Anyone elses teen only wear nike and adidas?

[Tattooedmama]

I hope im not alone

My 14 year old is now in mens clothes and a huge size 9 feet, he will refuse point blank to wear anything except nike and adidas (that includes socks) and his new obsession is only wearing CK boxers
We havent got huge amounts of money and at just under £30 per pair of trousers i would never afford a full wardrobe of clothes.
He has 3 or 4 trousers and 5/5 tops as he chucked out all his clothes that werent brand named.
He had £110 the other day and all he managed to get was 2 tops, 2 trousers and 1 pair firetrap jeans.
He knows i cant afford these expensive clothes and £170 trainers, but he wont accept primark or cheaper sports brand.
And £20 for 2 pairs of boxers is ridiculous (he used his pocket money for them)
He gets his expensive trainers and football boots at christmas because i refuse to pay that amount of money when every month hes moaning his feet are growing and shoes getting small, he got new football boots a size bigger for his birthday last month and i could have exploded when he said last week they are getting tight and need new ones soon.

I feel cruel he dont have lots of clothes, but what can i do when he will refuse to wear anything without a brand, hes so materialistic its annoying.

Unfortinately i dont have a nike/adidas outlet near me, hes just started exploring slim fit jeans for the first time since he was about 5/6

Hes getting some trainers for christmas, again because they are too expensive for me to buy.

I wouldn't even pander to him with the outlet stores and etc honestly. I would buy him the basic things he needs, and anything designer is a Christmas/birthday gift or he buys it himself. I would not encourage that kind of materialism by buying him only designer clothes. Of course he is your son, and it's your decision, though.

He is very materialistic, but he does look after his stuff well, washes his own clothes and keeps his shoes lovely but its his lack of understanding that i literally can't afford hundreds every few months on such expensive clothes.
I think i will sit down and show him our spread sheet of finances (we calculate all our money down to the penny)

My son was the same. He still is but he got a job at 15 and has worked ever since. He's now 19 and earns his own money to buy his stuff.

Yes, explanation of finances is really due. 14yo isn't a baby. Give him an option to earn some money if possible, i.e. wash the car or do some gardening. And 3-4 pairs of trousers at the time is certainly enough.

Maybe also give him some readings about what the value of brand names really is. that its actually not worth the money.

Ok so I’ve got two sons DS1 19 DS2 15. They both like brand name clothes. DS 1 is quite the clothes horse. That said obviously at his age he buys his own, we do give him money at birthdays and Xmas so he can put towards what he likes. He had a part time job from 15 to purchase clothes himself as well. The shoes are what drives me nuts, always white and are worn at parties or festivals and come home filthy. I showed him which products to use and clean them himself.

DS2 still likes the brand name gear but is happy enough with an adequate amount of clothes unlike his brother. While your son is entitled to express his own fashion preferences he shouldn’t be demanding and frankly would benefit from learning a bit more about the value of things.

I will also add, from experience, to be very careful giving into him because what’s “in” will change frequently Nike > Nautica > La Coste > Etc etc... I know one boy that at 16 was insisting on head to toe Gucci.

Also just keep an eye out as (not saying your son will mine didn’t) a fair few teen boys will resort to shoplifting to keep up with the fads.

What happens if you just say no?

He can either wear what he has on rotation, get a job and buy his own clothes, or accept non branded stuff.

My teenager is exactly the same. She whinges that’s she never has any clothes, and I point out she chose to buy expensive things with her clothing budget. Not my problem.

That sounds like plenty of clothes, assuming he has school uniform for during the week.

Honestly, I'd say he can have basic stuff (supermarket, Next, whatever you can afford). If he wants something more expensive, or something he doesn't need, he pays the extra for it, or it's his Christmas/birthday present.

Also teach him that friends who ditch him for not having the right clothes aren't true friends.

Ha oh snap Bonkerz.

Make sure he can use the washing machine! Sounds like he’ll need to do frequent washes if the clothes are so expensive.

Put them on his Christmas list. Top brands count as presents as not essential.

I had a “clothes allowance” from about that age. It meant I got to choose whether to have a few more expensive things or more things but cheaper, and then easier to say “top it up with earnings” where necessary. When it’s gone it’s gone so they learn the value of money. Didn’t include school uniform obviously.

Blackteasplease - he does his washing (every other day due to only now owning 2 pairs of CK boxers) looks like boxers are on his christmas list because i wont be handing him £20 for just 2 pairs

If you don't have the money to spare then of course you don't buy that shit. If he wants it so bad he can try and get himself a job, until he realises how hard that is these days.

Also eBay sometimes has some good deals on branded stuff.

Wow those are pricey boxers!

My 14-year-old gets £40/month pocket money (she has basic chores to do in the house) and when she wanted to buy more expensive stuff she got a job in the cafe down the road.

You need to be very firm about things like this. 'This is what is available for clothes budget. If YOU want above that, YOU need to find a job and go to work to pay for it'. My son is very stubborn, more so than my DD and you can't budge an inch with him or he will take a mile.

Do not give him more money, especially as, well, you don't have it!

Don't enable by tying yourself in knots with outlet stores (god, A LOT of people don't live near them) or trawling TKMaxx (again, plenty of us don't live near those, either), blah blah blah.

He's only 14, but branded clothes are an easy and mostly harmless way to learn about the value of money.

Mine has certainly reigned it in after starting to work. She'll now wear bottoms of whatever type with a branded top.

The underwear thing is ridiculous!

I x posted with your first post about the washing as it took me ages to type!

Make sure that the 'designer' things he gets are 'key' items that can be worn A LOT with a variety of outfits. This way he can be 'wearing the right labels' all the time without spending the earth.

Jackets, tracksuit tops, trainers and even caps can be worn with a lot of different (plain) things and worn multiple times between washes. They can also be worn with plain jeans, t-shirts etc (which you can get from Primark or supermarkets or wherever).

For my sins, I'm a 30-something "teenage boy" and do wear branded stuff. I've got a couple of Stone Island jackets, a DSquared cap, a Bape jumper, ONE pair of 'fancy' trainers, a single Gucci T-Shirt and ONE Balenciaga top...

...HOWEVER I own a dozen Primark T-Shirts, only buy supermarket jeans, wear unbranded work shoes and have several plain hoodies. This way I can always be 'branded' without spending a fortune on loads of designer outfits. Plus the quality stuff tends to live a lot longer (for example, one of my SI jackets is 15 years old).

I appreciate that, by trying to offer advice, I've probably come across as a bit of a bragging manchild but at least I hope the advice is useful!

My son is the same but as his growing has all but stopped (he's 17 now) he's got a good wardrobe base and only needs bits added to it.
But just like yours, OP, it's labels from head to toe. His sister laughs at him!
Now he's adding Tommy Hilfiger, Lacoste, Ralph Lauren and Gant to the mix which are even dearer. He's got a part-time job now though.

And he wasn't brought up to be so materialistic. We don't wear labels at all. It's just peer pressure.

At least Adidas and Nike are cheap

My 14 year old will only wear The North Face, Hugo Bose & Berghaus

Is the North Face trendy now? I love my north face puffa but I’ve never felt that stylish in it! feels very down with the kids

Agree with other posters saying let him have his own clothes budget and then buy him some basics from Next/Primark to have to hand when he moans that he has no clothes.

I was the same at that age but posh branded stuff was only ever as a gift, my mum would have laughed me out the house if I demanded all my clothes were designer!

Buy school uniform. Including shoes and coat .

Give an allowance for everything else.

And I mean everything ..... one budget weekly or monthly to cover clothes, online gaming, phone, days out, travel assuming he doesn’t get a bus pass etc. Maybe spend January totting up everything you spend on him bar food.

One he realises its £10 pants or his phone top up he’ll get some perspective.

Own washing it not I wouldn’t let him run the washer with almost nowt in it if he’s washing every other day just for his pants really. Empty machines aren’t free to run !

Can he do the odd job helping neighbors cutting grass etc?
Any thrift shops that have this name brand clothing he likes?
He will soon grow out of this name brand have to have when he has to go around unclothed

@OrangeTwirlGate

*At least Adidas and Nike are cheap

My 14 year old will only wear The North Face, Hugo Bose & Berghaus*

I can't work out if you are joking or not