Another moan about boys' clothes... so annoyed!

[snowleopard]

Firstly MIL, bless her heart, sends DS World Cup England kit for his birthday. He is 1, and we live in Scotland... luckily she also bought the wrong size and put the receipt in so I had every excuse to exchange it. They don't even sell the England stuff here so I had to get something different. Hurrah, £15 to spend in M&S on something nice for DS.

What do I find - for 1-year-olds - a load of stuff with not only endless skulls and crossbones, but, and I quote:

"I'm trouble"
"Tiny but trouble"
"Trouble-maker"
"Bad"
"Bad attitude"

etc etc ad nauseam. OK I have seen this kind of thing around and I've always hated it but M&S?? On practically their whole range??? Are they mad? Why don't they just write "self-fulfilling prophecy" and "boys are little wankers" and have done with it?

. I shall be writing to head office... (when I've done the squijillion other things waiting to be done after getting back from holiday... :))

Whilst I don't like all the slogans, "self-fulfilling prophecy" is a load of bollox TBH. A slogan doesn't make the child, nor does a genuinely difficult child require a slogan on his/her shirt to warn you. No one with an ounce of intelligence sees a child with "100% mischief" on his/her shirt and makes a judgement of that child's character based on that slogan. Neither does a child magically turn into a troublemaker by having "I'm trouble" on his/her top.

I find these slogans horrible too and not remotely "witty"

M&S are rubbish, clothes-wise. Their school uniform is mainly good, the rest sucks.

Every time I go in I feel the need to dash off a letter to head office pointing out what none of their highly-paid marketing geeks seem to be able to compute: what we actually want from them is mini-boden rip-offs at half the price, rather than tarty Woolworths rip-offs at twice the price.

It ain't brain surgery.

No, of course it's not that straightforward SoupDragon; I'm not suggesting the label literally makes the child or that anyone would see it and think it particularly described that child. More that it encourages a whole culture of the attitude that boys are inherently trouble/naughty/aggressive. It is a symptom of and a contributor to that general attitude, when we should be doing everything we can to tell boys that they can succeed and do well. And boys themselves will see these labels and be aware that that is how they are labelled. It also disgusts me, irrespective of whether it is actually harmful (though I think it is) that anyone thinks it's acceptable to be so outrageously sexist. It doesn't ever say that on girls' stuff, does it?

Can I once again recommend \link{http://www.jako-o.com/home/en/home.mb1?mb_f020_id=kw4V0nzW2KADzWQWD6〈=en&fag=eu&set=home&mb_v301_ch=d23de&flash=0&ssl=true_auto\Jako-O}? It's a German company (Californifrau will probably know it, half the under-tens in Germany are kitted out in their gear) but they have an English-language website and deliver (very efficiently) to UK. And the prices are in Euros, which translates rather agreeably into a smaller no. in £. Good basic unisex gear in bright colours. Also excellent for toys and general kit, since their stuff is different from the usual UK catalogue stock.

Know what you mean. I went in to get ds (5) some Pj's and all they had was skull and crossbone stuff, I even said to the shop assistant which child wants to go to sleep with that on the front? Even she said it was crazy!

Thanks frogs, will have a look. i have to say some shops do offer better - Sainsbury's for example usually avoids this kind of crap and has a load of great themes for boys like bugs, space, transport etc, as well as plain stuff - although what I think is really needed is more unisex kids' clothes, colours and designs that would suit both boys and girls and avoid the extreme gender polarisation we seem to be weirdly having in the 21st century.

At some point in this thread you will be accused of having no sense of humour.

If you write to M&S Head Office you will be told this is fashion.

Just a friendly warning from someone who tried this a couple of years ago.

Oh someone will also tell you to worry about famines etc. and real problems and get on with being a mother.

Okay that about covers it - so all the people who were going to criticise the OP can go and do "something really useful" instead.

Bitter moi?

I don't think the label is going to turn out a "monster" child. It's just all part of the undercurrent of "Boys=bad" and "Girls=perfect" that we see in kids' clothing.
M+S is utter shit for boys' clothes. I found one thing to exchange for a really dull sweater I was sent.

I totally agree with you. I always return from shopping trips moaning about the "variations on "I'm a right little bastard me" clothing for little boys". And if it's not that it's bloody diggers and trucks etc.

I went to get pjs for ds the other week - went to H&M, Mothercare, M&S and John Lewis and there is nothing that is not Bob the Builder, Thomas the tank engine, Batman etc etc. He is 19 months old - can't he just have pyjamas without marketing on them?! Grrrrrrr

Ah threebob I always find it amusing when someone tells me I have no sense of humour. Little do they realise it's just that what they find funny is so way below my amazingly sophisticated SOH, which they could never understand. :)

If anyone thinks it's actually humorous to label a 1-year-old boy "trouble" they must have the sense of humour of a dead stoat. I honestly just thought it was hopeless lack of imagination and sexist mindlessness, rather than an attempt at humour.

Let's wait and see if your wise words come true threebob...

Beansprout perhaps we should go into business and out out a range of boys' clothes that really say it like it is.

"I'm a right little bastard me"
"Jailbait"
"Bet they wish they'd had a girl"

:o

Really pisses me off, bought DS1 a shirt in Tesco wasn't till he was wearing it I realised it had 'cheeky' written in huge orange letters on the back - the front was ok so I hadn't thought to check the back

Geogteach - I did exactly the same thing the other day so had to go and take it back! (Hello btw - hope everything is good with you? )

Snowleopard - great idea! The worst (of a very bad bunch) has to be "I'm in charge" which I particularly hate. The only honest variation on these horrible slogans would be the classic "I'm with this idiot" with an arrow pointing to the ridiculous parent that bought the t-shirt in the first place. Ha!!

Aah I've done that too, in Next.

Just realised jailbait isn't quite what I mean - Jail Fodder, probably.

Anyway I am going to write to M&S; will see if they've moved on from their stance 2 years ago.

I feel like this too, I also don't want to dress my boys head to foot in camouflage. At 1 and 3 I feel they are a little young for the army Also whay is the choice so limited, there are rails of girls clothes and a tiny corner for boys. It takes me ages to find clothes for my boys as I have to sift through the rubblish.

Try Asda for plain PJ's

We could use "jailbait" on the equally nasty girls range that we bring out due to popular demand?

I think the stuff for girls is even worse (lots of inappropriately sexy stuff too), but at least you can opt for the flowery pink stuff. Boys stuff is so boring. I'd like somewhere that just sold nice bright summer stuff at a reasonable price. I don't like mail order because you can't try it on, and the whole delivery/return thing is too much work for lazy me.

a woman after my own heart !!!!!!
so REFRESHING !!! thank you mumsnet sometimes i feel i am the only one!!!

Monsoon for mine but pricey

while i am here anyone seen any tie - dye stuff for boys?

I tend to fall back on lots of stripes....!

Were i you i'd buy some nice food or knickers from M&S and spend £15 on DS in the sales at Monsoon or Boden....which are bound to start soon....