common sensory overload for ASD kids.

I think it is the opposite of working class people, dressing their children in expensive doll like clothes. I never understood why they do this either?

And "effing" itchy and hot.

Exactly. My kids were in hand me downs that they self selected from a very young age. Who cares? They have a strong sense of their own style now, and stripes with dots and crazy hair was where it started.

I’m interested that “clean” only came into the discussion quite late. Prior to that it was mismatched, scruffy hair not evidently brushed. That isn’t neglect; even if the kids have an extra layer of bean juice or mud.

Ive seen kids petrified because their expensive coat is lost or their trainers scuffed or they’ve gotten paint on something.

You dont need matching clothes to take care of yourself

Yeah and that’s so sad. Kids are messy! They should be.

I think a lot of these people are the opposite of secure.

The look is very much curated in many wealthy areas.

Yeah I hate it! Loojs like they are trying to make them look older than they are and give them complexes early.

No, but hands and face washing, brush through hair and basic hygiene. I hate seeing kids with food caked on their mouths, because their lazy parent can't be bothered to wipe it. That isn't scruffy, it is neglectful, and can cause sore skin.

I dunno. There will be kids who grow up angry that their parents dressed them in rags and never cut their hair, and there will be kids who grow up angry that their parents were constantly brushing their hair and putting them in matchy-matchy outfits, and there will be kids who refuse to wear the new coat even though the old one's too small, and kids who will only wear wellies, or never wear socks, or whatever.

Nobody's doing it right or wrong. Kids are different. Parents are different. Cultures are different. Why waste energy being snide about a toddler's presentability, as long as everyone's safe and fed and warm and cared for?

Id potentially judge very dirty clothes or ones that weren't suitable for eg cold or wet weather (if I knew money wasnt an issue)
I couldnt get worked up about non matching clothes or a jumper that was too big

I really like the jumpers my mil knits for the kids. Without meaning to be too schmaltzy you can see the love that’s she’s knitted into them. But yes some of them have been too itchy!

My children probably looked atrocious to most people the only rule was no obvious branding or writing on clothes, they always dressed themselves from around two and a bit.

Lots of hand me downs, some clothing was actually from mine and my DH childhoods and some even older, sime fancy dress, but they dressed themselves, and were rather eclectic.

I rarely see kids dressed like mine these days andvI think it's a bit sad. DD would layer velour pyjamas with tutus and home-made jumpers, Wellington boots and a dinosaur tail and several necklaces from the dressing up box and her make-up, i.e. some super garish glitter. DS was the same and had an old fur gilet, a toy sword and then some sort of old man cords he loved.

They probably did have washed face but have since been playing and had snacks.