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.

Was there ever anything more tacky than personalisation. Companies duping the poor and the dim as usual.

Part of my job is dance wear, just to add that although initials and names are usually pressed on for clubs, its easily removed and can be repressed with another initial or name and reused. I do this almost daily.

Could I ask how you do this? I confess to using iron on initials for my kids' sports kit as I was fed up of people 'borrowing' it. Some eventually fall off but I haven't worked out how to remove them other than colouring them in with a sharpie (the kit is black).

DS has a very uncommon name (only 3 born in his birth year). We aren't going to be able to find anyone to pass on anything personalized to, so it feels very wasteful.

I'm ok with things like towels, mugs, and Christmas baubles being personalized because DS can use them until they have no life left in them and won't outgrow them. But clothes? No thank you.

I don't understand why people say personalisation is tacky - kids really like seeing their name on things.

This is the joy of an unusual surname. My kids just get their surname on their labels.

Yanbu at all, great post OP 👏

I gave mine the same first initial so only one set of tapes and one sewing in session.

Can you tell I hate sewing. It only partially worked as I had a DS and then a DD but certainly made it less of a chore

I dont like the stuff with obvious names on the outside, like a hoodie or a rucksack.
There was a push when I was at school to get parents to stop buying it as especially for young kids it makes it easier for strangers to take them if they know the childs name.

YANBU. We’ve had a couple not personalised items and I always give them away for free in Facebook- they go eventually, but what a faff! My aunt got DC a personalised backpack and I feel the same as others on here about them being out and about with names prominently displayed for strangers. They therefore only use it for things like ‘packing toys for a day at grandma’s house’.

My issue with named things is a safeguarding one.
I remember my mum hated a T-shirt I had when I was about 4 with my name in huge letters on the front of it. Her parents had bought it for me on holiday. The letters were ironed on to a standard T shirt. I loved it but I remember mum rarely let me wear it.
I didn't find out for years that the reason she hated it was in case a stranger came up to me and said "come on "onlyjustme"..." and because when you are small if a grown up uses your name you generally think it is OK.
So I have never bought anything like that for my own children and certainly would not for anyone else!!!
Not such an issue when they are older obviously.

There must be a boy around my way called Jack Wills who has had no problem passing on his unwanted personalised clothes.

I don't buy personalised clothing because for little ones, it can be a safeguarding risk. A child can be identified. I hadn't actually thought of this angle. Another very good reason

Well I have just bought 4 personalised Christmas Stockings for my godchildren who are spending Christmas with us for the 1st time. They are personalised because I expect they will keep them for themselves - not really something you would pass on and, I'm sorry, I won't be made to feel guilt because of this because I don't. Sorry OP

I agree OP. I sometimes see things with quite unusual names on Vinted which bemuses me.

I like the coats etc with multiple name labels. To the PP who thinks this isn’t good enough, I say at least they are doing something! I personally use the stick in labels then by the time I am ready to pass it on they can normally be picked off.

As long as the kid can't read I don't see the problem.

You are so right OP. This has bugged me since having children. The thing that annoys me the most is people putting children's names on wooden toys. My children have unusual names so having their name on say a shape sorter toy or a walker seems so wasteful

We received a personalised clock for the baby of all things. It’s in the loft.

Won't they already have stockings that they have used in previous years? So not only is it likely a duplicate of something they already have, they won't be able to pass them on to someone else

Yes, hate to break it to you TopSec but my child has 2 personalised Christmas stockings/sacks and a Christmas Eve crate all bought by other people. I have seen stockings with personalised tags which can be cut off which may be a better option.

That's made me think, as I think personalised stuff can be cute but actually, not worth it in the long run considering what you've just said there.

Thank you OP

One step further: I have two pairs of grandchildren at two separate state primary schools. Some clothing is embroidered with the name of the school names. So it's not possible to pass clothing between cousins. This impacts clothing banks for school clothes, too.

You don't have to break it to me at all ChilliBandit :) I have no idea what they have now or had in previous years and I am certainly not going to ask them to bring their own Christmas Stockings. If you don't want to do it then that's fine and has to be a personal decision. I have decided to do it as I think it would be a nice thing to do for them - they can do what they want with them after Christmas Day. I did look at the ones with personalised tags on them which can be cut off, but decided against them.

It also means that you can't return items that don't fit or aren't suitable

My grandchildren wore their 1st Christmas pj's for months and they never complained! Are parents really so thick that they only use them once? When my two were small the only personalised things they got were pencils, book labels etc., never clothes.

Yes horray for unusual double barrelled names!