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.

[Cocodrillo]

My girls (age 5 and 2.5) have some matching tops and cardigans, I think it looks really cute if they have, say, different outfits on, pulled together with matching cardigans, or different bottoms but with matching tops. Never occurred to me people might think it looked a bit sad. It amuses me, and makes me feel all proud, so I'll carry on till DD1 rebels.

[pranma]

Absolutely no-one's business but the parents concerned-not funny,yukky,sweet-just preference.I bought dgs's 6 months and 2.10 matching socks and older one loves them-cant see him in a towelling romper though!!

[onepieceoflollipop]

I think I'm a bit like you Cocodrillo. Yesterday dd1 had a hello kitty hat and t-shirt. dd2 had hello kitty socks! Other items happened to be pink.

[4andnotout]

I sometimes dress dd's 3 & 4 the same but that's but they are only 13 months apart and are still babies, they usually wear matching nappies too

I have been known to dress dd's 1-3 all the same for special occasions like weddings (or last week on holiday )

[onepieceoflollipop]

What gorgeous dds you have 4andnotout.

[4andnotout]

Thank you

[mollymawk]

I have 2 DSs and sometimes get them the same top if I see one with a picture on that they will both like - pirate ship, Tube train etc. Then if one wears his the other always wants his too.

But I have recently realised the benefit of doing this if we are going somewhere for the day where there will be lots of children - eg the zoo, playground etc. If they both have the same top on I only have to attune my eyes to one "image" when I am keeping my eyes on them from afar.

(But also I think they look cute...)

[zoejeanne]

The first MN meet up I went to, someone (nicely) pointed out that DD (then 3 months) and I were dressed very similarly

[hophophippidtyhop]

my mum did this to my sister and me, i hated it because people either thought we were twins or that my younger sister was the eldest. I won't do it if I have another one because of having had it done to me. I also won't take my daughter to tesco's in hair rollers, but that's another story!

[oldspeckledtam]

I have a 3yr dd and a 4m ds. They have 3 matching tops. They don't necessarily wear them at the same time, but I don't lose sleep if they do!
I'm also guilty of buying a triple pack of matching t shirts for H and children... Then sending them out together.
I may as well also confess to tops that say I'm the big sister and I'm the little brother, which they wear together.
DD loves to 'match' ds.
I did draw the line on her birthday, though. She wore a sleeping beauty dress and wanted ds to wear the same one, from her teddy bear...

[Flibbertyjibbet]

I have boys aged 3 and 4. They have some things the same but don't always wear them at the same time.
Most items I just buy for ds1 and ds2 wears it a year later...

but t shirts I do get the same if they have something on that I know will cause a fight if there's only 1 - for example they both have a t shirt with a helicopter on, ben 10, etc
If one gets dirty..... um I think they just stay dirty .

But I do know someone with twin boys who would change both children's whole outfits if so much as a sock got a mark on (cos even their socks and undies were matching).

Other things I buy 'similar but different' ie nice shirts in different colours as they are very different children and suit completely different colours and styles of clothes.

I am one of 4 sisters with a 9 year gap between oldest and youngest. When there were 3 of us we were dressed the same in little dresses my mum made, when the youngest came along after a bit of a gap mum stopped the habit!

[CultureMix]

As a twin myself I am emphatically of the "don't dress them alike" school. Identical clothes, ugh. Our parents always dressed us differently, although often it would be the same item in different colours (for years I was in blue, my sister in red) and that was fine by us. In fact it was only under exceptional circumstances that we would lend each other our clothes, there was a very strong sense of ownership.
It's hard enough as a twin fighting for your own identity that you don't want to be dressed exactly the same as your sibling.

Interestingly, now we're adults, I will occasionally buy my sister an identical item of clothing you know when you buy something that you absolutely love the minute you put it on and know you'll wear it to death? then I'll get a second one for my sister same size, handy that -- I will try to find a different colour but if not available then I will get the same one. This only works now because we live far apart so the odds of wearing the same item simultaneously are minimal - we tend to avoid these if we are meeting up.

[hellymelly]

My two dds are often dressed the same,not always though,but when they both have a dress if one is wearing it the other wants to wear hers too,particularly my older daughter who is 4,she likes to be the same as the baba who is two,and to be bought the same things (which I do anyway,to be fair).They do have a lot of different things too,as dd2 has hand me downs,but then they are often put in the same colour,and they are always in the same sort of garment (dress,trousers,skirt etc) as there is a major incident if this isn't the case!
Also I have to say,I think it looks sweet!

[cthea]

I have bought the DDs a few identical items and occasionally dress them the same. It tends to be either a skirt or a top, not a whole outfit as I buy them as separates. DD1 (4) likes to be like DD2 (nearly 2). I don't think it inhibits their individuality or anything as they don't get very much say in what I buy them anyway. So whatever originality they might express is wihtin the limits of what's in their wardrobe. DD1 went through a phase of being v difficult about putting on any clothes, it was awful. She's much more easy going now.

[BikeRunSki]

My mum used to do this to my and my sister. There are 3 and a half years between us, she is teh younger, tall, dark and skinny. I am chunky and fair. There is no style or colour in the world that suits us both. We HATED it. And what was worse - it was usually hand made. Tank tops, a line skirts and sun dress. Often brown.

We now have completely different styles and tastes. And she is still tall and skinny, an dI am still not.

[whiskersonkittens]

My dd (8) and ds (6) choose their own clothes - in shops and in the mornings. They are often dressed alike or similar as they have similar tastes (and dd wears boys clothes as she hates pink / girly stuff). They are the same size too so can look like twins.

It is never deliberate and in some ways I do think it looks a bit odd, but if it is what they want that is fine with me.

[oldraver]

Mine are too far apart in age to dress the same, and DS1 dresses himself now but I have bought a jumper before now and DS2 remarked it was like his brothers. I do tease DS1 that I will buy DS2 something similar to match.

There has been a few times when DS1 has walked in in very similar outfit to DS2. One day beige chino shorts and same colour t-shirt, another time striped shorts and again same colour top. I have realised on occasion that DS2 and I are dressed very similar

[toddlerama]

I accidentally dressed the same as my 2 yr old DD on Saturday (both in polka dot dresses! How the hell did I not realise???) and we got rinsed by my friends! I dress DD1 and DD2 the same quite regularly. I think it's because they look so different and I want them to look more similar! What a weirdo I must be

[TheLadyEvenstar]

I was at the coast the other day and saw a family..
3 daughters, mum, dad and 2 sons

the eldest daughter had a lovely summer dress on which really suited her - she was tall and slim. about 14/15 yrs old i would say.
next to her was a chunkier little girl in the same dress and it looked so so wrong.

the other girl was dressed like one of the sons and the other son was dressed like the dad.

the mum looked totally individual.

[Broccopolli]

DSis and I (3yr age gap) had a lot of matching clothes when we were little - probably a matter of convenience for my Mum when shopping, plus family was quite skint so my Aunt used to buy us a lot of clothes and would by matching. We didn't have nearly as many clothes to wear then as children seem to today, so if it was a shorts and t-shirt day the likelihoood was we would be matching because there weren't several pairs of shorts to choose from.

It didn't bother me that much, except we would tend to have same clothes but different colours - and I was always blue/green and sister pink/red, because I was labelled the tomboy

When dsis outgrew her clothes they were handed down to me, so in family pics I am wearing the same outfits for years and years!

Aunt also used to knit us a lot of matching jumpers. She now does this for dd and my niece (2mo age gap). I live overseas though, so when I visit home dsis and I get a kick out of putting them in matching jumpers and outfits as they look very cute and we don't get to see enough of them together so we go a bit over the top I guess!

I have another dd on the way. I wont make a special effort to dress them the same, but as my parents, il's and relatives buy loads of dd's clothes now and likely to do the same for dd2 when she arrives, it is probably inevitable they will have a lot of the same stuff.

I would never judge other people for dressing their children the same. Am more likely to judge overly sexualised/age inappropriate clothes on little girls.

[oldnewmummy]

I baby sat a friend's 2.5 year old twin boys on Friday, together with my own DS of the same age. I'd made them all matching tee shirts with a group picture on the front, and it was SO much easier in the soft play place as I could just quickly count 3 orange tee shirts and I knew where they all were. My friend doesn't normally dress the twins the same but often does if they're out as it's easier to keep an eye on both of them. Plus, if one goes missing, you can just show people the remaining twin to see what the missing one looks like!

[posieparkerinChina]

Hideous, hideous, hideous. My dss occasionally choose to wear similar t shirt or bottoms, but never my choosing and NEVER the same. It's so dreadful, especially with twins. It's like look at my one child it's divided into two.

Noone looks cute in matching outfits, jusy plain awful.

[ben5]

my 2 boys aged 3 and 5 have a couple of jumpers the same and sometimes they happen to wear them on the same day. try and match them alittle if going somewhere new or somewhere one of them might get lost so i can tell other people what they are wearing by showing them!