Dressing kids in matching clothes

[ZML]

I don’t like parents dressing their kids of the same gender in the same clothes - twins and siblings about 15 months in difference.

Have friends who have nieces, nephews wearing the same clothes all the time. The children are individual, so treat them like they are.

it may look cute but it’s going towards resentment later on. As I have friends who were dressed in the same clothes as their sister as a child and hated it. They do have kids of the same gender. The only time they wear the same matching clothes is school uniform.

I have a friend who does this for days out, because it's easier to spot them. I do think it's handy - you can easily scan the crowd and find them.

All the time though, I agree - odd.

Oh I really like it at a certain age! I had 2 boys close in age and would sometimes dress them in little matching outfits on the odd day or to special occasions. Once they are a bit older it stops but it’s very cute when they’re small.

My friend has 2 girls a couple of years apart and sometimes puts them in matching dress’s and it’s very adorable!

I think it can be quite sweet up to about age 7 for special occasions like a family wedding or a party.

Sometimes kids quite like to be matching.

I'm with you OP, however my kids love to coordinate. They can't often specifically match as I don't buy them identical clothes (though sometimes it happens through handmedowns or bundles or whatever), but even then they enjoy wearing similar colours. Recently my husband and one child met me and the other child out somewhere and we were all dressed in the same blooming shade of blue like we'd planned it 😂 The kids loved it, said we looked like a team. As someone has already said, it really does make them easier to spot on a day out.

I felt like that as a primary school child but I suspect that parents do it because it saves the argument of one child wanting the item that the sibling is wearing.

Why do you care?

Some kids love it - my opposite sex children actively asked to dress alike until the older one was about six. Not every day, but fairly often they’d both wear a white t shirt and black shorts, or both go and find a green t shirt and jeans. They were happy so I couldn’t care less if some randoms didn’t like it. Obviously if the children don’t want to do it that’s different. Once mine started to pick different outfits that was fine and respected.

I have infant girls and it’s so much easier to keep track of them when they’re matching.

they also love the same things. And they would get upset if I bought say a unicorn dress home from Tesco for one of them and not the other. They actually love matching. Obviously they won’t always want to and that’s fine.

I occasionally did this when my girls were little.

Now they are 8 and 10 and have completely different styles.

They aren't traumatised from dressing the same sometimes when they were little though.

What is the ‘done’ thing with identical twins nowadays? I don’t know any but in the ‘olden days’ it seemed like people would dress them exactly the same down to their socks every single day?

Well I wore the same clothes as my sister who is 4 years older than me and neither of us have any resentment whatsoever. The time mi mother dressed us both in silver waistcoats and matching dickie bows is a solid cringe memory that makes us both laugh but t’is what it is!

My little girls love dressing in matching dresses. My five year old’s favourite trainers are ones that match mine, she’s always desperate for me to wear them so we can match! As if they are going to resent me because we had matching trainers or they sometimes wore the same dress when they are grown up.

I have children close in age with the same taste, should I tell them they have to wear different things when they’ve chosen them themselves?

For days out before they wanted the same, I’d have a hoody, coat or hat that was the same, so it was easier to spot them in a crowd.

My children all looked very alike despite being an age gap of 3 years between each one. We lost one on a day out and I’d inadvertently dressed them in a similar way. It was so easy to point to a sibling, when asked what he looked like and say “like that but shorter” 🤣

DM did this all the way until I started buying my own clothes in my teens. I hated it. DSis is 4 years younger than me, taller and slimmer and completely different colouring. There is not a style oe colour in the world that suits a dumpy, English Rode blonde and a willowy, olive skinned brunette. By her own admission, DM doesn’t really care about how clothes look fashion etc, so the matching outfits were usually pretty grim (often hand made A line skirts and handknitted turtle neck jumpers by my GM and her buddies).

We had identical twins and they were often dressed the same however DH would embroider the initial of their first name on the top or pocket (he was a dab hand with the machine). Worst thing was I came back from working away to find he'd not only made them matching dresses but one for me as well. The girls loved it dressed like mummy, I wasn't so keen.

As they got older they developed their own look but sometimes dressed alike. If they come visit at the same time they're often dressed similarly and do say it's not intended.

Best piece of advice I was given for days out in busy places was to dress them the same- three of them when they were young. Easy to spot and easy to identify. Adults now and no resulting psychological trauma!

I used to dress mine in matching tops and cardigans when traveling. Easier to spot at a busy train station

I have 4 daughters and did this often until they were around 7. Especially for weddings. All had matching dresses. Loved it! Each to their own. They won't wear matching now 😁

If the kids are requesting it then fine. But otherwise it looks odd. Even with twins.

It's almost like the parent is claiming visual ownership. 'These are my children and they all look and act exactly the same because I'm fantastic'.

I can't imagine an older child wanting their younger siblings wearing the same outfit as them? What's wrong with a bit of individuality.

They'll probably be in uniform at school so there's plenty of time to be 'matching'. No need to do it in their own personal time.

My kids actually like being matching - I don’t do it all the time but days out at theme parks ect

I live in the middle east and its a normal sight here...sometimes big families with 5 or 6 children and all boys same and all girls the same.

It also means/shows you aren't using hand me downs.

My two also like matching some days. They own very little that is actually exactly the same, but I'm not going to deny them the pleasure of wearing that one matching dress on the same day – even if I'm personally a bit torn on it.