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.

Perhaps just this outfit then - I don’t know what their clothes are like, but his little matching suit looked stiff and quite tailored. It wasn't doing much for his paddy-throwing abilities, in any case, rolling around on the floor and screaming as he was.

Thanks @LemonMead I’ve doing the same with my DD, staying middle of the road but crucially not being as rigid as my folks were - I encourage her to look at the economic impact (what else could that money go on) rather than do what my folks did and imply that any interest in, or purchase of designer items was almost a moral failing and should be judged/looked down on.
Basically they raised us with very middle class sensibilities in a very working class area. Made fitting in as kids next to impossible, the labels thing is just one example

Money talks, wealth whispers. She may feel that she looks rich doing all of the above but genuinely rich people will see right through it. It is trashy in my opinion, particularly with multiple labels on display.

This.

I went to school with a mum who dresses her kid in designer gear. She was from a normal, low income family. She then left school, got her boobs done and made a shit ton of money on only fans. I'm talking millionaire. We're in our 30s now and she's invested in property. Fair play, it's not something I'd do myself but then I'm the one stuck in a council flat and she's mortgage free.

I think the labels are a bit of an "in your face" thing to show people that she's got money now. She often posts photos of her lamborghini outside various designer stores with "still can't believe I can afford to shop here now" captions.

I always feel sad when I see this type of behaviour.

Sad that the children are likely being brought up to think happiness and value depends on designer labels.

I’m a bit of an odd one out in my group of friends because I don’t wear designer stuff. However I will say the anoint of them who will show off their new gear for them and their kids then admit to me privately it’s fake is a pretty large statistic. There’s a guy in the gym who’s running a pretty good sideline selling knock of Valentino and Prada.

I think some people think it's genuinely a way of signaling to the world that they care about their kids and they are a good parent.

I haven't a clue either, but...

There was a thread here recently about people putting on their best garbs for doctors visits, as they believe GPs are more cooperative of you present yourself well.

Maybe that's where they were coming from when they decided on lil man's outfit (reaching perhaps 😊).

A person with money dresses their kids like this to show off.
A person with class would not do this regardless of how much money they have.
Tacky.

Never really understood it tbh. Kids grow too quickly and get messy even quicker and I couldn't imagine them having ££££ clothes to stain and ruin.

The kids will be scared to eat or play wearing it!!

I had a tendency to do this when DS is was tiny, he had a better wardrobe than I did. I'm not talking really high end designer, but I'd go into Debenhams and buy him Ralph Lauren trousers or Ted Baker tops when he would have been served just as well as Primark really. I never did buy him Primark though, the basics were all M&S with the more expensive stuff mixed in.

I know why I did that though, because my childhood was fully hand me downs from my older siblings and cousins. Even my knickers were pre-worn. When I had to wear something non-uniform at school, it was garments that my female cousins had worn when they were fashionable, and my cousins were older and bigger. Going to school in trousers a decade or more out of fashion was social suicide but I didn't have any choice.

So I knew even then I was overcompensating for my painful childhood wardrobe issues but it was difficult not to and we had the money to spare, so why not? I also took great delight in ensuring that DS had every single piece of equipment he needed for school, he never needed to borrow a rubber or pencil sharpener from anyone. He had his own watch, he didn't need to ask anyone else for the time. He got to go on residential trips instead of "we can't afford it, you'll have to stay in school".

Maybe some of these parents buying designer gear for their kids have similar issues still. Maybe they get satisfaction from knowing their kids are supplied with particularly expensive stuff?

They just like designer goods. Not sure what there is to be 'curious' about.

Are you similarly 'curious' when people boldly declare all their clothes are from Primark?

Generally, I think it's bloody stupid but each to their own.

That said, I have bought my son a bunch of Hype stuff on Vinted before. He's autistic and likes to wear bright colours and fun patterns. Their tie dye and drip effect jumpers are a bit of a visual stim for him. It's difficult to find fun colours for tween boys - everything is bloody khaki, blue, grey etc which he hates. (He doesn't give a shit about the Hype brand name though...he'd happily wear it without the branding.)

Reading some of these posts I thought Burberry (head to toe especially, and the patterned stuff) and Ben Sherman had got left behind in the 90s, didn't know BS still existed and I have 3 older teen/20s DSs

Some parents think it makes them look 'rich' if they wear obviously logo'd clothing, and if they deck their children out in the same. In my opinion it makes them look the opposite and I make the assumption that the clothes are snides. The children will only care if they are taught to care by the parents.

In fairness to them, I imagine it’s the same reason we put babies in anything other than sleep suits - we think it looks nice.

Babies and toddlers don’t give a toss what they are wearing, they want to be warm and dry and comfortable.

We buy cute clothes and shoes and those weird headband things with bows on to indicate a bald baby is a girl, and football team T-shirts and ones with adorable dinosaurs on, etc etc.

If we acknowledge we do that for ourselves, because we love how the children look in them, we should extend the same to the designer-buying people. It’s their aesthetic.

As the children grow, they are told the labels clothes are the best and they look great in them, they absorb that and believe it.

It’s not my thing, but it’s not my business.

It's easier than getting a personality and showing actual love and attention to your child...?

I think this hits the nail on the head. None of those designers in my house, but my husband who grew up poor likes to see labels on our dc sometimes. We've had baby Adidas and Nike. Very occasional as it's not my style at all but he gets a lot of satisfaction from it.

Yeah, this. I have no skin in the game, Im not a designer person but surely the answer is that they like it. Some people only buy their kids clothes from those colourful scandi brands because they like it. Others only dress their kids in shades of beige because they like it. Others dress their kids head to toe in character clothes because they like it.
There is no great mystery. If they didn't like it they wouldn't do it.

Unless you subsist on the bare minimums to stay alive, sit at home on bare floorboards, and wear the same clothes until they fall apart, there will be things you 'waste' money on. What you waste it on is a question of taste and how much money you have.

not in my experience…..lots of people I know dress their children in designer clothes ….whether they can afford it or not (if not it goes on the credit card) …..they don’t think of it as classy or not classy…..it’s just what they do….it’s the norm…..they don’t overthink it ….they just do it because that’s how they’ve been raised……I moved here 20 odd years ago and couldn’t get my head round it……but it goes hand in hand with kids getting Easter and Christmas pjs every year…….new outfits for Christmas Day and birthdays ( even if they not going anywhere) ..no one is trying to be classy

A mum at my school does this and I honestly couldn't care less. But I do object to her constantly giving the TA a hard time about her DD's missing Ganni jacket or whatever. Also she keeps trying to flog all the stuff on the school WhatsApp channel when she's outgrown it and that annoys me.

Tacky, cheap, performative

It’s an interesting subject. I have two sons and have always dressed them smartly but in far from top end designer labels. Now they are teenagers and one is super into his image, loves clothes, always has to have the new trainers etc. The other son has to be dragged kicking and screaming to get his hair cut, only likes unbranded t-shirts and comfy shorts and really could not care less about labels. Both raised in the same household with the same income and values. I do follow fashion to some extent and have the odd designer handbag or pair of shoes but have better things to spend my money on as an old mum.