Cool clothes for 11-yr-old boy?

[JanH]

DS2 is at that difficult age...he is nearly 12 and quite tall, but not tall enough for small men's clothes. We can find casual sporty clothes OK but smart is more difficult. (He is not at all skatey.)

Next online go up to 16, but only up to 12 in the shops, so I don't know what size to get yet (but as a 12 looked quite small I'm guessing 13 or 14). Does anybody know where else is worth looking, please?

TIA!

[MunchedTooManyMarsLady]

Hennes can be good. The sale rail a Gap. My DS1
(12)isn't keen on smart clothes but he's not a skater boy either. I tend to get one pair of dark smart trousers (chinos etc.)and a nice shirt from Gap or Next. hth

[MunchedTooManyMarsLady]

oh yes, I get aged 13-14 unless it looks too huge!

[JanH]

Thanks, Marslady!

[piffle]

H+M are excellent I find for my son who is a very tall age 10

[JanH]

He is very tall - taller than DS2 IIRC, piffle!

I think there is one of those at Preston so will try to organise a trip at half-term (hatehatehate shopping at the weekend!) Thanks!

[tigermoth]

I have this problem, too. My oldest is very broad chested, but not that tall. TK MAXX have come to our rescue many times and that's where all his smart gear (chinos, shirts) comes from. He still takes boys sizes, and I can usually find things that fit.

[JanH]

DS1 was like that, tm - generally broad in the beam, not just the chest, things that fitted his waist were way too long at this age. (He has finally grown in the last 6 months or so and is just about 6' now and more in proportion!)

DS2 is quite narrow - although not as skinny as he used to be when he was little and lived on air! I love TKMaxx but with having so many different brands it's hard to know what will fit - I bought a pair of Phat jeans recently, I think I got age 12, and he could hardly fasten them and they were too short - when I took them back he was with me, but it was a fallow week and there was nothing for him.

He has only just become bothered about dressing up for eg parties (there is one on Friday which everybody is going to so it's important); luckily we found 2 Lonsdale tops and some trainers very cheaply at Sports Soccer after school yesterday, and he has a pair of jeans he is happy with, so the pressure is off for now, but I suspect it won't be long before we have to buy again, so I'm getting prepared

[galaxy]

I have this problem with ds. He's 12 and tall and very skinny so trousers are either half way up his ankles but fit at the waist or the right length and then fall down. (he hates wearing a belt too)

[starlover]

Debenhams do some good stuff, but are quite expensive... however, they very often have amazing bargains in their sales.
I buy clothes for the 5 little boys I used to look after and Debenhams never fails me!