Children buying their own clothing

[Recoba]

When do people start involving their children in buying their own clothing? DS1 is nearly 4, and I currently get all his clothes on Vinted/eBay/secondhand, or very occasionally in a sale. I don't really want to spend time having him browse through websites looking for things he likes, but if we were buying new I'd be fine taking him to a shop to pick out some things. I've occasionally shown him (secondhand) tops or coats before buying them, just to check that it would be something he likes (he loves very brightly coloured clothing), but I'm not sure at what age that transitions to him picking things out for himself?

I tend to buy clothing in advance for him, so that we're not caught too short in the event of a growth spurt, but I feel a little nervous buying things in size 6-7 when it might be that they're not at all the kind of thing he'll want to wear in a 6 months/a year! (he's very tall, so already in 4-5/5-6 clothes)

Interested in the responses and also how people manage this.

I wasnt that fussy i dont think but my dd isnt yet 2 but already has CLEAR preferences for certain things
Eg. Will outright refuse certain sweaters outfits and hats. (This is limited to 4-5 things but the list grows)
Will always select certain items if allowed so certain trousers, 2 piece sets, pjs....

I think you may be overthinking this a little. It may not be an overnight thing where he suddenly likes picking out clothes.

May also depend on when he actually likes going out shopping, and how much he cares about what he wears.

My 3 year old is not interested in clothes at all. He wears whatever we give him, but I do also occasionally consciously get him some clothes with characters he likes. But even then, that’s mostly pajamas. Most of his clothes get wrecked at nursery anyway.

My best friend’s son I think became a bit more into clothes after turning 4, but has very clear interests in dinos, spiderman etc so very easy to shop for him. At age 5, my friend has just told me about taking him to Primark to choose some clothes.

By age 4-5, dd had incredibly strong feelings about her clothing. She absolutely refused to wear certain items. My days of shopping 2nd hand in advance were pretty much over because it was just too difficult.

now in retrospect, we eventually got an ASD diagnosis, so the intensity of her feelings about both the comfort and the appearance of her clothing were probably more extreme and kicked in earlier than the average child.

DS didn't care until he was about 9. DD started around 6. There's no set time. A few items are fine to buy, even if they become park or home clothes.

I no longer buy anything without them as they screw their faces up and refuse to wear it. It's a pain as I just spent all afternoon buying new swimmers for DD (for lessons). I miss hand me downs & buying an entire next season off clearance racks!

Having said this, I have just remembered a time when I was around 7ish that I refused to wear something my mum had bought me. It did have ugly shoulder pads though in fairness!

My 16 year old still doesn't much care about clothes and will wear any old t shirt I get her.