People who dress their DCs in the same clothes...

[FaintlyMacabre]

Could you please answer some nosy questions? I only know one person who does this IRL and I don't know her well enough to ask!
When did you start? From the birth of DC2? Or do you wait until they're in 'outfits'?
What if one of them gets dirty- do you change both?
How do you manage to have 2 lots of clean matching clothes every day?
What if one of them grows out of something before the other- does the other one have to stop wearing his/her 'version' of the outfit?
What if they suit different colours?
And what happens when the older one says they don't want to match their little brother/sister anymore. Do you insist?

And finally, erm, why do you do it?

Sorry about all the questions, I've been wondering about this for ages.

[lljkk]

I know a set of identical twins (2 or 3yo now) who are always dressed identically.
I am just SO AMAZED that their mother has time to organise it( !). Maybe she has 3 outfits laid out each morning, just in case one of them gets milk spilled down the front or whatever.

For stuff like photoshoots it can look great to have several same-sex siblings in same outfits, but again, who has time to make it happen in ordinary life?

[thehairybabysmum]

My two DSs are 3.5 yrs and nearly 2...i sometimes have the same hoodies for them if i really like them. Sometimes they wear them together sometimes not.

I do have a matching outfit that they wore to a christening recently, same navy t-shirt each then shorts for ds1 in red check material and shorts dungarees for ds2 in the same material.

Personally i think it looks cute when they're little and i figure they will object soon enough so i might as well do it occaisionally whilst htey are too young to have an opinion!!

I dont do it often enough to have the logistical/washing problems with it.

[teamcullen]

Ds1 is 10 and small for his age. DS2 is 7 and tall for his age. I buy them the same outfits about 70% of the time. Usually because im quiet fussy about what I buy so it takes me ages to find something I like.

They are both the same size and quiet often get asked if they are twins.

They dont nessasarily wear the same outfits each day though, but if we are going somewhere nice they usually do.

Sometimes they will have similar outfits but different colours. They have lovely stripy jackets but one is blue/navy and the other is green/grey.

[jellybeans]

I dressed my DDs alike every now and then when they were little (2 year gap). I just thought it looked nice an showed off their being sisters. I also dressed my boys (non identical twins) the same alot as babies. It looked nice and was easier. I was proud of and loved having twins and loved showing them off. I liked same outfit dif colours where possible. They are 6 now and only sometimes wear matching now. I don't care what people think either!

[ShauntheSheep]

My mum used to dress my older sister and me in the same dresses cos she thought it looked nice. I hated it.

Then she had another girl and then twins one of whom was bigger than the other so sometimes there would be my middle sister and the bigger twin in identical dresses and the other twin in something different. For some reason that REALLY confused people.

[golgi]

I have two sons, one nearly 3 and one four and a half, and it has honestly never occurred to me to "match" them.

When you get clothes from charity shops and freecycle there aren't often two of anything.....

Not against it in principle though, if someone bought them matching outfits and they happened to be clean at the same time.

We don't really do "outfits" either, especially if Daddy gets them dressed. He seems to rummage around in the drawers for the most mismatching things he can find. Or dresses them in each others' clothes.

[noonar]

i have 2 dds aged 5 and 7 . if i see an item of clothes that i like, and that is a bargain, i buy 2. but always in diff colours if poss. would avoid wearing on same day, as it looks a bit twee to me . just my opinion.

[OllieWollieWoo]

I have 2 DS aged and 2 and 4 and sometimes they wear the same t shirt or hoody - but mainly when we are going somewhere busy like a bit playground or party - it makes it so much easier to spot 2 identical stripey t shirts running around! I do find myself grabbing 2 of the same in H&M or Next tho as its just easier - if I like it for one I will like it for the other but I do try not to dress them alike too much! Boys have yet to comment but sure it will come with time!

[FritesMenthe]

Do people really select outfits for their children each day?

Mine grab whatever they feel like, and the boys' stuff is pretty interchangeable. I have been known to buy two of the same in different sizes, and the large item usually ends up on the smaller child and vice versa.

[jeminthepantry]

My kids wear what they choose- have done from a very early age. Who cares if they look a bit different? ffs!

[FanjolinaJolie]

I have two dd's aged 2 and 4 and have never dressed them in matching outfits. It just looks weird IMO. Like clones or something. School uniform can't be helped I realise but until then they can choose their own stuff.

[KEAWYED]

I've been umming and aahing avout this. I've got a wedding to go to and there is an outfit i've seen which would suit DS1 and DS2 though DS3 is to tiny.

I've known twins who dressed identical and when they were potty training if one got wet then they would both be changed.

[spongebrainmaternitypants]

I have twin brothers and mum never dressed them the same - just bought lots of t-shirts, shorts, trousers, tops, same size and dressed them each day in different clothes. She also had me and my sister to dress too and didn't find it a struggle!

[usernametaken]

DD (age 4.5yrs) is getting brother in about 4 weeks time and she is desperate to be dressed the same as him. Most of her clothes are from the boys section of Tescos anyway, but having them dressed identically seems a bit strange to me. I'll let her have her way a few times and then hope the idea fizzles out.
DD, since the age of 18months has always chosen her own clothes, she has always known her own mind. we could never buy her anything without her approval otherwise she'd just refuse to wear it. I can't imagine her not having a say in what she wears.

[KembleTwins]

I have identical twins, and am always surprised at the amount of opinion this topic arouses. At my 12 wk scan, when we found out we were having twins, the hospital offered to let us chat to a midwife (we were both in shock ) and one of the first things she said to us was "DON'T PUT THEM IN MATCHING OUTFITS" Oddly enough, it wasn't the first thing I was thinking about, having just been told the probable cause for my horrendous morning sickness. Then at their 9 month check the HV made a point of saying how pleased she was that the girls were in different clothes, and told me about a set of identical twins she worked with years ago who always wore matching clothes, and if one got messy, the mother would change them both. Allegedly, when they started school, the DTs themselves didn't know which was which and would both say their name was "Hayleymantha" (one was Hayley, one was Samantha) I suspect the HV tells all twin mums the same story. Now we're members of a twins group, and hardly anyone dresses their DTs the same, but I don't think anyone would care/comment if they did.
I tend to dress mine differently, as I think it's more hassle to look for matching clothes in the mornings, but I do tend to do both skirts or both trousers, so I don't have to open lots of different drawers... They have been dressed the same (or same dress, different colours) for weddings etc though and do look very very cute.

[hazeyjane]

My mum buys dds (3.5 and2.3) matching clothes, because she thinks they will fight over the same dress, so sometimes they wear the same thing.

Otherwise it is totally random.

However....sometimes I realise that we all 3 of us have stripy tops and jeans on, or red tshirts, so we look all matchy matchy, but it is not done intentionally - honest!

[allaboutme]

My SIL has 2 girls 10 months apart. They dress identically EVERY single day.
I have never seen them in different outfits in the last 4 years.
If one outgrows shoes, they both get new shoes.
If one gets grubby, they both get changed.
For birthdays and Christmas they get identical presents too.

Everyone in my family is so used to this set up that they all buy my DS's matching clothes even though they are 2.5 years apart.
I put them in matching outfits for special occasions but dont on a day to day basis.

[TrinityRhinoIsInDetention]

I am shocked by people talking of choosing what the kids are going to wear

I just open the knicker draw, then the tops drawer, then the bottoms drawers

then grab a jumper or cardi

sometimes I'll do the dress thing instead

we cant even find matching socks

and dont lose sleep over that

[notbeingfunny]

Yy OP, I want to know the answers to all your questions too! It fascinates me. Where I live it is very common.

I had coffee with a lady this afternoon whose 4-yr-old and 15-mnth-old were identically dressed in little patterned capri pants and tops. Even their hair bobbles and bracelets matched!

By contrast, I had managed to go out with only one pair of shoes between my two children...

And no need to go on the defensive matchy mums, no one is judging, it is just really interesting to those of us who would never have thought of dressing our different aged children the same.

Why?

And how does it work?

[Flamesparrow]

Trinity - you are a step up from me with drawers.... my two have a big pop up basket each - tops & bottoms are just yanked out from the mix.

[TrinityRhinoIsInDetention]

lol flame,well to be fair the clean washing doesn't make it up to the drawers every time
in which case its grab what you can from the huge pile on the dining room table

[Flamesparrow]

Have one of them too. The dream is to live in a house where we can eat at that table...

[HappyMummyOfOne]

I only have one DS so dont have to worry re matching outfits. DS loves clothes shopping so he picks the majority of clothes himself.

My brothers are less than a year apart and were always dressed the same, they hated it and still remark on it now.

[imaginewittynamehere]

Because MIL buys them matching clothes. I have no idea why she likes it. I dress them in the matching clothes MIL has bought when we see her. DD1 (2.11) sometimes insists that they wear the same - I find myself cringing in public & explaining myself Luckily dd2 (5mths) can be relied on to get her clothes mucky quite regularly, so I can escape the awful matchingness!

I am not sure why MIL loves it & I hate it so much really - I hate it perhaps because it is implying that dd2 is a mini dd1 when she is actually her own character even at 5 months