to be offended at the lack of floorspace and style for boys clothing

[KissingAFool]

I get upset about this every time I go shopping for my loving boys. Wall to wall girls stuff, you can really pick a style and run with it, the variety is amazing. Across all shops. Across all budgets.

However the boys offerings beyond the toddler stages are so dull, limited, stylish. I love shopping, love clothes and am trying to raise my kids with a healthy interest in their appearance but its so hard when there's nothing I even want to see on my boys and they moan that it's all boring.

Its just feels short sighted and discriminatory to have eg one aisle of stuff for boys vs three if girls which is what I'm faced with.

Are ANY shops geared towards equal floorspace? Because beyond h&m and zara it feels extremely one sided and I actually feel quite hurt!

[QueenOfHumboldtCounty]

Also what gets me (may have been mentioned already) is the branded stuff... 3-4 year olds are too young to watch Star Wars. Is this just aiming the clothes at the parents and totally bypassing any thought from the child? I know they don't HAVE to watch it, but I know my DS would ask questions about it if I bought him something with a storm trooper on for example.

[Cadenza1818]

I remember getting irate during a particularly bad winter that I could only get girl (I.e bright pink) snow suits. I asked whether my precious first born were meant to freeze as they were boys I too have started buying online. Vertbaudet, Boden. What are the scandi brands mentioned by pp?

[TiredAndRavenous]

Believe it or not Sainsbury's has really nice boys clothes x

[elliejjtiny]

YANBU

Mum of 5 boys here and I like bright colours on them. It always seems to be the expensive brands that have the bright colours too. I love the little bird range at mothercare but I've had a few things from there shrink and fade really badly. My 10 year old is especially hard to get clothes for. Everything in his size is in dark colours.

I've started trawling ebay for 2nd hand boden, frugi etc clothes. Got a boden coat for DS4 for £5 last month, brilliant.

[Singasongofsadness]

Yanbu

[Yura]

Yanbu. and while we are at it, why are waist and kegs on boys stuff so much bigger than in girls stuff in the same size? would love to buy my son girl's jeans as they fit better, but they are sparkly, much thinner material and ususlly pink ( i don't like punk - wouldn't dress a girl in it either). why can jeans not be unisex????

[BornStroppy]

Tkmaxx Liverpool..One double sided rack for boys...4 for girls, one dedicated to dresses.

My local Sainsbury....One aisle for boys, three for girls.

[BornStroppy]

I would recommend River island though, some great boys stuff

[TheCaptainsCat]

Not sure it's 'offensive' and 'discriminatory' to be honest, they're only clothes. And it's the same with men's vs women's clothing. It's probably to set girls up with a lifetime of being Good Little Consumers.

[Adsss]

It is down to profitability. Many have spotted it before, just look at the threads on here over the years. Some have tried, yet it is not a business model that seems to work.

[BingoBingoBingoBango]

I love Zara and H&M for my boys. Especially the brightly coloured Zara skinny jeans.

I don't have a girl but it does seem to be a wall of pink and takes up most of the clothing section. Luckily my children like dinosaurs but colour wise most boys clothes tend to be blue, grey and brown. Boring.

[JC23]

Shoes for boys are the worst. I'm still upset about the time when DS wanted a pair of red shoes in clarks but the only red shoes were ballet pumps/mary-janes. It broke my heart to see his disappointed little face when I showed him the mud and sludge coloured options for boys. This was nearly ten years ago I should get over it soon!

[BWatchWatcher]

I agree, Sainsbury's is great for clothes for boys! Bright, soft and lovely.
I pass clothes on to my in-laws and my sil thought the Sainsbury's stuff was from a posh boutique called 'Tu'.
I did complain in M&S when I went to look at shoes. 2 aisles of girls. One tiny section of boys.
Bah.

[Ifailed]

I can tell you, from my experience of retail, that there's a simple reason why there's more floorspace dedicated to females clothes - we buy more of them than male clothing. All major retailers optimise their space to maximise sales and profit, and the sales per square metre in the girls section are higher than in the boys.

If you go into sports shop, you'll find the ratio is reversed.

[ShatnersWig]

The average high street is rubbish for men in general, not just boys.

I live in a pretty large town. As a man, the only shops that have any clothes for men are: M&S, Next, White Stuff, Superdry, Jack Wills.

The last two are obviously much more aimed at the student/20s market. White Stuff, despite being in a pretty large store, has just two rails of menswear. In M&S, the women's section is the entire ground floor plus one third of the first floor. The children's takes up one third of the first floor with the menswear taking up the remaining third - and half of that is shirts and suits.

I don't find it hugely different in most other places either. You might get a Gap or a Debenhams or a River Island if you're lucky with menswear. Or maybe a John Lewis if you're really pushed.

[Blueredballoon]

I have to say, I've never found this a problem. I have lovely, bright clothes for my boys from all over the place. Lots of fun prints and patterns too. As PPs have said, there is only more choice for girls if you/ they want all the pink sparkly stuff.

[heavenscent86]

Frugi is great for bright clothes. Lots of them are unisex too. I buy as much as I can afford in the sale and the odd piece full price. Blade and rose do lovely leggings for boys and also I believe some tops. I don't manage to find much in supermarkets but if I see anything bright that's not covered in cars I snap it up there and then. Sainsbury's is best in my opinion. John Lewis has some great baby boys bits. Not sure about older boys.

[Ragwort]

trying to raise my kids with a healthy interest in their appearance - what exactly does that mean ? As a mother of a teenage boy who spends £xxxxxxxx on ridiculous 'designer' clothes (his own money - not mine ) I wish he had a healthy interest in a lot more important things than his appearance.

[Lweji]

when DS wanted a pair of red shoes

Trainers.

DS now has red, gold, pink, stripes, the most god awful colours.
And the boys really admire them on eachother.

[llangennith]

I've complained to M&S and Mothercare but nobody's interested.
My pet hate is t-shirts with stereotypical logos or phrases.
Why would anybody put a tshirt on their DS with phrases on them like "I'm a little monkey" or "Here comes trouble"?

[Strummerville]

Have never found this to be a problem, as I'm an online shopper. As others have said, Boden, Frugi and Scandi brands (Smafolk, Mini Rodini, Maxomorra etc) have loads of excellent options for boys and unisex clothing. They are on the pricey side, but I've always been on a low income and bought either secondhand or in sales.

[Onthecouchagain]

Lot of boys escaping looking ridiculous by the looks of this thread. Most little boys don't want to look like tiny zoolanders.

[987flowers]

I'm more offended by shops seeming to want my daughter to look like a prostitute! You're right there are more girls clothes than boys but the actual choice is very limiting, especially now she is 10. We are finding it really challenging finding nice clothes that aren't babyish or too grown up looking.

[sauronskitten]

OP, there's www.polarnopyret.co.uk/ (Swedish). Their menu isn't divided into 'boys' and 'girls' clothes, and jeans are described as 'kids jeans' instead of being dichotomised as girls' or boys' jeans.

Not Scandi, but www.petit-bateau.co.uk/ and m.vertbaudet.co.uk could be worth a look at

[Cutesbabasmummy]

Yanbu at all! I've just ordered my 2 year old son 3 pairs of "girls " leggings from M and s as they don't sell boys ones. I tend to buy from Jo Jo Maman Bebe, and Boden when they have discounts on as at least there is a bit of colour! I hate all of this sludge coloured clothing! And you are right about floor space! In my local Next the children's depth is 2/3 girls!!!