To wonder why parents dress their children in designer gear

[LemonMead]

Posting this in the knowledge that it's none of my business how other mums dress their kids, but I'm genuinely really curious because it's such an unrelatable position for me.

There's a lass at my DD's school who is dressed solely in designer gear - we're talking Gucci, Valentino, Yeezy trainers etc. Her mum is the same - head to toe labels.

When they go on holiday, she posts pics of the kid at famous restaurants (with LV wallet prominently featured), next to designer boutiques - we even had one of the kid perched on a Fendi golf cart.

How do you get a kid to care about designer labels? And what drives a desire to dress solely in super expensive clothes? It doesn't seem like a healthy value system, so I'm curious if anyone can explain it.

Some people are really that rich. It doesn't matter at all that a t-shirt costs £300 and they get to shop at the same place which saves them time and effort - mom sees a shirt she thinks is really cute and ask the staff if they have it for kids too and they bring it to her and it's an easy purchase.

Spotted a little lad - maybe 2-3yo - at the GP's this morning dressed head to toe in Burberry. It doesn't look (imo) nice, nor did he look comfy.

I don’t think it’s that hard to imagine that people like different things. Some people love football and spend a fortune on games. Some people like far flung holidays and spend thousands on them, some like camping holidays in Wales.

I’ve taken photos of my child in front of things I’ve built, they couldn’t give a crap about them, it was totally for me!

Whilst I don’t spend lots of money on children’s clothes, they do wear what I put them in, I usually do an online shop and they wear what I buy. Just because I prefer to spend money on things like eating out and holidays, I don’t really care what other people spend their money on, I think there is a lot of inverted snobbery, and a lot of people putting others down to justify their choices.

I would guess that it’s either:

• people who are SO rich that buying a Gucci top works out the same as most people buying from Matalan in relation to their income.

• People like myself who grew up without money, have some now and feel a need to show that they’ve got wealth. Not proud of this attitude but defo have it.

I don't think it matters what their reasons are. If they have the money, and their children are also well cared for, so what? They might not be the clothes I would pick either, but so what. I think you're being very judgemental for no reason, if they like it that's fine for them.

These parents are poor and cannot afford much, so buy these ‘designer’ brands to try to buy their kids into middle class acceptance, not realising that the middle classes abhor labels.

One of my sons friends is so posh his mum refuses all labels, including shoes which she imports hand stitched from a Swiss cobbler.

Succinct and to the point 🤣

Yes it would sadly, long before social media my poor DNephew used to be dressed like this and was terrified of getting wet or messy. We would take off his clothes and put on old T-shirts to play in the garden to his heart’s content then redress him before his mum picked him up. She knew and was glad his clothes were still immaculate

Because they can, we are very middle of the road DS lives in sports wear which is all branded. Going out wise he has a mix of lower end brands with the odd bit of Zara and River island. He likes the clothes as the likes of Tommy, Diesel, money etc do sports like wear I will let him out the house in. If I'm lucky in the sale I can get a Money tracksuit for £70 which is cheaper than Nike. Weddings etc he's made to pick a shirt which is usually bribery of it being RL or Ben Sherman.

If we could afford it and he wanted it I wouldn't turn my nose up to him being in Gucci if he liked it.

I get you, but designer gear is just one thing I don't understand. Gorgeous holidays in nice weather? Get it. Football season tickets if you enjoy the game? Get it.

Shopping solely with expensive, visibly branded designer gear, regardless of the style of clothing...I just don't 'get' the benefit/enjoyment.

If questioning why parents dress their kids solely in very obviously designer gear is snobbery, then I guess I'm a snob.

Hmmmm, it’s a tricky one - from personal experience my parents were so ‘anti-designer’ and ‘anti-fashion’ in general when I was growing up that labels took on a whole prominence in my life that they really shouldn’t have. Added to being bullied for having cheap trainers (amongst many other things!) meant I went through a very spendy period in my 20’s when I was earning my own money!
I think a lot of it is cultural and showing off what you have to take the focus away from what you don’t have - it’s buying self esteem

Not in my experience…..mostly it’s the cultural norm …..families vary from being on benefits to earning well but all dress their kids the same …..bit like a school uniform……where I live in NW there are many many shops that sell children’s designer wear on the high street

I'm sorry you were bullied for being dressed in cheaper clothes - I was, too, and I try to stay middle-of-the-road with my DD's clothes to avoid her going through the same (much as it infuriates me to have to!). It's hard because I could afford to dress her in designer gear - I just don't think it's a healthy value to have.

I think this has a lot do with it.

Some people just like to show off on social media, but for some I think there is definitely an element of not being comfortable in their own skin and trying to hide behind "stuff"

Oh my god, your friend sounds like an absolute horror from the other end of the same spectrum 😂

😂 Reminds me of those Frasier episodes where they talk about their clothes - handmade by an Italian artisan who rings the village bells when he finishes a pair of shoes, or the fabled Spanish master weaver Diego, who only uses the soft chin hairs of Andalusian mountain goats to create his jumpers.

people like different things, it shouldn’t really come as a big shock. They like how it looks, they like showing off, they feel good taking pride and spending mega money on their appearance.. take your pick. It wouldn’t be for me but lots of things aren’t… and plenty of things I do, I am sure would cause others to turn their noses up, should they feel so inclined.

This is true. I dress almost entirely in preloved clothes, and I know that makes a lot of people squeamish.

It’s something I’ve never really understood for babies/kids either. I can get it as an adult when you are the size you are both body and shoe size, some of the designer stuff is really good quality and lasts a long time. For example I have a pair of designer heels that are still beautiful 8 years later, so comfy, good quality, no regrets buying them as they’ve more than been worth it. But for kids stuff, they just grow so fast I don’t know that it’s worth the price!

There was a baby last week at our family group 9 weeks old wearing a £200 Gucci sleepsuit, it was cute, but all I could think about was the amount of sleepsuits that went straight in the bin after a poo explosion when my little girl was that age! And even if they avoided the poo bin, they fit for such a short amount of time!

Maybe they have something to prove. Maybe they feel insecure and the designer gear is a kind of uniform that they think they can’t get wrong. Maybe they did their shopping in a country without copyright laws, where everyone can wear designer labels.

£200 for a sleepsuit! 😱

Most people who are wearing designer gear are wearing fakes or second hand. There’s heaps of buy swap sell for designer kids clothes so probably not spending as much as you think and then if selling on… personally I find clothes shopping soul crushing and a horrible waste of time but some people enjoy it and, we’ll it really doesn’t effect you, does it? Personally I don’t understand at all why people watch things like the olympics or buy football tickets but meh whatever

I think everyone is snobby about one thing or another.

Some people might think the designer brands are better quality, some might follow some particular brands, some might like the look of them, some don’t even think of them as ‘designer’ just their regular shop, there are so many reasons.

People do things for all kinds of reasons. You say you can understand holidays, but I’ve seen so many posts on here where people don’t, especially when it comes to bringing small children. It’s just down to preference.

I personally do not understand motor racing, but I don’t think it would be fair to cast aspersions on the people that do, calling them insecure, or wanting to show off.

There will be a lot of people who don’t understand your love of second hand clothes, I hope they wouldn’t be as mean to you as you are to them.

😂 I don't think I'm being dreadfully mean, come on.

Doesn't Burberry make comfortable kids clothes or was it just this particular outfit that looked uncomfortable?