AIBU to let my 12 year old son wear a dinosaur tshirt

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My dh thinks I shouldn't be buying him any more jurassic park t-shirts. Reckons he'd get bullied. I asked what he should be wearing then? Fred Perry or something similar he suggested. To be clear, ds chose the t-shirt, I didn't just get it. What do you think? I said if he thinks ds would get bullied then perhaps he was the sort of child who would have done the bullying! I guess I'm asking AIBU in allowing ds to wear what he wants and not what others expect?

Has your DH seen what many grown men wander around wearing?
Your son should be allowed to choose his own clothes.
But I do think your DH means well. He's concerned about the importance of fitting in. And it really does matter at that age. Just buy hm a few cheap plain tees or polo shirts too so if he does decide his school friends will tease him, he can wear those when he's out with them and wear his favourite dinosaur shirt at home and on family outings. That's what DS2 does, who has unconventional taste but wants to fit in.

I’m 45 and have a Jurassic Park t shirt! Your 12 year old probably has a better grasp of what other 12 year olds like/make fun of than your OH

It boils down to personality of your son. I was never a follower (not of fashion either, I wore what suited me) and if anyone picked on my trainers etc (girls school!) I shrugged it off. Bullies will pick on you even if you’re the most fashionable kid in school!
Maybe compromise and go plain. I detest labels myself (as in front/back showy labels on clothes).

What does YDHIBVVU mean?!

Your dear husband is being very very unreasonable

I feel sad for your husband. He needs to chill out a bit. Maybe stage an intervention and buy him some cool t-shirts for Christmas X

So confused, as I think that a Jurassic Park t shirt is completely cool! And age appropriate

@Bornlazy
I'm near Glasgow too and labels were kind of a thing in Dd's first high school, but with bags as it had a uniform, Dd had a Vans bag but didn't follow trends.(She got it when She was14, still uses it at almost 18, her choice)
She then went to a non uniform school in the west end and brands absolutely not at all, v alternative, anything goes and much less following trends.

Let him wear whatever he wants. I think a Jurassic Park t-shirt sounds like a useful aid in finding his natural tribe - the dinosaur and/or film loving kids. He doesn't want to be friends with label obsessed too-cool-for-school types anyway.

He'll let you know when he doesn't want to wear them anymore. At that age boys can still be very young in outlook. Let him grow up at his own rate. Once he goes into Y8, he may develop a different outlook.

Your DH is right to some extent though so maybe have the odd branded polo or similar for non uniform days at school so he doesn't get teased.

Well having just come back from Universal Studios Florida there were hundreds of people wearing Jurassic Park t shirts, meeting a velociraptor, pretending to run from a T rex!

Plus hundreds of people supporting the Harry Potter franchise with t shirts, wands, full gowns casting spells, riding the Hogwarts Express.

Some people don't grow out of loving dinosaurs, they grow up to become palaeontologists.

Let him wear what he wants. Why should he change for others? What if the popular crowd all played with Shopkins, would your Dh immediately go and buy Shopkins toys for your son? Be yourself, wear what you want. There will always be bullies, they will focus on something whether it is your name, hair, bag, shoes, academic or sporting ability. Teach your Dh that your son needs to be proud of who he is and his fashion choices.

I'd be so happy if my ds grows up not fussed about brands! My dss got some £110 nike trainers in the sale for his birthday and I was 😳. Whenever I take my ds to skate park etc alot of the other kids look the same cos allnwant branded stuff and don't seem to care that their joggers they are sliding about in probably cost £50!

@IHaveBrilloHair I think it’s often poorer schools that have the pressure to have labels, which is doubly sad as those families can probably least afford it. I would imagine a school in the west end has lots of pupils from middle class families who are confident enough not to conform. It’s great when kids can express themselves without fear of ridicule or scorn but sadly this is not always the case.

As an aside the quality of some of the designer clothes is shocking. Really not worth the money at all and I would never buy it for myself, but will buy it for my children for birthdays and Christmas.

My DH is 35 wearing a Jurassic park t shirt right now. Wearing clothing plastered with 'designer' branding isn't fashionable anyway, it's quite tacky.

Haven't rtft yet, but I'm 43 and I wore a dinosaur dress today 🤷‍♀️ Got several compliments (tbf it's an awesome dress - from the natural history museum) including my friend's 21 year old son who says he wants one too

He’s more likely to be bullied if he wears a chavvy brand like Fred Perry! All the teens I know wear T-shirts with logos of films, shows, bands or concerts.

What does YDHIBVVU mean?!

Your DH is being very very unreasonable

Dd too, she has everything from Sesame Street, to Gorillaz, to Game of Thrones, to Pokemon and all sorts in between.
I want to get her an Indiana Jones, Temple of Doom one for her birthday.

Your DH is BVU.

My DH is 30 and wears a Jurassic Park t-shirt.

It's interesting that the Fred Perry t-shirt has been jumped upon. Dh usually wears rock band t-shirts and really doesn't care about labels. The branded t-shirts he has are what I've bought him! We both grew up in an area where what you wore was definitely noticed, if you see what I mean?

Why do so many parents allow their brats to bully other children ? I overheard my then 8 year old son and his friends laughing about a classmate that was a bit smelly and wore unwashed school uniform, after i had explained that it wasnt this childs fault but his parents fault i made my son responsible for his own laundry for a month, he learned a valuable lesson. Children learn from their parents

I’m really torn op. I have a 12 year old son who is in year 7 who really really doesn’t give a 💩 about anyone else’s opinion and will wear what he likes and a 10 year old girl who has no imagination or individuality at all. She’s like a carbon copy of all the other 10 year old girls.

I can hear myself sometimes ‘I’m not sure you should wear that son, it doesn’t even match’ Or to my daughter ‘it’d be so refreshing if you wore clothes that you liked rather than what you thought others would’.

I think it’s nice that he knows what he likes but I’d have the conversation about how horrible other kids can be and does he think they’d comment. How he would feel / handle it if they did. Just so he’d be prepared.

Oh and my the way all the cool kids have Fred Perry bags at my sons school. Seems to be retro 🤷🏻‍♀️

omione

I agree with you!

I’m not sure why parents are so worried about little cowards.

DS doesn’t give a moneys about fashion and I love him all the more for it.