To ask if £600 is too much to give your teenager to go and buy holiday clothes?

[SandraDea]

Just wondering if I’m a bit out of touch. My son has just come back with his mate from a shopping trip in the city centre.

His mate (14) had £600 transferred into his bank account by his parents this morning to buy clothes for the holiday they are going on tomorrow.

I know the family are wealthy but even so isn’t that extortionate? He did actually spend all the money as he’s shown us all his purchases!

Just interested if this is a bit OTT or if I’m just mean! Or maybe people just spend what they can afford whether that’s a lot or not much 🤷‍♀️

I've never got 'holiday clothes' as a thing (necessary gear for activity holidays like skiing etc., or particular climates for which you have nothing suitable, excepted, obviously). But I also don't think people need a new outfit for every wedding they attend, either.

That's nuts! My DS is nearly 15 and that amount would cover his allowance for the whole year out of which he has to buy most of his clothes and anything else like cinema, computer games etc. He'll only have label stuff for some things like trainers, but is happy enough with Primark t-shirts.

Depends how rich you are surely? From my POV it does seem ludicrous yes, but probably not so much so for a multi-millionaire.

That's insane! I've probably spent £600 total on clothes in the last decade!

that’s a lot!! I expect he will prob have bought designer / brands like Nike at the very least so that won’t have gone that far.

It's really up to them isn't it ? My kids used to get two big clothes splurges a year, with little in between, perhaps this is one of his.

My teenage son would buy two pairs of shorts and five t-shirts from Primark and have £550 change. And that's all he'd wear is it, in a week abroad, no swimming trunks, no pants or socks, no new trainers, flip flops, deck shoes, no evening attire, no sweat shirts, no
jacket, no jeans, no trousers?

Where did he buy his clothes, OP - you saw them - was it high street, lower or upper end? You know the old saying buy cheap, buy twice.

Mum used to take me for summer clothes and probably spent about £400-500. She'd never let me go on my own with that much though - it was very much 'pending mother's approval'.

@Mummyoflittledragon - Nike is dirt cheap in Sports Direct !

Well there is no way I could afford that for my children so it wouldn't happen. However, my nieces and nephews get pairs of jeans that cost £200 a pair etc, so if that's the sort of quality/brand they are buying it might not even go that far

Christ my holiday didn't cost £600! I don't think I've ever spent £600 on myself let alone kids! Even my wedding dress was less than £200!

Sadly I can believe it.

My niece was complaining apparently that she didn't have any clothes at the weekend so her mother took her out and bought her yet another solitary designer T shirt for over £200.
Just one item!

It may all be relative but I truly believe even if I could afford it I wouldn't. My teens know that, appreciate it far more when they do get new stuff and can work and pay for their own stuff in the future.

Nope. If I had a teenager needed, say, new shoes and a couple of items of clothes I supposed I might give them £100 for that, but absolute tops.

I think £600 is a lot but I partly depends on how much he is buying. DS seems to have huge growth surges as a teenager and we literally have to replace everything he owns. Plus doubtless it's men's sizes and not childrens. We don't buy from expensive shops but the last wardrobe replace must have cost about £400 including shoes.
If it really is just holiday clothes and he already has plenty of things that fit it seems ott.

Maybe that's his year,y clothing allowance and presumably he will wear them after the holiday.

He's 14. What are the chances that lot will fit in a year?

But it's up to them. If it's quality stuff and they give it to a charity shop when he's outgrown it, I don't see an issue. If it ends up in landfill that's different, but I think that's more likely to happen more quickly with Primark stuff.

It’s ridiculous to me but if they can afford it then so what?

He did actually spend all the money as he’s shown us all his purchases!

So what did he get for £600, 5 items or 50?

I think it is ridiculous but, they are rich so obviously don’t think so, but what are they teaching him? £100 for new holiday clothes would have been more than generous being as he would already have clothes in his wardrobe he could take. (£100 on new holiday clothes would be enough for 3 of us btw) however if I had millions in the bank I’m sure £600 would seem cheap.

Of course it's ott. Why are you even asking?

It depends if they can easily afford it then it's not a ridiculous amount. On the other hand what can you really buy for 50? Just a load of cheap clothing.

I love threads like this!

Well I only spend £1.50 on clothes and they last me 25 years!!!

£600 is a lot of money yes but might be what he gets for the full year, the clothes will be for holiday and also afterwards surely.

I have two toddlers, I can go to tesco or asda etc and easily spend £100 or so or just a few new clothes. If he's buying a few pairs of jeans, new tops and shirts, new shoes it doesn't take long to add up to £600

It may all be relative but I truly believe even if I could afford it I wouldn't. My teens know that, appreciate it far more when they do get new stuff and can work and pay for their own stuff in the future.

This is true - having been careful with pennies and largely bought clothes from George, Sports Direct, Matalan - mine now spend a lot of money to look nice, £130 t-shirts, £180 shoes. No one buys cheap unless they have no option but to buy cheap. People spend what they can afford, it's all relative.

So it's sort of irrelevant if someone wedding dress was 200 quid, or a whole holiday was 600, because if you had the money to spend, you would be spending it on something you wanted.

He must have gone in bollock-naked with corns on his feet. Either that or the family are holidaying on K2.

It seems like a lot, but it’s relative to the parents’ financial situation. As an example, my SIL (BIL’s wife, so no relation) received £3k worth of presents for her last birthday (not a special birthday). I act nonchalant haha. It’s an obscene amount of money.

Of course it's not for clothes to last him all year unless the OP lives somewhere with a all year round Mediterranean climate, and if she does he wouldn't need to buy special holiday clothes (unless he's holidaying one of the Poles).

The obvious answer is predominantly the correct one - he's spoilt, it's no more complicated than that.

I've never got 'holiday clothes' as a thing

For children it's usually a case of them having grown out of their clothing from the previous year.

Maybe it's a combination of holiday and Christmas plus clothes budget? Trainers can cost £150+ and T shirts £50+. Maybe he's suddenly brown and everything needs replacing?