How long can I dress DD in 'boys' cloths?

[ForeverBubblegum]

Just wondering if there's an age where you would stop passing cloths on from an opposite sex sibling? I have a 4yo DS and a 1yo DD, so far DD has worn quite a lot of hand me downs, probably about 2/3 of he clothes were DS, but been a baby she doesn't care. I've been having a sort out of more of DS's stuff and I'm not sure weather to keep it or not.

I've got stuff that's 2-3 / 3-4, so not really baby sized anymore. Is she likely to get to mind at that age? Is there some stuff that ok for longer? Like keep the vest and trousers but get more girly tops or something? Just trying to gauge opinion as I don't want to keep I box for years then not use them.

Why don't you just decide on a case by case basis? I'm sure there'll be lots of people along to tell you clothes are just clothes, but I understand not wanting to dress a girl head-to-toe in boys' clothes every day. So just mix and match, see what she likes and what she doesn't.

I’d let DD pick what she likes from hand me downs and then take her shopping for what she likes to fill in gaps. My DDs were clear on what they wanted to wear from 18mos onwards.

Until she can dress herself. Clothes don't have genitals.

I kept joggers and jumpers. They were great for out door play/getting muddy and for messy play/painting etc. They seemed much warmer and stronger than the girls stuff too.

My DD even wore her brothers blue/navy joggers and T- shirts for guide camp. Didn't matter what happened to them.

I think it depends are they typically boys clothes? I think it would be odd to dress a little girl in typically boys clothes. Most clothes for kids are pretty much gender neutral, but defintely some are aimed at boys/girls.

If your skint though, crack on.

No age limit.

I'd keep using all clothes that were still in good condition

My 7yo will wear boys trackies if I just present them to her. If she sees them in a shop in the boys section she will refuse to consider them.

I think at 3yo you'll have some days where you can just dress her in whatever and she won't care and some days where she has a very definite idea of what she wants to wear.

My two DDs hated “girlie” clothes, dresses and pink. They wore dungarees, jeans, leggings etc. And wanted practical boys winter coats to go out and play in the snow.
It would be silly to waste perfectly good clothes from your DS when your DD can make use of them.
However, if she turns out to be one of the pink sparkly brigade, why not find a mum in the opposite position to you - with an older DD, younger DS - and do an exchange of hand me downs?

My DD (10) still enjoys her brother’s used t shirts because they’re all soft and worn in.

@Bobbiepin

Until she can dress herself. Clothes don't have genitals.

I don't disagree (obviously), but if the sexes were reversed and the OP had a load of children's dresses and tights in a drawer, would anyone suggest that she reuse them on her son?

(I am just being awkward, as realistically "boys' clothes" are much more likely to be seen as unisex, and I've no problem with that, certainly not where small children are concerned.)

I think any boys’ clothes could be worn by a girl. Sure there might be pictures of vehicles or dinosaurs or whatever but why can’t a girl wear that? I also have a DS followed by a DD and will hand down as much as I can. I tried to get him a mix of bright colours and didn’t solely dress him in eg blue with trucks anyway. My issue is that after about 18 months the clothes got quite trashed with messy play etc so though I’ve kept them they’re probably not in great condition!

I purposely bought gender neutral stuff in case I had a girl after DS. I did and she will mainly wear hand me downs. DS though is going through a unicorn phase so there are plenty of girly things.
If you’ve got plain joggers/hoodies you can sew a bit of sparkly braid on or get a unicorn/fairy/animal motif to sew or iron on

My 9 year old has some boys clothes - definitely case by case basis.
I would say that both my dds have expressed definite opinions on which clothes they did and didn't like from around age 2 - opinions based a lot on colour and pattern/picture, but they were just choosing colours they liked - nothing to do with whether it was traditionally "boyswear".
At around 5 they were a bit more against clothes they perceived as "for boys" - in public at least, but not as much as their friends.

By around 7 they were much happier again to choose clothes from either section (as long as they liked them.)

Agree I'd do it case by case.

Of she needs 10 t-shirts and all DSs had trucks on, I'd probably keep a couple. If there's plain ones, their neutral anyway.

Jeans, neutral. Same with joggers and leggings. Again, if they're all dark colours I'd keep some and top up with lights and brights.
Coats, would depend on design really. Bright yellow raincoat, neutral. Blue with dinosaurs, I'd consider replacing if lots of her wardrobe was going that way

So I'd probably filter it down assuming you can afford to replace, and knowing that clothes presents are likely to be girlie

My 8yo Dd will happily wear boys clothes, she’s just got some sports stuff and jumpers given to her by her older cousin she loves them. She will happily wear pink and sparkly things too. My 6yo not a chance, she’s pink, frilly, sparkly and all about skirts & dresses. 3yo is what ever the mood takes her.

I get all my DDs boys school shoes as they are sturdier and boys school trousers for winter.

Just let her pick. Mix it up, as she gets older she will pick what she likes. I’ve always experimented with charity shop clothes. Pick up things I’m not sure about for a pound or 2, if DDs like the style and want more stuff like that I will buy new. Or even take her shopping and see what she picks.

If it’s just jeans, joggers, jumpers, I don’t see any problem as long as they fit her well and don’t look scruffy or worn out. Could you buy her a few bits of her own as well and mix and match if you’re worried?

I took DD to Asda yesterday and she picked boys joggers because in her words 'mum it's stupid, why are the girls joggers all thin and sparkly and the boys joggers thick and warm'. She's 6.

Just keep using the clothes for as long as she's happy to wear them.

I wore hand downs well into high school. Must have been a big influence because I love second hand shops now and I wear loads of my son's hand downs. He likes the kind of clothes I could never afford, but he's bigger than me now so I can't really get away with it

27 At least.

Clothes are clothes.

Forever, except for anything with a stupid slogan relating to being ‘mummy’s little man’ or anything equally stupid.
I got a lot of boys’ handmedowns for my daughter. I ask myself if she would be embarrassed to be seen in it in a photo when older. If not, she wears it.
I also hand down her pink t-shirts to my son, so you might want to ignore my opinion.

Keep them and dress her in them at home and for messy play of she doesn't like them when she's older.

My daughter is 11 and chooses most of her clothes from the 'blue' section, the clothes are warmer, have pockets and shorts are longer and more appropriately coloured for running around and climbing trees. So there's no cut off age.

You will be gifted with clothes as she's older too which you could pair with the bottoms. Next and Sainsburys both do a multipack of short and long sleeved tshirts which you could pick up to go with the bottoms.

Loads of boys clothes could easily be worn by a girl, even a very girly one if mixed with the right things. A boyish t-shirt with a skirt or dungarees with a cute top etc.

I had some of my brothers "handme downs" when I was at uni 😂 but they were tracksuit bottoms / hoodies which I used for sports (men's trackies much easier to get over shorts/shin pads) or for mucking out/riding in.

Realistically I was dressed in a lot of my brothers hand me downs when primary school age for playing around home as they were much more practical. I did have some of my own clothes for going out etc but I point blank refused to wear a dress from about 3-10yrs old & hated pink so it was unisex/boys by choice as well.

Currently my neice wears some of DSS hand me downs as they are a year apart but it's mainly just joggers and a few t-shirts. We also tend to buy bright colours and not many with "cool dude" or such on. DN wears leggings a lot though so they are often spares for grandparents / preschool.

My DD is 14 and still wearing her DBs’ hand me downs, alongside things she chooses herself. She has quite the eclectic fashion sense!

You really don’t need to worry about gendered clothing - just dress her in comfortable and weather-appropriate clothes. If she doesn’t like them she’ll soon let you know.

Some idiots people may not be able to tell that she’s a girl if she’s not wearing pink. Those people are not worth your (or your DD’s) time and energy. My DD used to have a few red/brown clothes at that age - mainly with polka dots, flowers and birds etc and she used to have little hair bows to keep her fringe out of the way. People still asked how old “he” was. Because they’re stupid/unobservant.

You don’t need to set your DD up for a lifetime of gender bollocks by worrying about this stuff.

Let clothes be clothes, let toys be toys, let girls be girls and boys be boys, whatever they wear/play with or behave like. Wearing boys clothes won’t make her into a boy.