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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

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Original poster

How do I buy clothes for ds age 13...!?

77 replies

fizzbuzz · 26/12/2006 10:47

Ds has informed me he dislikes his wardrobe as too babyish and uncool.

However will not enlighten me as to what he will wear. Has rejected all requests to go shopping for clothes as boring, but will not wear anything from catalogues. I know anything I buy for him will be instantly rejected as embarrassing. Is currently wearing 2 sweatshirts and 2 tshirts all the time!

Any tips?!!!!!

OP posts:

tigermoth · 02/01/2007 00:20

lol at this thread. Fascinating to see so many boys just don't like clothes shopping, but I am not at all surprised as I expected my 12 year old son to be like this. How wrong I was! He is clothes mad and saves up his school lunch money to buy horrible baseball caps from ebay. He loves logos (sports and designer) and got terribly excited when sportworld did a line of reduced Yves Saint Laurant clothing. His christmas presents consisted of a YSL zip up top, socks, plus two baseball hats, some pink pants from primark and a padded jacket from his grandmother. All his choice.
For shops he favours sportworld as I give him a clothes budget and he knows he can get a lot for his money there. He says TK MAXX is good, but he has gone off all the surf/skateboard styles. He refuses point blank to shop at Hennes or Gap and will only wear underwear from Primark.

Oh and I haven't mentioned the striped gloves. He has five or six pairs of fingerless gloves, with lots of pink in them, mainly bought from Claire's Accessories or Primark. He loves lookig in Clair's Accessories! He wears a pair of baby pink fingerless gloves to school. It is the fashion amongst the boys, so he says.

Also he keeps whittering on about getting a Disney Princess style pink backpack for his school books. Apparently some boys at his school now sport these as opposed to the usual Nike backpacks.

WeWishUAMerryXmasNANappyNewYr · 02/01/2007 00:35

debenhams, h&m, tk maxx. that's about it really!! its the same for girls though. the only extra to the above when i was 13 was tammy for girls. any other shops like bhs were far too uncool!luckily from about the age of 13 i could fit into the tiniest sizes in topshop etc.

fussymummy · 02/01/2007 00:41

I haven't read all posts, sp sprry if i repeat what's already been said.

Have you tried next?

They do boys clothes up to age 16.

You could order from Next directory and he could try things on at home.

I do that with all my kids.

So much easier than dragging them round the shops.

I order an assortment of sizes and they try on at home when they want to.

Just return what you don't want.

twinsetandpearls · 02/01/2007 00:43

As others have said TK MAxx is fab it is where I always buy for my nephew and apparantly I get the best presents for him every year.

fortyplus · 02/01/2007 00:47

My 2 boys are 11 & 13 and have very fixed ideas about what they do and don't like, though strangely not fixated on one particular brand or style. Their favourite brands seem to be Salt Rock, Ripcurl and Animal. ds1 has a favourite Kangaroo Poo t shirt. Sometimes they see something they like in Primark, Next or M&S.
Agree that teen boys are not well catered for - especially if they're skinny.
Ds1 is ok - he's reasonably chunky and everything fits, but ds2 is tall and slim and trousers are hard to buy - always too baggy if they're long enough.

As for p-j's... ds1 is 13 and happily wears ones from M&S. ds2 is 11 and thinks they're uncool so wears boxers on their own in the summer or with a top in winter.

sallyhollyberry · 02/01/2007 01:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

WeWishUAMerryXmasNANappyNewYr · 02/01/2007 01:51

oh yes next aswell forgot about that one.

tigermoth · 02/01/2007 08:02

None of your boys are into stripy fingerless gloves then?

LorinaLovesSprouts · 02/01/2007 08:18

We had the same problem with Ds(13). From 11 onwards he was too big for kidswear and too small for adults .There is such a gap in the market. For a while last year the only things we could get were from quicksilver which was very boring and expensive after a while.

In November he finally went into a mens size small. Infact he has had three sizes of school trousers since september so I expect he will be a mens medium soon. Discovered on boxing day that he is taller than me now!

random · 02/01/2007 11:39

Tigermoth my ds 14 says lots of boys at his school wear pink gloves and scarves ...he however lives in his greenday t.shirt I tend to buy most of his clothes from soccer sports he likes their No Fear range . not brilliant quality but he grows so fast!!

tigermoth · 02/01/2007 17:57

phew, glad ds is not the only one. I never see his friends at school so do not witness how they customise their uniforms.

Although I am not a fan of sports clothing, reading this thread has made me see a possible reason why so many boys of this age gravitate towards the stuff.

As tracksuit bottoms are elasticated at the top and bottom and so are many zip tops, boys can hitch them up if they are too long without needing to alter them. No other style of clothing is so adjustable.

My son, who is under 5 feet tall, now wears men's medium size tracksuit bottoms and jackets, as long as they are elasticated. He cannot find many off the peg non sporty clothes in Gap or Hennes that would fit him any more.

themoon66 · 02/01/2007 21:58

Lorina - My DS is taller than me too. He must be nearly 6ft tall, but is so skinny his jeans actually fell down tonight when he got up from the dinner table.

StarrmumofRoyalBeautyBright · 02/01/2007 22:22

Thankfully ds1 (14, 15 at the end of Feb) now takes small in men's sizes (the real downside being the cost of course!)

Debenhams does have some good stuff, but I really object to the prices they charge - always used to buy stuff in their sale.

Ds1 has discovered Uniqlo, which is quite reasonable, and they seem to have good trousers and tops that he likes.

The Next Directory is good, but I now wouldn't buy anything without his prior approval.

Thankfully ds2 (11, 12 at the beginning of March) will still wear what I buy and is happy with ds1's cast offs!

StarrmumofRoyalBeautyBright · 02/01/2007 22:22

Thankfully ds1 (14, 15 at the end of Feb) now takes small in men's sizes (the real downside being the cost of course!)

Debenhams does have some good stuff, but I really object to the prices they charge - always used to buy stuff in their sale.

Ds1 has discovered Uniqlo, which is quite reasonable, and they seem to have good trousers and tops that he likes.

The Next Directory is good, but I now wouldn't buy anything without his prior approval.

Thankfully ds2 (11, 12 at the beginning of March) will still wear what I buy and is happy with ds1's cast offs!

themoon66 · 02/01/2007 22:30

Debenhams stuff is always huge around the waist though.

Tortington · 02/01/2007 22:32

i'd tell him to kiss my arse - if he can't be bothered to go shopping with my money quite frankly

2shoes · 02/01/2007 22:37

question. what do you do when your 14 yr old wants to live in his bullett for my valentine tshirt. he will wear a hoodie as well but has to be his my chemical roamnce one,
and where can I get stripey fingerless gloves.
and warhammers so glad that is over.

Skribble · 02/01/2007 22:41

Problem with that age they don't know what they are supposed to like .

My DS is only 10 but lives in one set of clothes for days until challenged, he likes the skater style. Sleeps in pj sets with the shorts or his pants and a big adult t-shirt. He has loads of gig/ band t-shirts too that he likes.

The embarrisment factor is a problem too at that age, he was probably quite happy with what he had until someone slagged him off.

merlotmama · 02/01/2007 23:17

You're right, Skribble, I think they know what they don't like, but don't know what they do.....or are just totally crippled by the fear of choosing something uncool.

DS2, newly 14, has 2 pairs of jeans which are too small, really. I make comments about the cat dying and warn him about squashing his boy bits. He has to stand up every few minutes and shoogle his trousers down a bit while watching TV - very unrestful for the rest of us!

DS1 brother is much easier. He thinks I am a good chooser of clothes but he knows what he likes so so do I and I can shop for him.

LOL Tigermoth, at the idea of DS2 wearing tracksuit bottoms with elastic at the bottom of the legs. Here in Scotland they are called 'jobbie catchers' (jobbies being poohs) and he reserves particular scorn for anyone seen in them.

My particular grumble, apart from lack of choice, is that both DS's are skinny and waists are always too big for them. I find John Lewis PJs are narrower. They are more expensive but last forever.

StarrmumofRoyalBeautyBright · 04/01/2007 09:14

Totally agree about waist sizes! Not a problem with DS1 because he is tall with a well developed musculature - and quite a big waist.

DS2 though is a different matter - like a bean pole. Gap trousers are great because they have adjustable waists - but again I think they're really over priced.

sallystrawberry · 04/01/2007 16:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

random · 05/01/2007 08:02

2shoes can you tell me where you bought MCR hoodie from? if you dont mind .I have to listen to cd all night and listen to ds playing along on his guitar so he might as well have the top to match

2shoes · 05/01/2007 09:34

ragfreak in brighton. It was £35 and you must not wash until worn otherewise it will shrink

random · 05/01/2007 09:39

Thanks 2shoes but too far away from me .will have to get off my arse and look locally

2shoes · 05/01/2007 12:48

where abouts are you?

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