To think that not all 15 year olds have a North Face jacket?

[Shinyredbicycle]

DD15 is seriously nagging us about getting a North Face jacket to the tune of £300. Apparently, everyone at school has one, they're very warm, last forever etc.

I'm a bit surprised given the decidedly non-middle class demographic of her school tbh, but I have seen a lot of teens wearing them.

My first thought was that it's an insane amount of money to spend on a jacket. Her last one was from Urban Outfitters which I bought in the sale and I suppose that given that she's not going to grow very much more, I'd feel okay spending around £100 on something she really wanted.

But £300! Am I missing something here about how vital they are to a young person's life? It's quite possible that I don't really get how desirable they are.

Would like to hear from other parents of teens about how reasonable a request this is!

TIA

Lets hope Rick Owen puffa jackets don't come into fashion for you young mothers.

The warmest but God their pricey.

Can you imagine if you got this and then someone nicked it?! Pretty easy with coats.

I have a 14yo and a 16yo. They don't have north face coats. But if you can afford it and can live with potential loss/theft then go for it. The coat looks like what lots of teens wear. I imagine most of them are not actually north face though.

Try Moncler if you really want to go for the bees knees. I offered dd (who is yr10) a Canada goose last year as the one and only Christmas gift on the basis it would last her several years. She declined. She had a RI instead. I told her this year no coat. She has had a coat a year and barely wears them. The Zavetti Canada is basically brand new as she preferred another one. I did source what I thought was a second hand Moncler on vinted as they’re over 1.5k for the one dd wants. Turned out to be a fake. The seller cancelled and vinted confirmed I can keep the coat as there is no way of returning it. That’s now dd’s if she so chooses.

Not everyone is covering NF op. My dd would like Moncler but is coveting the NVLTY paint splattered cropped puffa, about £100. I’m sure I could do that to one of her RI coats for free! www.nvltylondon.com/collections/womens-jackets/products/paint-puffer-jacket-black-1 She can buy it with her own money if she wants it that much.

My almost 15yr old DD does not have one, and no I wouldn’t be spending that amount on a coat for a kid. I would like a north face coat, and I’m earning a good salary, but I don’t want to spend that kind of money on one.

DD has a Northface which is no longer cool for her to wear. Lots of other DC still wear theirs though here. Hers was just one from JD sports that they all wear was only £70 ish a couple of years ago. Not the ridiculously expensive two tone colour one the nupste?!?
DS point blank refused to have one and I did offer many times to get him one.

What a cheeky mare. I wouldn’t buy her one just for this comment. So ungrateful.

@echt @emptythelitterbox noooo this trend has definitely not yet taken hold in Victoria. A black puffer is de rigueur for getting your Saturday morning coffee in South Yarra and Richmond, but I've haven't seen many on the private school kiddies in Maccas on Glenferrie Rd.

I'm surprised. I thought they had been out of fashion for at least about 10 years.

I saw lots of people wearing them everywhere in France and Germany about 10 years ago. People who wore them were usually in their 40s and 50s even though there were some people in their 30s and 20s who wore them too, but hardly any teens.

Tell your daughter they're super out of fashion in France and that people who still wear them are usually in their 40s/50s/60s. Maybe that'll make her not want one.

Otherwise if you are willing to spend 100 on her Christmas present get her a used one. It's a reasonable thing to buy at least, high quality and useful.

Kind of funny the brand does not really exist in Texas as far as I am aware but my sister got one in Colorado and have it to me. I've bent been the type to pay attention to brand name clothing so I was just like "oh a jacket. Neat! Thanks!" And then she waited for some other comment I guess and when it didn't taken she went on and on about how great north face is. 😂🤷🏻‍♀️🤣 I then pretended to be excited and totally wowed! Like OH AMAZING! YOU MEANT THAT NORTH FACE. ALL THE WAY FROM COLORADO! WOW! Thank you so much sis! Lol!!! It is a nice jacket but I pray she did not pay $300 for it much less £300. I would have rathered her spend that on a nice family outing such as the movies, pedicures, or a nice dinner. Lol

I gave my daughter mine from the 90s. Apparently brown nupse were going for £500! I bought it for £100 I think. Crazy!

A northface jacket here is the uniform of neds, when I drop dd off at school there's a big group of them standing just outside the gates in nf jackets and balenciaga sock trainers under a big cloud of fruity smoke, I would put most of them down as Turkey specials though.
Weirdly it was the same in the 90s but with timberland boots and john player special smoke!

What's a ned?

And a Turkey Special?

If you live in quite a deprived area, I bet a large proportion of these kids' North Face jackets are off Ali Express. The fakes are often identical to the genuine ones, even made in the same factory. Your DD won't have realised this but I bet this is the case. There are loads of people selling the fakes on TikTok and they're quite easy to get hold of. I am convinced a lot of Instagram influencers' designer gear is off there too.

No. It’s about having self confidence and not worrying about what others think.

I’m often surprised on here by how many grown women are still paralysed by fear of judgement from others.They won’t say anything directly and simply go along with all sort of nonsense, even when they know it’s ridiculous. Lots of advice from fellow wimps to make up lies about why they can’t do X, because they’re too afraid of having a straightforward conversation.

If you’re confident in yourself, you don’t feel the need to be one of the crowd. I definitely didn’t give a toss about what others thought when I was at school and I never have done.

Be warned - DD got a cheap one online and it turned out to be a fake. It doesn’t have a hood! So it’s not very practical and she doesn’t wear it much. I think she’s come to realise they’re emperor’s new clothes but she won’t admit it to us.

What’s a road man?

Do you think it's a good thing for the kid to get the expensive coat only to realise in 2 weeks that it's the wrong brand and she should have got this other one which is cooler?

Its all a nonsense. We know that. It's worth saying that to the daughter even if she doesn't fucking listen!

I'm not going to ask whether neither of you have access to the internet, because it's a rhetoric question (you are posting on MN).

Anyway.....

"British slang. a young and gregarious member of a street gang, often involved in selling drugs."

I think the kids use road man in the same context as saying someone looks like they're in the mafia. I don't think they actually mean they think their mates are selling drugs, just that they've got a certain look.

I love how on MumsNet, some posters can manage the leap between ‘my child wants a specific brand of coat’ to ‘you have raised your child badly to want such a thing’. Surely, having a specific item or brand is an age old common thing for teens. Fitting in is important and has always been.

Anyway OP if you can afford it or find a discounted one or second hand, I say do it. Otherwise it won’t be a long term big deal and she will likely have moved onto something else next year.

Apparently proper drug dealers wear Canada goose. My daughter has an urban outfitters one, think it was £70 as I didn’t want her to look like a thug. It has spoiled north face for me, last time I went in the shop in Manchester the demographic of customers was very different than it used to be. But yes the young people and scrotes who west it, what do they think when they see middle aged walkers wearing it. Usually a trend is to be different than old people.

If DD wanted a brand I couldn't afford, I would offer to pay for a version I could afford (either second hand or a different brand) and she had to save her pocket money/any Christmas or birthday money for the rest.

It was then up to her. Did she really want the brand enough to pay for the rest? Meant I very really said no to anything. She had to decide the relative merits herself

Tbf the brands she did pick tended to last so paid for themselves anyway.

I agree that branded stuff is nonsense, but am old enough to remember when branding either didn't really exist or was easy to not notice.

Over production and excessive consumption, t'internet and neoliberalism have put paid to that.

I do feel for young people navigating growing up in the mess that's been created for them.

I got one for free from a friend and gave it to my son....he didn't want it "Ma, I'm not wearing that, they'll be trying to buy bang off me at the bus stop!"

I gave it away.

Fantastic 😂(West of Scotland mum of teens- so true!!)