DS obsessed with brands

[Exmoor]

DS 13 now wants to only wear brands, nike, Hugo boss etc. Pisses me off as I am a fairly frugal person. Hate consumerism. AIBU to expect him to wear some things from say M&S????

YANBU - don't give in. Maybe for birthday presents etc but not for general clothes purchases.

Typical teenager, liking brands.

You can expect him to wear M and S but most teens go through a Brands stage. Places like M and S aren’t cool.

Can you compromise. Buy branded t shirt and non - branded jeans? Or try outlet shops for cheaper clothes.

It's pretty standard behaviour imo.

Sports direct is cheap...and ebay...don't tell him if its second hand! You just took the tags off

If he wants brands, he can earn money to buy them. And yes, at age 13 that will be a problem. But it's his problem, not yours. The sooner he learns the value of money and the worthlessness of brands, the better. And when he sulks (which he will), point him to the nearest charity shops and let him get his stuff second hand.

Tell him that you are prepared to pay for M&S trousers (for example) so you will pay £xx. If he wants trousers that cost more then he finances the difference - i.e. he works to pay for his brands.
They either get a work ethic, rapidly go off brands or discover second-hand clothes. Sorted.

Give him a budget for clothes. He can pick to have less but the brands he wants if he wishes.

Same for Christmas and birthdays - if he wants the items then fine up to the amount of the budget

I'm sure there is somewhere in the middle between full out nike and m and s. Sports directs is good for cheaper branded clothes. He could have a few staple items that are branded then just wear them with non branded stuff. I wouldn't expect any 13 would want to shop at m and s tbh.

Ebay is your friend for brands.

I don't think you'll win with M&S!

When I was your son's age my mum would pay for the basic (but good quality) version and I could pay the difference to have the brand name if I really wanted it.

My DS also likes wearing brands. I compromise by buying all his jeans, joggers and shorts from cheap shops, along with some of his tops. Then I but him the occasional branded tshirt or hoody. A t shirt from Levi’s, Adidas or Nike is about £15 so not too expensive. He also spends his birthday or Christmas money on clothes for himself.

YANBU to refuse to buy him
Hugo Boss clothes.
YABU to expect him to wear M&S clothes.

Have you tried places like TK Maxx for a handful of branded items, then compromise with cheaper shops for his day-to-day clothes?

Outlets are good for this stuff but if he wants it then make him earn it .. or save up for birthdays etc .

Tbh I have bought my Ds joggers ( branded) in jd sports sale as cheap as I can from primary.

He does have some jeans he likes from Morrison’s which were £4 in the sale .

Yes m&s is very uncool. M&m direct , sports direct also have reasonable prices branded.

I do think as teens they are finding themselves and expressing themselves through clothes is important .

I agree that you have to meet in the middle. It's fair enough not to want to spend a fortune but I don't think it's fair to make him wear M&S.

Give him an allowance for clothes shopping . Does he want to be well off or just look like he is well off ?

He needs to learn the value of money before he gets addicted to spending yours .

I do think as teens they are finding themselves and expressing themselves through clothes is important.
So is learning the value of money. and learning when to prioritise and when to compromise!

Yeah. Sound advice. Will buy some utterly hideous nike trainers that he wants for his birthday. He will buy stuff for himself but I wish he would be more of an individual and not follow the pack, lemming like😬. But I may be being unreasonable as he is a teenager after all😂

When our dd was 11 we got her a debit card and gave her an allowance to help her learn the value of money . She tops up for getting good grades and babysitting her little brother .. she is now 15 and has an excellent concept of money .

Is there much difference in price between something branded from cheaper outlets like sports direct and something from m&s then? Even JD sports have sales quite regularly.

its so common that its almost a rite of passage.

I dont think its any harm to get them something branded for christmas or birthdays, or to have maybe a branded tshirt or whatver, but if hes expecting everything to be branded then hes taking the piss.

Sports direct is good for stuff like this

My ds (12) is top to toe in designer clothing, but I give him the same budget as my dd who has a mixture of brands and high street.
He understands that his clothing cost more ( plus he's in men's sizes). He has 4-5 outfits at one time and knows he has to look after them. My dd (9) clothes are cheaper as she is in children's sizes, so she does have much more. My ds also sells his stuff on once he's grown out of it. Designer holds its value. So for example last seasons stuff he got £480 for when he sold stuff on, which meant he could buy a pair of trainers.

I remember being that age and feeling the need to have the latest stuff.

I think there is a good middle ground - eBay, TK maxx, sports direct and sales means you can kit him out for the same price or cheaper than M & S.

Have him check out depop.com. My 15 year olds been buying and selling on there for a couple years. At the moment he’s got Timberland boots, Diesel jeans and red tab button fly Levi’s for sale.
And Nike is out Adidas is in according to him! He’s sold all his Nike stuff.

If you can afford M&S then you can afford brands. You are just proving a point by not buying them. Brands can be bought in the sale. At that age it's just the name that matters so previous seasons is fine.