My ds dresses like he’s about to rob a shop on his escooter!

[PanadTe]

He DOESN’T own a scooter… just looks like he should

I posted this in teens without much response, so apologies for duplicate post.

When will he grow out of this?! AIBU to be a bit disappointed?

He’s 14, all clothes are JD brands mercier, hoodeich, zavetti. His recent purchase is a hip pack 🙄

I’m really not trying to be judgemental, esp to his face!… DH on the other hand just takes the piss, which I wish he wouldn’t do! But I know he’s trying to be someone he’s not… listening to travis scott and drill type shite music. We don’t live in a city or even a large town. No gangs round these parts

I hope it doesn’t stick!

I think this is just teenagers trying to fit in/find themselves. I'm sure it's a phase

He sounds lovely. My friends son has gone from wearing scandi type colourful clothes to the hoodie "I'm trouble" look overnight. He's still a lovely child. Ignore. I think it's their age. Hang tight. Stick with having a good relationship.

DH's best friend has a nephew just like this. We see them from time to time at BBqs / Xmas drinks etc but obvs hadn't seen him through COVID.

When we first met again I could barely contain myself it was so funny! His Dad is ex forces and Mum is very suburban housewife but he sounded and looked like he was straight off the streets of Harlem or something!!

He's much more his old self now already.

It’s a horrible look isn’t it, one of my family members is the same, I don’t know why they like the “street” look. A few years ago it would’ve been called chavvy 😂now even the posh kids are doing it! I hope it’s all a phase

As long as he doesn't start with the vocab! I had a pupil (middle class, lives in good area) call me 'my g' recently 😵‍💫

Not being judgemental about area - should have said middle of countryside rather than good area! It's late

😂

Inspired by this thread, I just found a guide to becoming a middle-class roadman 😂 It's from 2020 so may be a little passé on the specifics, but I thought you'd enjoy this:

"When you’re coming from a £1,000,000 home the odds are stacked against you when you need to appear authentic spitting along to lyrics about trapping in a bando at a Giggs concert. Don’t flip your hummus lid, there’s a way to hide some of that privilege by asking your mum to buy the right designer garms for you. North Face puffer jackets do a great job at concealing years of stability, an Armani pouch is a great way to keep your entitlement safe, and you can disguise the snobby tilted head in a Stone Island bucket hat, but your mother’s accountant can rest assured knowing her money is being well spent when you choose to buy Adidas X Palace."

Image search had me splitting my sides at the jackets looking like inflated dinghies and the covered faces. At least I understand what Kanye's on about now! (Sorry, I mean K, don't I?)

I am, of course, superior, having spent the years from 15-21 cycling through skinhead/suede, hippie, Biba dreamer, rude girl and punk. Followed by more punk and New Romantic although I had a career by then, so had to keep my charity shop customisations and enormous hairstyles to evenings and weekends 😏

YANBU OP. I stood in the queue for immigration coming back from holiday the other day noting that a lot of the 'young people' were dressed almost exactly like the prisoners I see at work. Apart from the satsumas with eyelashes that is.

My two teens boys are the same and I don't like it but think back to being that age, we all just wore what was on trend and I think that's just what's in for boys nowadays.

My DS(15) and his friends all dressed the same

None of them have escooters or deal drugs

Just be thankful he's not actually robbing shops 🤣

Most kids now do, the only thing I say is hood down/hat off so you don’t worry people. And smile (he has a nice smile that might stop people thinking he’s scary😅). They all go through it op, we have some blackmail worthy photos of db in white baseball caps and dodgy haircuts and tracksuits from his teenage days. He migrated to cords, shirts and sweaters😅

a friend of mine has a teenager into Drill and he says exactly the same type of things as you. It couldn't be anymore different to what he was like as a teenager either, which I think is the other thing.

Just remember we don't dress like we did at that age so hopefully they'll grow out of it. I looked a state 14/15 in tie dyed tops and leggings (all the rage in the early 90s) I'm now more a boring jeans and a jumper type.

But I know he’s trying to be someone he’s not

No, he's trying to figure out who he is. There's a difference and in your teens it takes a bit of trial and error. If he's not actually doing anything wrong, just leave it.

Am I your friend? Was this my daughter?

I grew up in a small village in the East Midlands that had annual croque games, summer fetes, and houses with things like 'hall' or 'manor' in the name. I still smile remembering my brothers at this age who went through a phase of wearing tracksuits and thick gold chains while saying things like 'bare wicked, man'.

He's 14, he's finding his style and figuring out how he wants to present to the world. Take photos, they'll be funny in a few years.

Just be grateful op it’s worse with same age girls.

It's really normal, teenagers love to rebel against school uniform but then create a look which they all copy so they are all essentially identical. My ds won't wear any brands unless he's seen one of his friends in it.

Not exactly the roadman look but quite a funny watch :
https://www.google.com/search?q=north+face+skin+fade&oq=north+face+skin+f&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgAEAAYgAQyBggBEEUYOTIHCAIQABiABDINCAMQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAQQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAUQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAYQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAcQABiGAxiABBiKBdIBCDMzOTBqMGo5qAIAsAIA&client=ms-android-samsung-ss&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8&chrome_dse_attribution=1#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:96a18601,vid:A6pTyPYwqpY,st:0

This sounds so entirely normal, I'm surprised you're bothered by it. He sounds like a lovely lad too. Teenagers are meant to wear clothes their parents don't like. They're meant to try out different looks.

My daughter is the same age and we've had the brief dalliance with enormous eyelashes. Badly matched foundation. She's currently all about the white Nike socks. None of these are looks I particularly like but she's a good kid, well behaved, respectful and doing well in school. I doubt she'll dress like this forever.

Ah yes, the ubiquitous black hoodie and tracksuit bottoms. My teenager constantly hassles me to buy new clothes which sit unloved in his wardrobe. He bought himself a cream leather jacket (I gulped at that one) that would have been perfect had he been in the Backstreet Boys and has been worn exactly once.

Ironically the favoured tracksuit is from school so he's spending the weekend wearing school uniform. Make it make sense.

I raise you haircuts. The latest one is the usual skinfade plus nothing off the top. He has curly hair so is currently sporting a massive pube head (as we called them in the 1980s) with a mushroom shaped head thanks to the shaved hair underneath. It looks awful and I can't believe he paid good money to look like that,

His brother wears nice clothes and has a haircut that suits him so that's one small mercy,

Cumbria here also and my 16 year old is the same, but he's a lovely polite boy and it does shine through. He'll be fine 😅

They do grow out of the JD phase which is a blessing as despite appearances it is v expensive.
my ds was jd at that age but now baggy jeans and sweat shirts / tee shirts. Not a vast improvement but a better look than polyester matching top and bottoms

I think the problem is that there's not so many places for boys to buy clothes from. Sounds like he's a dream at home - that's all that matters x

My 14-year-old daughter has been privately educated since Reception and her main hobby is equestrian show jumping, yet she sounds and dresses like she could be in a gang from some rough estate and listens to the most awful rap. 🥶