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.

[HappyWoman]

My 2 dd do like to sometimes wear similar. My eldest is a teenager so is getting her own style but my 5 year old like to do the same - not always good and i certainly do not like them going out in the same. I think my teenager likes to think she is 'styling' my lo.

The boys would not been seen in the same stuff - but they do both suit the same things anyway.

[piscesmoon]

I do hand me downs so poor DS2 would be wearing the same outfit for years! If I had twins I would make a great point of never wearing the same.

[JackJacksmummy]

my DS's are 3 and 4 and i put them in matching clothes quite a lot, especially when they were younger or if we are having photos done or going out for the day.

I dont care what anyone says i think its cute and they dont seem to mind yet either, infact the oldest usually says he wants to wear the same as his brother or vice versa.

[eandh]

me dress the dd's the same ummm however it is very random and normally special occasions (dress they have on in profile pics was the dresses my parents bought them for Xmas day>

Quite often they'll have similar styles on ie if one is wearing jeans or leggings the otehr probably will be too however they suit completley different colours so rare for them to be identically dressed (looking at them today dd1 has green/blue and white retro summer dress and dd2 has pink knee length shorts and stripy pink/white/yellow/green top>

However I do like them in matching pj's (they have about 3 pairs the same that my Mum picked up in M&S sale) and always have lovely new matching pj's for xmas morning

All changes in September as dd1 will be going to school so no need for the stpid amount of clothes I buy and dd2 starts preschool so will wear her preschool top with leggings or jeans

[eandh]

oh but I do have a thing about doing their hair the same so most days they both either have french plait/bunches/ponytails/hair down (although today they do have different as dd2 wouldnt sit still to have french plait done so she has bunches)

[WinkyWinkola]

My DCs often wear the same pyjamas. DH keeps coming home with sets from shops near him.

I often find myself wearing the same colours as one of the DCs which is unintentional.

But to dress them in the same clothes would take a lot of effort that frankly is beyond me. They are 4 and 2 and a boy and a girl so perhaps that's why it would take a lot of work.

[MoonIsATiredSlayer]

My sister had identical twins and refused to dress them in the same clothes as she wanted them to have their own identity rather than be the 'twins' - thank God she did, they are 13 now and I still have to concentrate to decide which is which and I'm godmother to one!

My DS1 actually asks me to put DS2 in matching clothes, not identical as I don't usually buy the same, but same colour t-shirt and jeans. My sis has just bought them Thing 1 and Thing 2 matching t shirts which I think is quite funny but I wonder how many 'looks' I will get when I put them in them.

[ilovesprouts]

a pal of mine has 2 sets ot twins and she used to dress the girls the same when they was younger,but not so much now

[sweetkitty]

Mine are DDs 18 months apart probably dress the same about 20% of the time, they actually ask to be dressed the same. I wouldn't go out my way to dress them the same though, DD2 also has a lot of DD1's handmedowns. If I see something nice in a shop I usually buy 2 at at time, thinking well DD2 will get use of it too.

I know a few twins and they always are dressed the same, my friend coming up today has non ID twins and I have never seen them in non matching outfits, they will rebel.

[giveloveachance]

Really? Wow. I don't know any kids who like to be dressed the same as their sibling. Even twins.

I think if you dress them the same, they get used to it rather than it being a free choice to dress that way.

If I was lucky enough to have twins I would not dress them the same. Really really don't like the idea and as for children with an age difference, I feel for the older child having to dress the same as the younger. I would never do it.

What a child wears is one of the earliest and easiest ways for them to express a sense of individuality and identity - I think its an important step for them - that's why so many want to adapt their school uniform, precisely so they don't look the same.

[katiestar]

Uniforms are a duifferent thing entirely. I actually think it is very unhealthy to dress twins the same.Plays on the idea that their 'twininess' too much and not them being 'special' as individuals.the only identical twins at our school are always dressed differently and wear different coloured polo shirts at school.

[Chica31]

It's really big over here in Spain. I work at a private school and the siblings often wear the same clothes when it's a day when parents come too and non school uniform. However, it was surprising that one family seemed to have taken it to the extreme and all the family were colour coordinated Mum and Dad too!

[Tortington]

my BG DTs wore the same outdoor suit in the pram - it looked so cute!

nothing else though

[Glynne]

I occasionally dress my 2 Ds's matching. I like it, it's like my little pair of boys.

I know my SIL thinks it is very poor taste and naff though, and I would probably have agreed before I got soppy over my own kids.

I know I can only get away with it for a while when they're little (DS1 now 9 and I know an objection may be raised any day soon) and I just love the cuteness of them together.

I do only do it occsionally though, most of the time I let them choose their own clothes, but when I particuarly want then to look nice I choose for them and will often match. If I like something I will buy it in both sizes.

I also bought hats with teddy ears when they were babies though, so if you are after advice on sophisticated taste, I'm not your woman.

[MoonIsATiredSlayer]

Giveloveachance my DS1 (5yo)really does ask. He adores his little brother and likes the idea of them being 'the same', I guess it's to do with bonding? I try and dissuade him!

I remember my mum dressing my sister and I the same (we're not twins by any stretch of the imagination)and I hated it.

[Walkingwiththighosaurs]

I am a twin, take it from me, when I was little I hated being dressed the same!

[stealthsquiggle]

I would have to confess to having bought my DC 'thing 1' and 'thing 2' T shirts a couple of years ago - they loved them (well, DS did, DD was a bit too small to express an opinion) but other than that I would never dress them in matching clothes, and am always a little bit when I see identically dressed siblings.

I can sort of see how you could end up with (for instance) matching pyjamas, since if you find something really nice you otherwise have to decide which one to get it for. My parents have been known to buy my DC the same T shirt, but in different colours, which is OK, and if they do ever wear them at the same time it is by accident rather than design.

I was at school with twins who said that since they had similar tastes in clothes they often ended up with the same things, but always deliberately bought them in different colours and tried not to wear them on the same day.

[kitkatqueen]

My girls went through a phase where they insisted on wearing the same - totally instigated by them not me. Nanny knits gorgeous cardigans etc and they invariably have exactly the same but in their own favourite colour or with different patterns of flowers etc. Sometimes they still insist on being the same but I think they are starting to enjoy their own indiviuality now - they are very different in temperament and personality. And they are only 5 and 3.

[kitkatqueen]

Oh!! They nearly always want their hair the same tho! and thats a lot of french plating!

[troutpout]

My mother did this.She had our dresses handmade for free (we were poor) by an aunt. They were blardy hideous (think salmon pink crackly A line dress with choir-boy ruffle collar).She in fact used to make outfits for Gary Glitter (just so you get the picture). My sister was 2 years older and consequently i would grow out of one hideous outfit and straight into the same blardy (bigger and slightly worn) monstrosity . I wore the same hideous thing for about 4 years at a time.
She will never be forgiven.

[meandmybub]

My entire family used to have matching jumpers knitted by my grandma - mum, dad, bro, sis and me ... never did my individuality any harm! When someone out-grew one there would be hand-me-downs and new one(s) knitted if necessary - went on for several years. It was mainly for on holiday and now I write it down it does seem a little odd and makes me snigger, but it was perfectly normal at the time ... and my mum wasn't a particularly matchy mum, my sis and I did sometimes have the same outfit, but normally only 'special' outfits ... and of course our holiday jumpers.

Think some of the anti-matchy comments on here are un-necessarily rude, condescending and inflammatory, it's really not that big a deal!

[troutpout]

you protest too much meandmybug

[rah425]

I've had t-shirts bought in sale same as ones already owned as kids favourite but next size up and then smaller size has been passed down so both boys have ended up with same, but try to make sure they don't wear them at same time, although it is going to happen with their school coats, which have to be navy and bought cheap in boden sale.
My aunt deliberately dressed hers in same clothes if she went out, so if she lost one she could say to people they looked like this etc

[JamInMyWellies]

No way not matching clothes way to twee.

When I was younger my Aunt used to send us all matching dresses. There were 4 of us we looked ridiculous.

[BenandSue]

I have 3 DDs - one 3 year old and twins who are 15 months old. I must admit I hardly ever dress them the same, although I can understand that some people think it looks cute. Lots of my relations buy the twins matching outfits but I don't mind I just alternate them.

If they chose to dress the same when they got older though I wouldn't stop them.