Suitable brands for nearly 14 year old

[nappyaddict]

My cousin has asked if I can take him shopping because he is going on a week long school trip in the Easter holidays and doesn't have many "in" clothes. He doesn't want to look "chav" (his word, not mine) I was thinking of taking him to Jack Wills, Abercrombie, Hollister, Superdry and Fat Face. These were the things that were OK a few years ago when I was a student. Are these still OK or have they gone a bit "chav"?

I think Jack Wills and Superdry are possibly leaning a little towards the chav side, they certainly are where I live anyway. The others sound ok to me for his age though.

Nothing to suggest but I've got a DS (13 last December) and his idea of trendy is a Bart Simpson T-Shirt or Big Bang Theory Sheldon type T-Shirt.

Ask him what "chavvy" is in his eyes (though I'm guessing Primark and sports brands)

DS school had a plain clothes day last week for Red Nose Day (but they had to wear something red). I was looking at the yr 7 /Yr 8 boys walking by. Alot of them in the dark red or dark mustard/ yellow jeans. Some in black.

Does he wear chinos?
Is he into jeans (don't know what brand is 'in' though or what style)

I have asked boys about my son's age where they got clothes if there was something I liked the look of (obviously you have to be careful talking to strange young men, I always try to make sure there's a parent or older sibling with them. But as they get older they're more likely to shop alone or in twos/ groups)
I'll be watching this thread.

Skinny jeans, hoodie (primark do plain ones that are cheap, mens' small would be good) and t-shirts with a pair of trainers, although superdry trainers would probably go down well.

Oh, my boys turned 14 today

Ds1 is 14 and likes Topman. He doesn't like the whole superdry/hollister/abercrombie 'label' thing

Odds are he will acutely know which brands his peers like, regardless of whether anyone on here thinks of them as Chav. Superdry still very popular around here.

DS2 is 13 but quite small for his age so we struggle a bit.

He loves Fred Perry, pricey but nice. He has a v neck sweater, soft wool polo sweater and two polo shirts. He has to wear their xs slim fit.

We have been shopping today and he got a lovey polo shirt from Republic and one from Top Man. He has to get their xxs.

He has a few bits from Hollister and SuperDry.

Can I just say nappy that I'm that your 14yo cousin wants to go shopping with you.
My DS won't go shopping with me unless I prod him with a cattle-prod and take him to Game and McD

He's a tall thin boy- I looked in Primark for him (he wasn't with me) their mens slimfit chino trousers were slimmer than the boys 12-13 (and longer lengths available)
OK they cost a bit more but I think the small size mens/teens are the place to look.

I've never had much luck in H&M - I couldn't tell what was boys and what was girls in there without checking the side of the fastening.

TopMan- worth a look.
There's also Boys Base but it's ££

Happy Birthday madlizzy DS (when you say boys have you got twin DS)?

Actually, they're triplets with a triplet sister.

I recently bought my 13 yo nephew a hoody with the GAP logo on the front which he really liked until his friends told him that GAP means Gay and Proud. News to me! Now he won't wear it.

I hope some brat doesn't say that to DD2, because it took weeks to find her an acceptable hoody and she's jolly well wearing it gap or not.

In any case it comes from the phrase generation gap, their clothes been aimed at the younger generation.

Major fail there then as I have two pairs of gap jeans, a gap hoody and am 45

My DS is 14 - he thinks Urban Outfitters is the absolute last word in style (though we only shop there during the sales).

Lurleene I've heard teenagers saying that too. I buy things from GAP for myself but not with the GAP logo on. Not because of people saying that's what it stands for but just hate logos on anything.

I once spent ages looking round Hollister, picked out some dresses, tried them all on. Discarded most cos I noticed they all had a logo on. Queued for quite a while and then noticed the 2 things I had picked out also had a logo that I hadn't seen and much to DP's annoyance got out of the queue and put them back!!

American Apparel and Urban Outfitters are quite popular with my nephews. Apparently everyone is "so over" Jack Wills.

Well, if you don't want to spend a fortune:

H&M have some great things - my DS1 aged 13 found himself a woollen "pea-coat" type jacket there and it is almost never off his back.

Up here (bonnie Scotland) the kids are into "Canterbury" basics - long-sleeved tops etc.

Gap are good for basics - chinos, jeans etc. Come to think of it so is M&S. I would go for basic trousers and have more fun with the tops.

But we never buy anything with a logo apart from the Canterbury stuff.

DS1 also has "views on shoes" - he likes Schuh as they have a biggish selection of casual shoes, and we got great customer service there with his awkward size of feet.

M and Co men's section has yielded some good finds - Tshirts especially, and he has a tremendous scarf from there that suits him amazingly. Narrow lengthwise stripes, very colourful.

Depends where his trip is, but he may need scarf/gloves/hat? They would be on show a lot.