in wanting to buy some clothing for my eight year old son that doesn't have skulls and skeletons and/or pictures of guns on everything????

[ghosty]

DS's school have a Grade 3 sleepover every year - they camp out at school for the night, loads of fun etc etc ...
It is Friday night.
Earlier on this week we assessed his pyjama situation and he begged me to buy him a 'cool' pair of pjs ... obviously he is worried that his stripey flannelette 'old man' pjs (which I adore on him) and his dinosaur pjs (old favourites) could cause him to be a figure of ridicule among his mates.
So off I went today to see what I could find. I was a bit stressed about finding something 'cool' as I was never the coolest chick on the block anyway but hey ho ...
I trawled the shops and it seems that 'cool' seems to be a bit violent though ... very nasty pictures of skulls and blood and/or soldiers with guns in khaki colours.
Foul.
I found one pair of 'soccer' pjs (being sporty DS likes them) and another pair of Bart Simpson ones (although a delinquent oik at least he isn't violent ....)

Similar situation for boy's daytime clothes too ...

Why the need for pictures and motifs on everything and why such horrible images?

Do I need to wake up and smell the coffee and accept that this is what we face when our children are the Yoof of today?

I don't like guns and I hate the 'negative' slogans, but I don't have a problem with the skull motif personally - from the look of New Look the slightly rocky look is 'in' atm. I know over here you can get plain stuff in most shops, you just have to look for it behind all the other stuff.

I love that website! They describ their bold colours and stripy clothing as "fun and funky" - not "cool" and "trendy" - exactly my feelings about how kids clothing should be!

I get ds and dd's clothes from la redoute. They are reasonably priced and don't have the problem of slogans, motifs etc. They are quite traditional, but cool at the same time.

I have got most of DS's and DD's clothes from LaRedoute/Verbaudet since they were babies. I was quite sad when DS grew out of Vertbaudets Today range, their t shirts were always gorgeous colours.

lOVING THE LINK MIFFIN MCLAy! Tanks. Will be doing some ordering today. Laughing at KT14's son going to pre school largely dressed as a chimp, but know what you mean

No John Lewis or Boden or Gap here i'm afraid
Decent children's clothes in Australia are outrageously expensive - Pumpkin Patch sell jeans $40/$50 and although they are really nice my son is growing like a weed at the moment and the jeans I bought him at the beginning of the winter are already beginning to creep up to his ankles ....
I just can not justify spending a fortune on clothes that are only going to last a season and get mucked up quickly (I think my DS spends much of his time crawling around on concrete, judging by the holes he puts in the knees of his jeans).
'Target' do reasonably priced and OK (for cheap) quality clothes that suit our very active outdoor children. And it was there today that I couldn't find anything that fitted between the skulls and guns and the pukey disney/thomas the tank engine gimmicky stuff.
The girls' stuff was no better ....

A new thread: AIBU to think that budget clothing does not necessarily mean my son is a gangsta and my daughter is a child prostitute?

I saw a baby boy the other day, wearing a tee shirt that announced he was "A Boobs Man".
Classy.

Although some could say it was promoting Breastfeeding, which of course is only a good thing. Still didn't like it though.

Seeker, the old man stripey pjs were from Pumpkin Patch a few years ago ... I used to go to the PP sales in NZ and pick up brilliant bargains ... The PP sales in Aus aren't quite as good though.

MuffinMclay ... I like that link. Bit stripey though ...

Love the link too MuffinMclay! Little White Company often quite good for trad pyjamas altho not cheap - got a couple of pairs for ds in the sale a couple of years ago and he's still wearing them.

GO to H&M they do great boys clothes

Its a popularity thing...the skulls. If you hunt around you may find some that have skulls but they are discreet. Some that are woven into the fabric but not colored to be readily noticeable. Next year will be something else that finds the fashion favor.
How you dress your child is entirely up to you but finding a nice compromise early will bring you and your child closer and later on when you have big issues or contrasts in decisions you may find that you can sit down and find a compromise that is acceptable to both of you.
At eight your child isn't going to be in those PJs for very long anyway, or anything else clothing or shoe wise. They are growing so fast and even though it seems like forever sometimes you will soon find yourself packing away old clothes and you'll look back and laugh at what they liked in their younger years.

I agree, boys clothes are so depressing. They are either navy, green or brown. I only have one DS and no DD and have often noticed shops how pretty the girls clothes are and how as soon as a boy gets to about 4 all of a sudden the cuteness goes out of their clothes. They try to make them look like little old men. My DS had some gorgeous clothes when he was a toddler lovely bright colours, I miss them.

H&M also do plain t-shirts, both long and short sleeves, in tons of colours and they are only £1.99. Think they only do baby/toddler sizes so I'm making the most of it while I can!

there is a petition to bring h&m to Australia, maybe you should add your name ghosty?

It does have skulls and cross bone stuff, for girls and boys, (which I don't mind) but loads of other styles without slogans.

GAP
ZARA
H%M
Go to the boutiques in France

Thanks for that link, have just ordered 9 long sleeved really funky brightly coloured stripey tee shirts 3 for each of my boys in different colours - £6 each. Luckily I loooove stripes on boys! Reminds me of H&M clothes, and though they used to be loads cheaper, not the case now. Gonna have housefull of stripey boys running around now, love it!

have not been in this season but Summer Stuff in Zara was great, pictures of radio's/ music instead if skull's etc - reasonably priced as well

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Yes, Next seem to be into Skulls at the moment, they have put them on everything! Also monkeys although they are quite cute.

noticed this although I only have a DD. my nephew is dressed mostly as a chimp or skeleton most days (his mum is a nextoholic) although you can get plain t-shirts from most places just like someone else said you have to search behind the other stuff.

Must admit I found the 'boobs man' t-shirt a little funny. not that I think its a good idea for a little one to wear a t-shirt saying that but I get the breast feeding bit

iCod - wyh aer all yoru potss a bit miexd up? aer yuo in a ruhs all teh tiem?? lol

Did I miss you having another 20 children Cod? Congratulations on the birth of DS 23 ...
Kelix ... cod had a terrible accident a few years ago and lost all her fingers (but not her thumbs) in a freak crocodile attack in Swindon. She's ok but she finds it hard to talk about ....

Anyhoo, I hear you re. going with it ... I am not fighting it and if DS expressed a burning desire to have skulls emblazoned on his chest then I will succumb ... he needs to express himself etc etc ... but luckily he hates shopping and is happy for me to get his stuff at this point. I just wanted an alternative to Mini Marilyn Manson stuff ...

Where can I find the petition for H&M?

I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN!!!

marks and sparks seem to be the only place to do nice kids tv or nice non violent clothing

just because todays teenagers have decided that death and slitting wrists is the only answer does not mean this has to influence small kiddies!!!

ARHG

I don't have a problem fnding nice clothes without skulls or guns on them for DS, it just takes a bit of looking.

H&M are always good.

MOstly I just buy bundles of clothes off ebay, but it takes a lot of lookijg and waiting until someone puts on a bundle that isn't just sport/tracksuits or loads of next stuff

I love ebay bundles.

I hate next with a passion.