Attention, manufacturers of toddler boys' clothes!

[frazzledgirl]

(Inspired by yesterday's trip round H&M, but frankly applies to an awful lot of shops)

I do not wish to dress my lovely son in any kind of garment which labels him 'loud', 'noisy' or 'spoiled'. He isn't. And even if he is, I'd like a chance to fool other people that he isn't

I would like a choice of more than two kinds of shoes.

Ditto hats.

Bright colours are not taboo.

Sludge colours get VERY boring after the first few months.

Sticking a cr*ppy cartoon transfer on a t-shirt (Ben 10/Cars/etc for a two-year-old FFS?) is not the be-all and end-all. And what's wrong with plain t-shirts anyway?

And having had this exact same moan to EVERY mother of a small boy that I know, I might be PFB but I am not alone!

I swear, when I find a retailer that consistently sells decent, colourful, child's clothes without any sh*te transfers or slogans at a reasonable price (i.e not Boden) I will shower money on them... so sick of hunting around for the odd couple of decent bits in each shop.

Ahem. As you were.

Green baby are absolutely LUSH for the little ones - really beautiful stuff.

Not cheap but they have great (and frequent) sales.

DS2 is wearing some of his big brother's cast offs and they are scrummy.

Sadly DS1 has been head to toe in Thomas shite since he could express any kind of preference - ie since he was about 18 months.

He is now nearly 4 and I am waiting for him to start demanding some equally heinous stuff - Power Rangers/Star Wars/Disney rubbish.

It's such a shame because he used to look really cool when he was tiny. I used to find lots of fun stuff for him off ebay for pennies and everyone said what a dude he was.

He still has cool (long) hair but his taste in clothes is 100 per cent naff.

And everything has to be blue, ffs.

Have to say as the mum of 2 (soon to be 3) boys I dread shopping. All that browny, mustardy, greeny sludghy coloured clothes is so boring. I would love to find bright reds and nice greens for my ds's.

I buy a lot from ebay -monsoon stuff thats' quite plain, good quality (their old jumpers/cardigans were 100% lambswool and washed on a cold wash are fab. Ds 1's have lasted for him and ds 2 and I am packing them away or ds 3. The crap they're selling now has acrylic and all sorts of cheaper crap so hang limply from the hanger, not last and will no doubt cost the same!)

The 75p t-shirts from asda seem very good quality also being 100% cotton (I know my MIL says that they are produced in a sweat shop but just beacuse other retailers are more expensive does this mean they do not produce their items in sweat shops? Or do they just take more profit?)

Rows and rows of pretty things for girls in all sorts of colours and boring stuff for boys

Also is it just me or do places seem to have little stock for boys and certainly very little when it comes to the sales whereas there are racks and racks of reduced girls stuff....

I came back again to ask about socks - who does decent socks? All the ones I have seem to disintegrate into grey bobbles after 2 or 3 washes. The best ones I've tried are Bonds Australia but seriously, there must be good socks in this hemisphere?

That don't cost a fortune natch.

I've given up looking for ones that stay on - that's too much to ask for.

Gap socks are rather good. Nice colours and grips on the bottom. They seem to wash well, too.

Boden has these skinny pants and you might like some of their other stuff - not cheap though.

Boden children's stuff is v. expensive but good quality. Try the sale?

BelleWatling the best socks i have found for my ds are Duffer ones from Debenhams,they are reasonably priced,nice & soft,dont fall down easily & wash brilliantly.

They also come in lovely bright colours.

John Lewis has some absolutely fabulous gorgeous stripey boys socks - 5 pairs for a fiver.

This thread has been really great - got lots of fabulous ideas of places to buy my DS some happier looking clothes.

sycamoretree - I may yet see you at Westfield

You took the words out of my mouth Frazzle. My ds is almost 2 and in desperate need of some new clothes but i just cant find anything that i think is worth buying at the moment. Its either jeans with maybe a car or animal motif or blue t shirts with the same car or animal motifs. Everything is either blue or brown and beige.

The girls sections seem to be full of colour and prints. Boys can wear colour and prints too.

Why not buy plain white stuff & dye it?! I have a DD but was sick of pink & frilly stuff so thats what I have just done! Just a thought. Also Mothercare have some nice bright age appropriate Tshirts at reasonable prices, just bought one yesterday bright blue with a digger on for a friends son, was £2.50!

2nd whoever said Gap socks, but I'm biased coz I used to work there. But they do stay on brilliant, but would advise againt tumble drying or putting on radiator coz it wears out the elasticity(sp?). My DD unfortunately pulls socks (and shoes) off but apart from that they stay on well!!

Thanks frazzledgirl, PM73 and spicemonster - will try all

I'd add my voice to shopping at Jako-O ... excellent service too. Just a shame about the exchange rate these days. But the clothes are worth is because they last and last. Oh, and they do sensible hats, gloves etc ... Girls stuff is nice too

Thank goodness for this thread! I was beginning to wonder if it was just me.....

My big issue is clothing with typical 'boys interest' stuff all over it. Why should I label my 3 month old son as being into diggers, cars, aeroplanes, trucks, trains etc.? Surely he should have time to decide for himself what he's interested in - there's plenty of time for transport obsessions later on in life. And there's plenty of time for denim later on, too, IMO.

Today he's been wearing a plain bright blue and red stripey babygro and trousers from Sainsbury's - bargain. No slogans, no pictures, just bright candy stripes .

Boden do nice summer print shorts but nothing interesting for the autumn/winter (unless you like plaid). I wrote to them to suggest that they could do boys equivalent of the girls patterned cords. They didn't reply!

I buy Boden only in the sale or when they have their next season preview of 20% off. I like Ikks, Darcey Brown, Ollie, Adventino but they are more pricey.

Boots socks are good and lovely and bright.

What I am fed up with is the nice babygros from the swedish brands etc don't come with feet, which is annoying at DS' age - too young to walk but the perfect age to pull socks off and eat lose them!

CherryChoc, have you tried the lovely soft leather slippers like Inch Blue or Snugglefeet - www.snugglefeet.com/?

DS had a couple of pairs and never managed to take them off...

and another point (although I have not read all of this thread!)

WHY ARE CLOTHES GETTING SMALLER? my 19m old has been wearing 3-4yr olds 3/4 legnths today and they still don't fit his waist comfortably still pinching.

(I like primark t-shirts for him but then he looks cute in beach party slogans and skulls on his t-shirts lol_

Preach, frazzledgirl!

I am sure I am not the only mother to leave a shop empty handed, having picked up lots of impulse buys for my daughter and then abandoning the lot when unable to find even one decent impulse buy for her brother.

Sometimes it's easier not to shop.

Not read whole thread but did you know that Zara have some great boys stuff at a reasonable price.

These (Swedish) Polarn O Pyret are fantastic but not cheap, great sale deal though.

TLE - I have the opposite - I find that DS still fits into some 9-12m stuff, despite being nearly 17mo! I am talking about Ladybird and Tesco sleepsuits and vests though, and they tend to be on the big side (and DS is on the 9th centile on his weight chart)

I have two DS's who are 5 and 7 years old. I haven't read the whole thread but I'm so glad that it's not just me being fussy! The pure inequality of the size of clothing bays between boys and girls just drives me insane.

Thumbwitch - My 5 year old DS has been on the 9th centile for weight and height pretty much from birth. He's only just grown out of 3-4 stuff so if you little one is built on the petite side, you'll probably have the same thing. We have trouble getting trousers to fit waist and leg and he's got quite a collection of belts for a small boy!

zisforzebra, I can imagine - at the mo he is in cloth nappies which help to hold up his troos but he also has a couple of makeshift belts already, bless him . In some ways it's a bonus - he gets to wear things for longer, but I do worry about it sometimes. Not for long!