Welcome to Mumsnet's shopping board. Whether you are after a new family car or a great new coffee machine this is the board for you. Share product recommendations and reviews here. Related: Discuss clothes and fashion on our Style and beauty forum. Check out Swears By to find the products Mumsnetters love and our reviews section to see the best baby and child products put through their paces.
Welcome to Mumsnet's shopping board. Whether you are after a new family car or a great new coffee machine this is the board for you. Share product recommendations and reviews here. Related: Discuss clothes and fashion on our Style and beauty forum. Check out Swears By to find the products Mumsnetters love and our reviews section to see the best baby and child products put through their paces.
Shopping
why is it...
Heathcliffscathy · 19/05/2004 13:47
that the shops are full of v lightweight thin cotton clothes for little girl babies (like v v thin dresses etc) but boys get combat trousers and t shirts...???? same with hats: girls hats wide brimmed really good for shade, boys hats really narrow brimmed and f*ck all use just trendy looking...i'm starting to get pissed off with this (esp baby gap)...am i looking in the wrong places?
eefs · 19/05/2004 13:54
ohhh this really winds me up-
girls clothes take over 3/4's of the childrens clothes shops, they come in beautiful colours styles.
Boys clothes are shunned to a little corner and are available in beige, blue and green. Children look great in bright colours, so why can't I find them
So many times I'd have loved to buy my DS's something different, something bright and cheerful but end up with yet another pair of combats. grrr
I love the selection for girls, i just wish similar attention was paid to boys.
rant over, thanks sophable
tamum · 19/05/2004 13:57
Probably not, sophable. If it's any comfort I've been stuggling desperately to find dd (aged 6) some shorts that are not hotpants or covered in zips and drawstrings. I found some in BHS that were OKish and then realised that they all had a logo like a lipsticky mouth with "Luscious Lips" written below it. Is it just me, or is that needlessly revolting?
Heathcliffscathy · 19/05/2004 13:57
it's so true eefs...but imo the fact that they don't even seem to make really light boys clothes for summer is awful: nothing more lightweight than tshirt material, which isn't lets face it...
Heathcliffscathy · 19/05/2004 14:00
thanks bundle, the hats look great, better than anything i've seen in the shops (except the girls one with the pink trim that i bought in desperation last week from gap...i don't care about the pink trim, just about the assumption that boys don't burn in the sun!!!???!!!)
karen99 · 19/05/2004 19:14
Hi Sophable, can join you on this one... however, for once I did find a good hat in Mothercare, legionaire type (sp?), a lovely bright blue one with a big rim and they had a similar t-shirt and shorts range. Also agree about the t-shirt material.. they're just too thick and hot (Next are awful for this). If I see anything elsewhere I'll let you know! (out shopping tomorrow hopefully!)
Clayhead · 19/05/2004 19:19
For my ds I went to Next and got him these shorts in 3 colours (I'm not a good shopper, prefer to get it over and done with) they are a linen/viscose blend, wash well, iron well and are lovely and cool and plian to look at!! WOuld recommend them! bottom left here
Next also have the hats with the flap at the back too.
SoupDragon · 19/05/2004 19:20
I'm trying to think if there's ever much lightweight stuff for men at all, not just boys.
Clayhead · 19/05/2004 19:20
Have you tried H&M? Their range is fairly cheap and a bit different from the norm.
Clayhead · 19/05/2004 19:21
Just realised shorts mentioned below are cotton/linen blend, not viscose
foxinsocks · 19/05/2004 19:21
karen, I bought that hat too in Mothercare
In fact, got ds some shorts there today after walking the whole of bl**dy Kingston looking for some shorts not made of the thickest material ever. They had some lovely cotton shorts in M'care and I got a 3 pack of shorts for £9 (100% cotton, dark blue, light blue and red). They had some other cotton shorts in a nice design that were more expensive but I didn't think we needed them.
I haven't been in M'care for ages and I was quite impressed given the dross on offer in Baby Gap etc.
Bagpuss30 · 20/05/2004 13:12
Have a look at JoJo Maman Bebe too. They do some nice boys things but they are quite expensive. The colours aren't much better than the norm but still look smart and don't have silly logos on.
SoupDragon · 20/05/2004 13:35
Pumpkin Patch had some lovely white linen short sleeved shirts for boys.
LunarSea · 20/05/2004 14:59
Really irritates me too - even my usual favourites Seesaw only have the standard high street ideas of "boys colours" this summer, and Lads and Lasses have stopped doing trousers (on the website at least - I happen to live near one of their shops and last time I looked they still had a few there).
muddaofsuburbia · 20/05/2004 15:05
I 've bought loads of stuff for ds from Bright Bots clothing .
It's really bright, great quality Australian made stuff - so presumably designed for warmer weather.
Did once buy ds a very bright blue and orange top which was forever known as his Sainsburys uniform - poor boy..
LunarSea · 20/05/2004 15:17
For bright and colourful I've also had things from here - they're in Canada but will ship to the uk, and the cotton pants (trousers) aren't that heavy.
Kayleigh · 20/05/2004 15:21
Bought ds1 and ds2 some good summer shorts in BHS recently. They also had good offer on t-shirts 3 for a fiver. Usual colours of green/beige/blues though. I do have gorgeous 3/4 length summer trousers from hennes that i bought for ds1 but ds2 now wears, 1 pair in orange and 1 pair in red. If i ever see bright boys stuff i buy it as it is so rare.
CountessDracula · 21/05/2004 16:28
Sophable I have just found while clearing out some drawers a brilliant hat that dd wore a lot last year and has now grown out of. It is gap 12-18 months (but on the small side) and it like a french foreign legion hat, you know with the bit down the back of the neck and a big peak, has a velcro fastening strap for under the chin and is plain white cotton poplin, very light and cool - would you like it for ds?
karen99 · 21/05/2004 16:39
foxinsocks was it the one with the frog on it? sooooo cute!
These links are great. Oh no, I feel a big shop coming on...
Bouj · 21/05/2004 16:50
Sophable, this has been driving me mad for ages now, glad its not just me. I need a hat for ds (wide brimmed)and with a strap because he just pulls it off. H&M had a lovely lemon lacy one... but thats it!!! Like you said, they are all baseball caps, bloody useless. I always think boys clothes are crap and girls are so lovely. Never a big enough range...
champs · 21/05/2004 17:51
sophable... couldn't agree more!! Try hennes(H&M) they have some nice bright clothes for boys at the mo. Just check your local store has a kids sectuon... mine doesn't humppph and have to travel quite a way to get to one.
tinyganghq · 21/05/2004 18:47
This gets to me too. Choice of boys clothes for my ds seemed to go downhill after around 18 mths. He's now 2.5 and the boys clothes area in shops is largely 'little old man' or 'teen skate dude' look, all in a nice array of drab colours -khaki, navy etc. I've had quite a bit of luck at H&M - a great Pooh Bear tank top was the best this year, and lovely T/Shirts for him. Asda are always good too, although they could liven up their colours a bit. Boys (especially v.young ones) don't get a good choice though.
SoupDragon · 21/05/2004 18:49
Bouj, the Pumpkin Patch ones had straps on in the smaller sizes (under 2 maybe?)
SoupDragon · 21/05/2004 19:07
You can't order online or see the whole range but their website is here. They are still guilty of having more variety of girls stuff though.
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