To ask you to think before you personalise clothing and other gifts you buy?

[AloysiusBear]

We all need to consume less, and reuse & pass on more.

This year so many retailers have cottoned on that personalising items reduces our ability to pass them on to other children.

Don't do it! That Christmas jumper can be passed on to your niece, nephew, younger child, neighbours child, but Annabel isn't going to want it if its got Ethan embroidered or printed on very obviously.

Overtly gendered and personalised items are retailer strategies to reduce our ability to re-use and push us to buy more.

Lets all try not to.

I saw the other day that LL Bean have a hand me down trail label in some of their kids clothes. I think it's genius. I believe John Lewis are doing something similar.

I think some people buy personalised purely so it definitely stays with the child and doesn't get chucked away. Forgetting the child is going to grow up and naturally lose interest/not fit.

I mean thats nice but suggests the coat is only good for 3 kids

After 3 kids if it's still in good condition, stick a name label over it.

Agree! We didn't do many personalised things, my DD had a Hello Kitty hoodie with her name on it when she was about 8, it went to a friend's DD with the same name.

I volunteer in a charity shop and we do see quite a lot of personalised items - and not just clothes. Things like bags, pencil cases, those books you get where the child's name is used as the star, mugs etc.

Now if the bag says something like Amy or Joshua, you have a chance of selling it to a parent of another Amy or Joshua. Not so much if it's a Daisybella or a Ignacio.

There's a group on Facebook called Preloved to Reloved and I see personalised items on there occasionally. You give stuff away for free but the recipient pays postage so you're not out of pocket.

I agree OP. My son has never been given anything personalised but I buy him a birthday T-shirt each year with his name and age on. I'm keeping those though so they're not wasted as such.

My American MIL once sent my dd a Disney Princess backpack with her name emblazoned across it.
My dd wouldn't use it and my other dd couldn't as it had her sister's name is massive letters across it.
About three years later a child started school with the same name and I went up to the dad before the kids came out and offered it to him. He bewilderedly accepted it and the child did use it but what a carry on.

I guess it's about the message rather than the actual label. Its green washing really, if people need to be told to pass on a good condition expensive garment then we are too stupid to be helped.

It's convenience and cheapness. The best thing is to use a sew in label that can be replaced as often as needed without damaging the item.

If you have a theft problem no label will stop it but embroidery makes it useless for anyone else regardless.

Surely these days we could use tech? I'm thinking a microchip, school has a scanner and when you hand clothes down they change the record.

That's a brilliant idea!

I would never use anything with the kids name displayed prominently like that. It will confuse them if a stranger calls them by name. So dangerous.

My DSs actually have the same initial but the one year I put "X Surname" on label's to save time, it became obvious neither they or DH could distinguish age 6 and age 8 uniform and we had to re do them after sone weeks of going to school in huge/tiny outfits.

Expensive. Sticky labels are much cheaper

The worst is weddings! Everything has to be personalised now - signs, cake toppers, favours, cufflinks. I know it's nice for a special day but they can't be reused.
And hen parties - personalised t shirts, wine glasses etc. I cringe when I see it. I know some people that have been a bridesmaid so many times they have like 10 prosecco glasses with their name on!

They literally have a size label in them though so they could have just checked that?!

Think is no one wants to reuse these things so they might as well be personalised.

It should be illegal for schools to do this. The PE hoodie and tee shirt of a local school insists on them being personalised.

The worst is weddings! Everything has to be personalised now - signs, cake toppers, favours, cufflinks. I know it's nice for a special day but they can't be reused.

Personalised wedding presents are also a scourge. People can't even regift them.

I agree! Personalised stuff is somehow far more enjoyable to give than receive anyway. No one really wants stuff with their name on.

The only thing that’s been good that we’ve received that’s personalised is a swimming towel for ds - was handy for school swimming that his name was already on it! He’ll be able to use it til it’s useful life has ended because it’s a towel (and we’d just use to as a hand towel if he goes off it tbh!)

Otherwise, no.

Not only is it tacky and naff af, like a previous poster said it could be a safety issue. Any stranger will instantly know their name.

I always put my DC last name on their school stuff so I could pass PE tops etc down to each brother.

My parents took this to extremes, and had multiple initials at each end of the name tapes (I have several siblings). I was one of the pair told to ‘stop grumbling and just pleat it as you sew it on’, but the sibling who got told ‘use a pen and make the P look like an R’ possibly resents it more.

I got my daughter a Joules coat at the weekend that had a very similar label, I thought it was a lovely idea!

I always stay away from names on clothes and accessories as it was drummed into me that it would be used to abduct me when I was a child.

At school I had to write my kids' name's actually on the item in sharpie because of all the thieving bastard parents who would knowingly keep hold of kit which was in better condition than their own children's stuff!

I never buy personalised gifts for anyone other than my own kids. You always run the risk of people not liking them and say I don't think spending the extra money is worth it. My own kids stuff goes in their memory boxes. They have sweaters that I embroidered with animals in the shape of an A, as they all have the same first initial they will be wearing each others.