Does your kid care about brands?

[Mishmashs]

In the last year my 9 year old son has got really insistent that he needs to wear (sports type) branded clothing to fit in. After a huge amount of persistence from him we got him an Under Armour hoody, he has Nike trainers and football boots. He’s autistic and clearly trying to fit in but he’s getting so upset by the whole thing, tonight in tears because I won’t let him wear branded sports shorts (not that he has any) to school. As far as I’m concerned they wear grey school shorts but he walks himself to school so it’s not something I have really noticed. The school is quite relaxed about uniform, for shoes they wear whatever they like. We’re not a family into brands at all and I’m not personally keen on kids traipsing around dressed head to toe in Adidas or Nike. He’s had an explosion tonight with shouting and tears ahead of school starting tomorrow.

is this normal for 9/10 yr old boys? I wasn’t like this as a child at all, mostly I wouldn’t have dared tell my mum she needed to buy me something expensive just because it had a label. Once I saved half and she went half on a pair of Kickers (90s school kid) and I remember that being a really big deal.

Mine is 12. Clothes wise he's not particularly bothered - if it's got Tupac Shakur on the T-shirt then he doesn't care where it's from and he's wear shorts (any brand/shop) all year round if he could. But, since being about 10 it's been about shoes/socks! He loves Nike Air Jordan's and Nike socks and he's got 4 pairs. He looks after them and then sells them on Vinted!

My autistic son 15, wears designer gear, he's probably not bothered but I was worried he'd be even more unique.My other ds (older)wears all black or dark grey and my 2 dd (older) both wear whatever is ready but both like designer bags and make up. I wouldn't get into debt for clothes. I also wear designer but my dh doesn't. My ds would wear hand me downs, although now he's bigger than siblings and cousins.

Neither of my kids care. Ds wear matalan and next shorts and tshirts. Dd wears supermarket, matalan, etc clothes. Trainers from sports direct

They are 17 and 20

My middle of primary school aged daughter told me today she is the only girl in her class without nike pro shorts! Sure she is exaggerating but it seemed a big deal to her. Brands aren't something we have ever spoken about at home but I do worry how easily influenced she is with this.

Up until I secondary school I refuse to pander to this shit.....

My 9 year old hasn't said anything about wanting brands. He's NT.

Lo is 11 and also autistic. I buy him branded hoodies, t shirts and shoes, not trousers because he falls a lot and destroys them. He doesn’t ask for them but growing up I seen a lot of kids get bullied for wearing unbranded clothes, and I just don’t want to give anyone a reason to pick on him. If your son has suddenly started asking for branded clothing I’d guess that other kids have commented on what he’s wearing.

My (autistic) DS14 is oblivious to brands. The only thing he has insisted on "fashion" wise is not wearing a coat and using an umbrella as that's what all the other boys at the bus stop do.
DD12 is starting to look at her clothes more critically. The first thing she asked for was the "correct" brand shoes, and that was aged 10. From what a friend has said with a DS the same age, it also started in his school around age 10, but there was much more emphasis on it from his friends than DD's. I don't know if it's a city school vs rural school thing or DD not caring as much or totally random from school to school.

Does he have social media like TikTok or follow his friends on social media ? It amplifies their knowledge of brands because they are being covertly advertised to.

My kids are young adults and they first asked me for Nike trainers at age 10. Luckily they were happy with generic cheap Nikes from sports direct rather than a specific model like Air Force. In those days Facebook etc was around but they were more influenced by sports people and celebrities rather than social media

My sons wear expensive trainers but generic clothes that could come from any shop because it’s plain. They own some branded stuff too but they’ve never had comments about items like plain tshirts from Zara or plain jersey shorts from H&M. Their friends are similar and wear expensive coat but cheap clothes underneath so they don’t feel hard done by.

My DD16 couldn't care less about brands. She regularly looks like she's slept in a hedge but she has hobbies that leave her pretty disheveled. 🤣

DD15, DS13, DD12 don't care about brands.

Eldest is more about band tshirts and jeans (although loves the DMs my husband got her for xmas)

DS lives in primark shorts and tshirts all year round and school is super strict about uniform so no brands allowed.

DD12 rarely gets dressed when home, preferring just an oodie (yes, even in the 30 degree temps we had) or primark joggers.

I'm very glad they don't follow brands!!

Mine are younger than that and care about brands!

No he doesn’t have social media, he doesn’t even have YouTube. I’m not convinced all his friends have all this sports wear either. Not that I’ve seen but he won’t listen to reason. I just bought him new football Nike boots and reminded him I’d just spent £35 on them and could he tone it the heck down. ‘What, £35 isn’t even that much’ he said - felt like clipping him round the ear! I was out the other day with him and there were a group of perhaps 12-13 yr old boys dressed in Nike black or grey tracksuits, so boring looking. He idolised them and said to me ‘that’s who I want to be.’ His dad was horrified! (Ok exaggerating a bit but it’s so far from who we are).

I think it’s completely normal to want to fit in as a teenager.

Def’ but he’s only 9!

DS1 is autistic and 11. His view is that ‘brands are a waste of money’. He will wear sports kit for sports. DS2 is 8 and oblivious. If he wanted brands for brands sake he’d be waiting for birthday or Xmas unless he could prove they were better quality. We do spend a fortune on specialist sports kit.

My DS (14) likes his brands - he has mostly Nike, North Face and Mercier. Although he did also ask for a set from Boohoo Man recently which I got him. We’ve just stocked up for hols.

He sometime gets things like a Nike Tech Fleece but will ask for it for Christmas or his birthday.

My DD on the other hand has got one branded top that I can think of.

Neither of my kids are interested and think they are a stupid waste of money. They are 17 and 19. Both a bit alternative. DS buys lots of clothes in 2nd hand shops. DD mainly shops at Primark.

My autistic 11yo gives not a thought to branded clothes. She loves the environment and supports me buying second hand where possible. She's incredibly mature in some ways and knows her own mind.

My 9yo likes sports kit and a lot of his friends do too. I don't mind looking out for the bits he likes and picking bits up in the sales. He got an addidas tshirt for 3.99 the other day - it's similar to matalan pricing but the material he likes - what's the harm?

I don't pay extortionate amounts but pick bits up when I see them.

Nd kids and they aren't fussed with brands.

9 year old NT DD, would live in Adidas every day if she could and beginning to be very conscious about what others are wearing/doing. I bought items in the summer/winter sales which helped , or sports direct normally have deals on.

Mine is 10 (almost 11) and he’s definitely focusing more on brands now - only really in the school setting though or when he’s seeing his school friends. When he’s just at home or playing out with local friends he doesn’t care what he’s wearing.

I have 8 and 12 year old NT boys who are very brand focused. I look on vinted a lot for second hand stuff, especially football boots. TBF £35 for football boots is very cheap really, even 2nd hand. I'm a single parent of 3 so feel your pain but I was also the kid who never wore branded stuff so I buy them what I can to help them fit in. My eldest wanted a Carrera bike for his birthday at £300+ so it spreads through to everything as they get older. Luckily my daughter (6) is still happy with Primark!

Dd (13) has been into brands from about age 10. Didn't indulge it much though until recently.

Ds (17) isn't that fussed other than proper football shirts.