Help with a teen boy outfit

[Ozgirl76]

So my 16 year old boy has his end of year party - it’s smart casual and I need a bit of help!

He’s thinking, pale, ecru/sand chinos, white and black adidas superstars, white shirt, brown belt. So my questions are, do you think the shirt should be linen or cotton? And I’m thinking I might be able to get a blazer too - but would navy blue or light blue work best?

Were in Aus and don’t do many smart things, he’s always in shorts and t shirt, and the times he has gone smarter it’s navy chinos, trainers and a white t shirt.

I think just take him shopping and let him try some things on. You sound oddly over invested trying to decide between linen or cotton for him.

Isn’t this the style and beauty section? If you don’t have an opinion on this, there’s actually no need to reply 😄.

Teen boy style is pretty tribal and varies widely by location. We travel quite a bit between the UK and Australia. What's in for teenagers is very different, even more so with the boys than the girls. You'll need Aussie mums to answer this.

Lord I thought it would be easier than this to get someone’s thoughts on cotton vs linen 🤦‍♀️
You know what, I’m sure I can just figure this out for myself - what a hard work group this is 😂

The laughing emoji doesn't really negate your rudeness.

She isn’t the one being rude!

She asked if people would recommend cotton or linen - as the mum of a now adult but not long teen boy he’d often ask my opinion and if I didn’t know I’d ask others.

Personally OP I’d go with linen. My DS found this softer and more comfy and also more flexible to wear for other occasions.
instead of blazer he had a light knit wool zip up cardi type top as again it could be worn with chino shorts and the linen shirt for occasions where smart casual was needed.

He is an athlete (swimmer) and so lives in swim briefs and sports kit and he often seemed to mistake my smart casual work wardrobe as knowledge of how to dress 😂🫣

Don’t get me started when he wanted my advice on a shirt to wear for my brothers wedding. It was pure luck we bumped into my brother and (now SIL) in the same shop and so I tasked him with it!

What are his friends wearing? My experience is they all do the same as each other. The outfit sounds lovely, personally I prefer cotton but that doesn’t mean my 16 year old does because of his friends are all wearing linen cotton might be “weird”

I agree. He needs to find out what his friends are wearing and go from there.

Personally my children wouldn’t know the difference if they were wearing cotton or linen and would be more worried about what it looks and feels like.

The others are being fair. Different countries and friendship groups have different fashion styles.

My teen doesn’t even own a shirt apart from school uniform and his smart outfit would be a polo. For something super fancy he’d borrow a shirt from his older brother who wears shirts to work and is the same build.

Thanks @itsgettingweird i was leaning towards linen too, I think he’ll like the slightly more casual look.
It’s not really a fashion event, it’s a smart casual end of year formal so it doesn’t particularly matter what his friends are wearing, plus his friend group isn’t into clothes really, they’re all just t shirt and shorts kids. He chooses his own clothes normally, but this is the first formal event he’s been to with school. I hadn’t realised formals were so different across the world, we’re from the U.K. originally and what I see my friends kids wearing is basically the same as mine.

Don’t dress him like a tall toddler!
Smart casual here would be cargo pants and a polo T-shirt. Have you asked him what he wants to wear. More important he’s comfortable than on trend imo

I don’t think chinos and a shirt are really toddler clothes? A polo I’m sure would be nice for some events but this is a bit smarter than casual. Some will be in suits for example.

In what world is that a toddler outfit? It’s a nice smart generic outfit for all ages

My preference would be for linen, but my DSs (13 and 15) have very strong views on their clothes so if I was buying something for them I would have to either take them shopping, or buy a few options for them to try on at home and return the rejected ones.

There's also the possibility of a white t-shirt under a blazer, which DS1 would prefer to anything with a collar. DS2 likes collared shirts as long as they're big and boxy and have short sleeves.

Personally I never buy linen, including for myself. Gets crushed within 15 seconds of putting it on. But fundamentally, at that age all that matters is feeling you fit in. So he should agree with his friends what they are all wearing.

He likes the white t shirt under blazer look too but it isn’t really smart enough for this event. This is what he normally goes for if he’s going out to dinner etc - white t shirt under dark jumper rather than blazer but the same idea.

He isn’t into clothes in the slightest, hence my post. If he had specific views I’d follow them but he doesn’t. Also his friend group isn’t really a “we must fit in” type of group, it’s not really like that here in Sydney, plus even if it was, choosing linen over cotton or vice versa wouldn’t really make someone not fit in, that would be mad.

the uni students here on their sports nights (Wednesday, am in UK) are always brown shoes, chinos, brown belt, blue cotton shirt.

my ds sees them and took note and now does same for formals (he’s 16). I love it ! Especially because I’d wanted him to start making more of an effort, but he’d been having none of it.

I like that look too @TinyDancer16 but my son says he can’t wear a blue shirt as it shows the sweat!

Yes that’s a very good point. If he’s worried about sweating, I’d def go with linen ….

It’ll definitely be sweaty - early summer in Sydney, and they’ll be dancing like maniacs

DS wore a linen shirt (because it was cooler on the heat), suit trousers and matching waistcoat and AF1s to his post GCSE prom. And Raybans. He looked excellent - his friendship group wore variations on lounge suits - with/without waistcoat; with/without tie; bow tie; velvet jackets; coloured shirt; linen suit; dress shoes, Converse, Trainers. Others wore full on evening dress. Some wore chino shorts and Hawaiian shirts.

This was N of England, 18 months ago.

I have a teen DS who always has a white linen shirt in his wardrobe for smarter wear. He’s not particularly into fashion. Texture and how it feels on are what really matters to him. He really likes the feel of linen.