Designer clothes

[Candynet]

Hello, I'm new here but wanted to ask other Mums your opinions. My DS is 15years old. He loves his designer clothes, he hasn't got this from me at all. Seems to be just teenage boys these days. I am in a good job and have a comfortable life. I buy him some select designer clothes for Christmas and birthday to which both occasions he has a budget and picks what he wants. So he has had Lacoste, CP stuff like that £165 tracksuit jobby. The rest of the year he gets Nike , North Face stuff etc.

His friend has now trumped all of the peer group and is walking around in a Moncler jacket £650, McQueen Trainers £350 IPhone 11 Pro plus and this is just items for his birthday. The list goes on. This child lives in a council estate flat. Now I am not saying they can't afford it or downing these people in any way. Good luck to them. I just don't know how they are supporting a lifestyle like that and living with what seems limited means. How can my DS even keep up with this, I certainly can't and don't think I would pay that for teenage clothes. Do other Mums feel this pressure?! Kids asking for super expensive clothes?

My son was similar at that age. I remember I used to get annoyed with him because me and his dad have never bought designer clothes. like you, we just gave him gifts of money/vouchers for birthdays etc that he put towards the items he wanted. He also had to do jobs around the house to make up some more money towards them. Luckily he seems to have (mostly) grown out of it now he is 18. He now has a mix of H&M jeans etc and an occasional more expensive item.

Yes he has a Saturday job and said if you want expensive clothes you will have to save yourself. I too buy H&M and get him to mix it up. Thank you for your reply. It's comforting thinking he may grow out of this fad!

Are you saying that people on council estates should shop in Primark and Tesco for their clothes? Or are you saying that this child’s parents are on benefits and therefore should not be spending their money on brand items?

I would imagine they're fake or on credit.

How could someone on benefit afford these items is what OP is asking . Most benefit claimants struggle to afford necessities.

I’m really confused what the other child has to do with this and why where he lives is at all relevant??

I have nieces and nephew's of the same age and they where fakes. Mostly bought from Manchester so I'd be pretty certain a lot of kids are wearing fakes. If you look closely you can tell and the quality isn't as good but for young people I don't think they can.

No chance would I buy my children those designers.

I actually think this makes me a little bit sad. When i was at school we were poor, like I was the only kid in my class not to have a shell suit (lol!!) and then as a teenager it was kappa this and Adidas that, but actually compared to what some kids want these days that was nothing. £650 for a coat seems bonkers to me, especially for a child who is (presumably? I don’t know) not earning the money to pay for their own stuff. And it makes other kids feel like they are less, because they haven’t “got all the stuff”
Consumer culture has just lost the plot imo.
My kids I would say are the opposite but again this is absolutely nothing that I’ve wncouraged it otherwise. They are what I would say “individual” dressers which again when I was at school was frowned on. They have a style that they try and maintain but don’t care where the clothes come from. And in fact my dd 16 hates the thought of looking like other people.
However, I’m not sure it matters if people live in a council house (I do!) or where the money comes from. I’m just ranting about the system. But then I’m an old fart according to my kids .....

Where the other boy lives is irrelevant, you do know not everyone in social housing is unemployed and in benefits? Nasty attitude from you. Where I live there is a good mix of social and private housing and plenty of kids are wearing Moncler jackets, here in Scotland we don’t have this separation of council estates as some horrible out of sight thing, most areas are a mix, I find this scorn of council housing on MN as really vile.

@sandgrown
There’s no mention of benefits just OPs assumption that a council tenant must be poor.

i imagine he has fakes, or he's just telling fibs. Council tenants don't have to bee poor, but that any parent would spend that amount on kids' clothes is hardly believable.

@fish
Of course it’s believable, people buy these clothes, my DD knows quite a few boys who have these, Iphone 11 etc, everyone chooses to spend differently. Rather designer gear than a holiday, tbf when I’ve read any Xmas gift threads on MN I’m amazed at how stingy folk are, plenty save all year to buy the high end stuff.

This child lives in a council estate flat

that's nice but I'm not sure what that's got to do with what the lad wears...

Maybe they've won on a scratch card, maybe the parents have had a bonus or done some overtime at work, maybe the lad's grandparent has died and left him some money.

I’d assume the clothing items were fakes.

@sex
Why would you assume that? Tbf the teenagers I know wouldn’t wear fakes. Christ what a bunch of nasty snobs.

I agree that the judgey attitude about the other boy is unnecessary.

Not sure why you’d want to keep up with anybody either.

Really ??? We live in a council property my kids are always kitted out in the best of stuff what the hells living in a council estate got to do with it ?? And why do you even care ?

Because the majority of children I see in designer stuff are clearly wearing fakes.

The number of children schlepping around in fake ‘uggs’ is ridiculous.

@Babyg1995
I grew up in a council house with hard working parents, here on MN if you live in social housing you must be on benefits, I actually read a comment saying they thought SH was for unemployed ppl because they couldn’t get a mortgage 🙄 The snobbery is shocking and I think it’s due in part to the separation of council/private housing in England. Where I live (Scotland)it’s a good mix, new builds, council etc, nobody cares.

I'm in Scotland too me and my partner both work full time Very comfortable lovely house beautiful inside and out and yes it's council shock horror

Fortunately we seem to be more inclusive 😉
The new council houses built near me are lovely, I’d live there in a minute plus the council houses are much bigger with big gardens than new built Persimmon houses tbf

They are probably fake , they are many amazing fakes now !

I think the implication is if you can afford all this stuff then surely you don't need a council house and it should be given to someone more in need ?

These people

Maybe they’ve bought the council house ; maybe they like living close to their mum . Maybe they are secret brain surgeons who go on several long holidays a year and like designer clothes more than a big fancy house!!!

I think it’s very clear why your son feels the need to keep up appearances .... I think you’re following his peers with far too much interest.
I hope you don’t make these comments around him.

@oohnicevase that's how I took OPs post. I just thought she worded it badly.

Anyway, my DS is the same and I look on eBay for a lot of his stuff, he's had some really nice second hand stuff (I don't always tell him it's second hand lol) but I'm also not paying £150 for a horrific hoodie with bloody goggles attached to it😂