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?

I think that some of the parents of the bullies are really not the type to take the time to teach a valuable life lesson to their child. They simply won’t give a shit.

I understand what your DH is saying. BUT isn't this the perfect opportunity to teach your DD not to follow the crowd like a sheep and to think for himself?
Do some work with him on bullying (good book is Bullies, Big Mouths and So Called Friends) perhaps. Also, all of ours have learned a martial art, they know the rules about what it should be used for but have some strategies to get themselves out of tricky situations.
'Dinosaur is my club name, because I'm a black belt in...' might help him get by! 😆

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If its good enough for Sheldon Cooper, it's good enough for anyone. He'll be much more comfortable in clothes he likes, rather than something someone else likes.

I’m 35 year old female who wears Jurassic Park T shirts, your husband’s argument is invalid.

I love telling kids in Jurassic park t shirts “cool shirt!”

An original Jurassic Park T shirt is a collector’s item

My 20 year old would rather wear a Jurassic tshirt than a Fred Perry one.

Designer shirts at 12 years old...

I do not live in the UK so I think things may be very different here...

I'm 38 & wear a dinosaur top!!

My method is to buy my sons T shirts that are a bit niche, that way the bullies get confused as to which category to put them in. It has worked so far, and my sons get nice comments from random older teenagers about their T-shirts, which is a bit of a boost.
This site is good: www.qwertee.com/

My ds wore his until 14 and he attends a really rough school. His little sister now wears it

Personally I really wouldn't go with the Fred Perry option, particularly because of it's connotations in recent years (www.google.com/amp/s/www.gq.com/story/fred-perry-wants-alt-right-bros-to-stop-wearing-their-polos/amp)...

As many posters have said, it's really up to your son how he wants to dress and, Jurassic Park is a fab choice for a 12 year old xx

I’m 25 and love my Jurassic Park tshirts and Harry Potter ones with a pair of skinny jeans vans/converse ... when I go out in the night I might wear something from river island , NEXT , misguided it doesn’t really matter these days so many people are into different genres programmes etc I don’t think it matter as much as long as your child is happy and in clean clothes who cares it’s not Asif he’s wearing a bright red tshirt with a cartoon smiley dinosaur a 3 year old would wear! Some days my 5 year old is in Ralph Lauren some days she’s in George asda whatever your son is comfortable with is completely upto him! I’m sure if he wanted to wear something different or name brands he would tell you and then you could speak to him what he would like ... and btw I’m a primark lover also! Don’t need labels to ‘look tidy or older’ everyone is different!

Can people stop saying chavvy? It's just another way of looking down at people, dressed up in different way. And you're the ones complaining about bullying...

It's a thing though, you can use other words but everyone knows what it means.
I use Neddy which is the Glasgow equivalent.

It's a t shirt. No amount of fancy brand on that will make it fancy. If someone wants to advertise on my chest they can pay for the privilege

So what’s the alternative? Tell him that he can’t wear what he wants in case he gets bullied? Yeah, definitely say that - ffs.

Hun do what ever you thinck is right in your soul.

Kids need to find their own style and understand brand names don't matter and neither does the opinion of other kids... I never once wore anything to fit in, I hated jeans and wore dresses to school on any non uniform days. People tried to tease me, but it didn't mean anything to me because their boring jeans and plaid shirts look was ugly to me. I was far happier for doing my own thing. My own kids can choose what they want within our budget, so my 15 year old has a very definite style, but not based on brand or fashion as much as just a look she feels comfortable in. My boys really don't care what they wear... the 13 year old even wears teeshirts passed down from the girl next door, even if he is hanging out with her. Just doesn't care. If he starts caring we will help him always be comfy in his own choices. I'm so glad they dont give a flying feck about brands or fads.

So if Fred Perry is the worst brand in the world for a teenager, what are the current cool brands?

They sell Jurassic park t shirts in hmv with all the band t shirts. Let him wear it

Be glad your ds will wear something with a picture on it. My ds is autistic & at 15 will not wear anything with any kind of motif or stripe in it, I have to buy all his tshirts from TU at sainsburys, I even have to remove all the labels from them as they upset him so much. He only wears his logo polo shirts for school because there is a rule that says he must wear them & he is very big on rules.

Might as well be thankful you have a kid and that you can afford to buy him t-shirts too.

We can't go around being thankful for everything and not post because someone may be in a worse position.

My DS loves Star Wars T-shirts and has a wide selection... He's 46 and has to wear a suit for work, so enjoys relaxing when he's 'off duty'

The one rule in our house re clothes has been ‘plough your own furrow’. Dd was dressed as a kid in stuff other people brought back from holidays (although I guess we’d be jumped on now for cultural inappropriation, but seriously, on a hot sunny day Ghanan and Egyptian traditional children’s outfits kept her way cooler than her friends were - cool, baggy cotton that allowed her skin to breathe and allowed air to flow around her skin), or charity shop finds in amongst new stuff.
She now hunts around in charity/vintage shops herself and adores 50’s styling - way cheaper and easier to be different.
Oh and my mate is mid thirties and he wears my little pony t shirts. No one would bully him - his lifestyle is hours on the gym......

It's funny isn't it..when it's a dinasoar t-shirt you are all "let him wear what he likes".
I bet if most of your 12 yr olds wanted to dress like a Roadman you'd be horrified! Really it's "wear what you like as long as it's "geeky" and not chavvy.. "
( the word chav doesn't come from chaver btw it's not related, in fact I think it originated to mean people from Chatham).
I get it to an an extent. I would probably be happier if my son looked more geek and less drug dealer but he wears what he likes. I can understand the dad worrying about bullies too. I don't think I know any 12/13 year old boys who would wear dinasoars sadly.

@HepzibahGreen what clothes does a drug dealer wear? could mean anything from a nike track suit to a suit.

YANBU to let him wear what he wants but your DH isn’t BU worrying about bullies either, children are savage.

My 9 yo DS loved Pokemon but he has realised it isn’t cool amongst his peers and asked me to buy him a new lunchbox and water bottle. Children often want to fit in.