Boys clothes vs Girls clothes - what are the main differences you have noticed in the shops?

[Flowertailbird]

I wonder if you can help me out.

My daughter is doing a project on children's clothes and in particular how the clothes labelled as for boys and or for girls differ. She wants to focus on whether or not there is obvious sexism in the clothes and at what the different clothes feature as prints and patterns for example she has seen boys toddler clothes full of words like 'adventure' or 'brave' etc. and girls clothes full of princesses and 'be kind' designs.

I honestly did not notice this when my children were younger, I was oblivious to it but now when she has pointed this out to me I am really quite shocked as to some of the differences that passed me by.

As parents of young children, please could I have your comments as to what you have noticed, if anything, with regards to this so I can pass them on to her.

Thank you and if I have put this in the wrong board or I could get more responses elsewhere I would really appreciate this being moved or put where is most suitable.

I read a twitter comment once that I remember still that boys clothes often have predators on them, and girls clothes prey. It never occurred to me before but when I later looked in Ds wardrobe all the animals were bears, crocodiles, tigers etc.

My friend’s dd clothes are bunnies, mice, squirrels, butterflies

The main difference is that with girls, 90% of stuff is pink. My DD is just 10 mo, but I almost always buy her clothes that are labelled as boys clothes. IMO they are not boys clothes, but just baby clothes, whereas the girls clothes are more like dolls clothes - no way could any boy where them! So long as something doesn't have the word "boy" on it, then I don't see why - at a very young age - it can possible be a no-go for girls.

That is a very interesting observation. Thank you, that is really helpful.

@BornInAThunderstorm
That's really interesting. Defo going to be looking very carefully next time I go clothes shopping.

mobile.twitter.com/volewriter/status/1190666248780238853

I'm sure there's also a Facebook group about this. It's been mentioned on another thread recently but can't think where it would be

Pants!

I have one of each and often hand down clothes from my son to my daughter.

I hand down all underwear and pjs. Youngest (DD) recently potty trained and I let her pick a pack of pants. The rest are all DS' old ones.

She obviously picked the pink frilly ones as that is what she likes. They are soooo thin and all discoloured in the wash.

My sons by comparison are much thicker material and much more colour fast ... why? Why does a boy need thicker pants?

My daughter was never keen on pink or sparkles or unicorns. This ruled out so many girls clothes she wore mainly boys clothes.

Shorts annoy me. Boys ones are knee length but girls ones are generally really short (and pink !) and much less practical. Again we used to just get boys ones.

My kids are late teens now, but will don't think things have improved. I had a boy first and then a girl and couldn't believe the difference in the clothes!

• boys clothes were usually a looser fit, and thicker fabric so easier to play and climb in, whilst lasting longer
• boys school shoes were more enclosed so protected against rain and snow and mud. They had proper soles with grips and more rubber protection round the edges.
• tops often had higher necks, so much warmer and cosier.

Needless to say, my DD wore an awful lot of her brother's hand-me-downs.

Totally agree with the predator/prey observation.

Took DD2 shopping for shoes this summer in Tesco. Girl shoes were all sparkly but often hard and uncomfortable . Just not made for the running around she wanted to do. We bought boy shoes.

The slogans as well - boys clothes tend to have slogans about being brave/leaders etc whereas girls tend to carry messages about being pretty/kind.

There was a fuss a few years back with Primark selling girls baby clothes with "future WAG" on them. Suggesting being someone's arm candy was the best they should go for.

I've really noticed that girls clothes are thinner, less well made. T shirts are thinner fabrics - I can grab my son by his t shirt and it's fine. My daughter'S would rip!

Girls clothes tend to be closer fitting, too. Skinny fit t shirts and trousers, where boys are looser. It makes them harder to play in, plus it draws more attention to their body than boys clothes do.

And if I see another flaming butterfly on a girls t shirt.... when butterflies are statistically as likely to be male, but you don't see them on boys clothes!!!

I noticed if I wanted to get good, warm joggers for DD I had to go into the boys' section, same for shorts as PP has said.

Also some makes do things like put dinosaurs on girls' clothes which is good, but then spoil it by making it pink-heavy or putting a twee slogan on it.

Oh, and pants! (I'm on a roll here). Boys pants are pants. Sturdy, comfy, last until they've grown out of them.

Girls pants? Frills that irritate my daughter's skin, tissue thin fabric that goes into holes in the wash. They need replacing before they've grown out of them.

Take her for a trip to Primark. She can see for herself, it's perfectly clear who has the most racks, the variety of colours, the pictures on it, the words used. She can even hold them up and compare cut.

RTher than doing her homework by her Mom asking other people the answer

I've been in quite a few shops and noticed that even though there are obvious pink/sparkly/frilly vs blue/vehicles/monsters sections they are actually signs that say boys and girls! Has anybody else spotted this?

Supermarkets tend to carry a greater range of girls clothes (sometimes 50% more).

*NOT actually signs ffs

All of the above.

I've noticed the pants thing - ds ended up borrowing a pair of his (girl) cousins old pants, they're so thin and wispy, but from exactly the same place as some of ds's pants! I doubt quality generally has improved in the last 8 years in supermarket pants.

My sister often buys 'boys" clothes for eldest niece because 'girls' clothes seem to become overly sexualised by the age of 10! Words across the bum of shorts for a 10 year old? Cropped tops? No chance.

No decent joggers in the girls sections.
Always thin leggings

I also think from my experience from shopping for my DD, even if only 50% of the clothes are 'girls', I'm happy to buy from the boys section for my daughter but wouldnt be happy doing the same in reverse for my nephew. So girls end up with an even bigger percentage. And it probably isn't 50/50 to begin with.

(I might be getting a bit angry now)

Even when both sexes' clothes gave the same broad type of animal motif, it'll be different. Birds are a good example. Robins and swallows on girls clothes, and birds of prey on boys.

Fancy dress costumes? Less fabric in girls ones (usually sleeveless) plus an added frilly skirt, however much that doesn't fit the outfit (bat girl doesn't have a skirt, it would get caught on stuff). But god forbid you not be able to tell what genitals a child dressed as a superhero has....

The only plus in girls clothes that I'm aware of is coat hoods tend to be bigger (to allow for hair styles) and they have a better choice of colours (if you ignore the constant pink).

Have you seen the Pink Stinks campaign?

Oh and the categorising! I went on to m&s the other day to look for some of the Harry potter branded clothes they've produced and was a bit stumped by having to go to either boy or girls first. Same for listing stuff on vinted. Cream Paddington Bear print pyjamas - why does this need to be categorised as 'boys pyjamas' or 'girls pyjamas'? What's wrong with just 'pyjamas'?

*I read a twitter comment once that I remember still that boys clothes often have predators on them, and girls clothes prey. It never occurred to me before but when I later looked in Ds wardrobe all the animals were bears, crocodiles, tigers etc.

My friend’s dd clothes are bunnies, mice, squirrels, butterflies*

I definitely agree with what's already been said, but have found cats to be the exception of the predator/prey. They are technically predators, but you try getting boys clothes with cats on it!!! Tigers and lions? Loads available,but not bog standard pet cats!

We have cats and a 3 year old, I'd love to get cat clothing for him, but its all very girly!

A lot of posters seem to say girls are limited to only pink however I would disagree - girls clothes seem to come in a rainbow of colours whilst boys are stuck with majority blue with dinosaurs/sharks or sludge colours. Don't even get me started on age 8+ boys clothes that seemingly only come in shades of black or grey with "gamer" or various gaming brands on it. I dont want my eldest to look like a teen drug dealer aged 9 in all black joggers and hoodies - I have to hunt around online for more colourful stuff. Girls however seem to have a range of "older" styles plus the more colourful "childish" options for an older age range

Harder to find warm clothes for girls. Boys clothes are thicker, more practical. Comparing hoodies for example, the boys will have fleece lining throughout, the girls, some white faux fur in the body section only.
Also think girls clothing becomes more teen sooner. Skinny jeans and crop tops for 6 year olds. Boys clothes dont reflect this, no skin tight muscle tees or ripped jeans, which i suppose is the sexualised equivalent.