to think more expensive clothes do actually look alot better?

[JeanPoole]

i used to think doesn't matter how much the clothes cost or where they are from, makes no difference.

with dd i normally get her clothes from tescos, matalan and next.

shes got one or two bits from boden and monsoon.

everytime she wears the boden and monsoon stuff everyone says how lovely she looks and asks where i got her outfit from etc.

im amazed people really pay much attention to what shes wearing.

but now its making me think, should i get her nicer stuff more often
?

[norktasticninja]

Oh blimey Riven poor little Armarni clad child . IMO there's definitely a difference between quality and needless poncyness.

I do go for quality but I'd never dress my DD in clothes I wasn't happy for her to play properly in, my main reason for getting quality stuff is that it doesn't ruin as quickly or easily.

[Nancy66]

I don't think there's any point in spending a fortune on designer togs for your kids.

In the adult context then, yes, I think good quality, well made clothes look better and last longer.

I know that an H&M top is going to last one season and then it will be buggered.

But there does come a point where a piece of cloth is only worth so much. I'd pay £200-300 for a fine quality, tailored dress but I wouldn't pay two grand.

[reach4sky]

Well I have 2 boys so everything gets passed on. Also, I buy Boden say 5-6 when my eldest is say 4 so I get at least 2 if not 3 years wear out of most stuff.

For my daughter I tend to buy cropped trousers / jeans etc so with the adjustable waist they last for ages.

[spokette]

When the DTS were at nursery, I heard a mother tell the nursery nurses to be careful that her 2yo did not get his clothes dirty because his Armani jeans alone cost over £50!

She also use to bring in his own box of toys to prevent him picking up germs from the other chidren

[Aefondkiss]

I bought my dd a monsoon dress (in the sale) for her 5th birthday party, it was age 4-5, she wore it for two years (not constantly ) and I have just passed it on to my niece who will be 5 this year and then, hopefully her wee sister will wear it too.

I think it is worth buying good quality sometimes.

[Aefondkiss]

I feel sorry for the Armani clad child!

[KingCanuteIAm]

I don't stop my children playing or insist they keep clean, in fact my "pretty pretty" dd's favorite game is to stick her head in mole-hills and fill her shoes with mud
However, buying good quality stuff means that, even white jeans, are free from grass stains etc after a wash. With other, cheaper, clothes the stains don't come out IME.

[reach4sky]

Exactly, and actually I often find that white is a good colour as you can bleach out stains.

[KingCanuteIAm]

Reach, I have found that, often, the best way to get stains out is to leave the item in the sun. It is naturally bleaching and is the only way I have found of getting tomato based sauces (like bolognase) out of white clothes (and it is free and better for the environment too )

[mum23monkeys]

I think I'm very lucky as I have a rather well-to-do sil who passes down clothes to me. My 2 year old dd rolls in puddles in £100 smocked dresses. But the quality does show - she is at least the third child to wear these dresses and they wash incredibly well. I need to find another little girl to hand them on after after my dd. I'm all for fantastically expensive well-made clothes..... as long as someone else buys them first!

Do also agree that skinny kids have a harder time with trousers. Gap are the cheapest jeans my ds can wear. I bought him some in Sainsbury's the other day and he looked ridiculous. But his slightly less emaciated brother looked great in his.

Hennes t shirts - great for a summer, but dusters by autumn.

[reach4sky]

Yup King, sun is absolutely brilliant on tomato based stains but sadly hasn't been much for the past 6 months!

[spokette]

What is the point of putting a two year old in expensive clothes and sending them to nursery where he will get paint plus other things on him?

[KingCanuteIAm]

lol, I just put them on a window sill for a day or two, it seems to work still, although is slower than being on the line in scorching sun!

Have you tried colour safe bleach on brights? I have not got up the courage to try it yet and have been wondering if it would make my life easier!

[FAQinglovely]

I disagree - DS3's first pair of shoes were Clarkes ones (I don't usually buy expensive shoes for them ).

No-one commented at all.

I then bought him a £7 pair of brown boots from Woolies, he's had them since before Christmas (really should go and get his feet measured again as I'm sure he must have grown ) and if I had a £1 for every person that's commented on his brown boots and how lovely they are and where did I get them........well I would have been able to buy at least another 10 pairs of boots

[TheDevilWearsPrimark]

Not for children. I shop around, some secondhand, some from boutiques in sales, H&M, la redoute, and my children look fab but I couldn't care less if they come home covered in glue and felt tip.

For me I prefer to buy fewer better quality things that I know will wash well and be 'classic'.

[FAQinglovely]

skinny kids = buy a belt

[FAQinglovely]

and I'm curious to know what you're all washing your clothes in that they fade so quickly - bleach??

DS3 is today wearing jeans and a top that DS1 was given (2nd hand) as a baby - so they're on their 4th child - and they're not particularly faded

[TheDevilWearsPrimark]

spokette, there is a mother at our Nursery who inspects her DS every time he leaves. I once saw her shouting at him because his clothes were expensive so why was he covered in paint. She then had a go at staff for 'letting him go crazy'.

I felt so sorry for the wee boy.

[KingCanuteIAm]

FAQ, I am a so and so for washing everything after every wear. Just on a quick wash but I do use the appropriate powder for it (ie colour powder for colours etc) so I don't think it is that. I just find if I washed a tesco t-shirt and a no added sugar t-shirt 10 times, the tesco one would be fit for the bin and the no added sugar one would be looking like new still.

[FAQinglovely]

I was most things after 2 wears - toddler clothes after one wear (and obviously DS3 is most definitely toddler so his clothes today will be washed after he's worn them).

Actually you know last year I decided to buck my own trend and buy DS1 and 2 a pair of jeans each from Pumpkin Patch - saw them as a bit of an "investment" - DS1's pass down to DS2, DS2's eventually to DS3

DS1's got a hole in them (DS1 never gets holes in his trousers - think this is only the 5th or 6th pair of trousers he's "put through" at the knee in 8yrs - and all the others were hand-me-downs). And both pairs are faded and look more crap than their cheap rough and tumble jeans.

£34 down the fecking drain.

[FAQinglovely]

oh and don't get me started on my pair-of-boots-that-cost-approximately-4-times-more-than-I'd-usually-spend - I thought perhaps they may have a longer "use" life than my cheap £10-20 ones - I bought them in October last year - they went in the bin last week as they looked bloody awful

I went back to Shoe Zone and bought some cheap ones at the weekend (and a £6 pair of "converse" style shoes from Peacocks that came up lovely in the washing machine after I'd used them to garden in )

[DannyWotty1]

I'm afraid to confess that I love buying expensive clothes for my one-and-only DD - at least one member of the family looks nice! It's just a habit now and whilst I've seen some fantastic stuff in supermarkets, I'm quite happy to pay extra for her. Not bothered if she gets dirty - the whole point of quality clothes is they last longer and wear better. Love buying nice clothes for myself (when I can afford it) and don't see why she shouldn't have nice stuff too.

[KingCanuteIAm]

Weird isn't it? I wonder why some people have such opposite experiences to others?

I haven't used Pumpkin Patch so I cannot comment on them but I bought dd a pair of no added sugar skinnies (in the sale) as a nice pair to go with a couple of cheap tesco pairs (as she doesn't often wear jeans), the NAS ones are still going strong, still fit, kept their colour, zips still work etc but both the tesco pairs are long gone. One pair the zip broke and the ripped at the seam, the other pair were just so faded after a couple of washes they were embarassing!

Once the tesco ones were gone they were not replaced so dd wears the NAS ones for everything, climbing rocks, river walks etc but they stand up to it all, they have not even started to rub at the knees, never mind go through!

[newpup]

My 2 DDs wear mostly mini boden and monsoon. I love the style and quality of their clothes. Although, I always stock up in the sales and each DD gets a couple of years out of each piece usually.

The quality is so much better than cheaper stuff and DD2 looks just as good as DD1 did in them!