to think the hatred for Next is just backlash against the popular and successful?

[cosikitty]

I don't get it, they stock such a wide range of products and styles how can everyone on here hate them? Whatever you find in other shops, you can generally find in Next too.

It's just bandwagonning isn't it? It's popular so it's cool to say you hate them isn't it?

In my eyes, if I want nice kids clothes Next has it- from cute and girly, to hooker style, to nautical, to traditional, whatever you want they have it!

They have women's stuff in formal, casual, tarty, frumpy, maternity, everything under the sun.

I shop in loads of places, including Next, but all the Next hatred puzzles me.

Jesus - I just looked at that Kin stuff - you'd get the shit beaten out of you walking about dressed in that - especially if you were older than 4.

teenage stuff more teenage stuff

Not keen on the leather jacket, I'll grant you that, and that long floaty effort on the right of the first link I wouldn't put on a 3 year old - 9 maybe for a party or something. As I say, I have boys so maybe looking with a different eye, but I don't think any of it is overly too old/tarty etc.

I appreciate we all have different tastes and I would think that 9/10 year old girls probably have a very good idea of they want to wear (in the main).

Surely part of the fun of being 9 is being free to wear rhinestones.

neither of my daughters would have worn that at 9

The baby things are (were? haven't looked at them for a while) quite nice - but the older children's stuff is slapper-style tat to my mind. I have shares in Next and get a big discount voucher every year - but I've not used it for the past ten years or so. There isn't a single thing in the shop that I would want to wear (or buy for the DC).

The boys' stuff looks nicer than the girls' stuff on the whole, but it's still verging on the naff.

I did venture into the women's department the other day, and it was a sea of artificial fibre. Just vile.

(I like the Kin dress, but it wouldn't fit my children, sadly. Wish JL made their children's range in bigger sizes for tall younger children!)

I think this is cute, however I suspect that if I tried to get Dd2 to wear it, she would beat me up

I like john Lewis clothes for my boys and have actually got them some nice bits recently from m&s.

Also fat face are nice but I get them in the sale, ditto boden.

The mock leather jacket is nasty! But cheap pleather is nasty at any age.

Everything else DD2 would have worn at 9/10 (well except the brown dress which she would have declared too twee and the trench coat which she would have said was a yucky old woman's coat)

Denim jacket, skater skirt, t shirt or dress like the grey one with the cats was absolute her style. From 9-13 slightly rock chick is her style. No point in buying her anything pretty pretty it won't get worn.

Trouble is she has a sense of style no one else in the house has. She can throw on a pair of ridiculous patterned leggings, denim shorts and a Primark t shirt and look more put together than me or DD1 ever can regardless of budget.

I like the next catalogue because it's about the only place that mixes mostly acceptable teen with ditsy flowers. Thus DD2 would surprise me.

Flicking through it she choose a three pack of very girly pastel flowery tops, which of course suited her perfectly

I have had some lovely things from John Lewis for my boys.
Nice, 100% cotton simple designs.
Ds1s school parka is great too.
Also the school trousers...fantastic.
My sil buys a lot for them from M&S and some of it has been ok, but some of the tops are very poor...thin nasty fabric.

Love boden for the quality, but the price is ridiculous.
E bay is my friend :)

We are a bit stuck with Johnnie B (DD outgrew Mini when she was 8, as she's so tall). I can't think of much else that fits and that doesn't have a whiff of 'teenage tart' about it.

I buy most of my kids clothes at Boden, they are expensive, yes, but if you shop with a good discount like 20/25% off then they are mostly similar to better quality high street shops, and of course they sell well afterwards which recoups a lot of the original cost. I usually sell dd's dressses for around £15, which means a dress bought at £20 has only really cost £5. (and Boden don't do any hooker styles )

I buy my girls a mixture of Johnnie B, Hollister, Jack Wills, Gap, Top Shop and bits from department stores.

They always look great.

When they were a little bit younger I used to buy quite a bit from Joules as well, once they reach 12 some of it is a little twee.

That grey JL dress with the pink bow is as bad as the beige jumper with round collie and bow my Nan gave me at about 9.

It (and similar one given to my 7y DSIS) were the final straw. That was the point we said to our DM "Either you ask Nan to give us money form now on or we will!"

Collar
A jumper with a a farm scene with sheep and sheep dog would actually have been quite fashionable when I was a child - beige with round collars was not!