where can I find gender neutral clothes for kids?

[nobodysawmedoit]

Title pretty much says it. DC is now 2.5 and although H&M had some good gender neutral clothes for babies but age 2 and up it's all pink frills or dark grey octopuses wrestling Angry Birds. Any ideas?

My friend has this issue with her 2 year old daughter. She buys a lot of 'boy' clothes - plain coloured t shirts/jumpers, jeans and trousers etc. Obviously avoiding any hideous stuff with 'here comes trouble' or 'I love diggers' written on the front!

I was going to say h&m but DC is only 1; sad to hear they have such a divide after 2. Can you not pick specific things there, striped leggings and plain t shirts? The selection in general is crap I agree

Actually, DC is a boy! Although the clothing options for boys are not quite so infuriatingly gender rigid as the ones for girls, it's been a real eye-opener to see just how limited they are. It is a REAL struggle to find something which is not blue and/or covered in vehicles/dinosaurs/monsters/aggressive slogans. I would give my right arm for a plain coloured t-shirt that was not blue, but I can't find any. Literally, not one.

When you look at the girls sections it's immediately obvious that everything is pink and frilly. In the boys section it doesn't hit you straight away in the same way, but when you start walking around you realise there is NOTHING there you want to dress your child in. I do look in the girls section too (Why the F can't they just have a "children's section"?!) and occasionally find stuff for him in there - a nice brown cardigan was my best find, I didn't even realise it was meant to be "for girls".

Ah well, the search continues... Will let you know if I find anything.

Polarn O Pyret
Smafolk
Molo
Katvig

I buy Fruit of the Loom t shirts on Ebay, and plain shorts and trousers are very easy to find.

I like the brands stargirl has posted.

Also Jako-o, which is a German brand. I have bought a lot from them over the last 4 years for my two DC (both boys). Clothing is fantastic, loads of vibrant colours and no commercial characters. Service is great as well (normally have delivery 4 days after ordering for only 7 EUR) and returns are efficient. Sizing is by height and is generously cut so things last a long time.

Don't you have a boy or a girl? Man alive!

not too bad

any good?

Polarn O Pyret is fantastic. Bit pricier than high street but washes really well and generously sized so a 2-3 top really does last mine from age 2 to almost 4. DD is now on DS's PoP handmedowns, and DC3 (due imminently) is getting them too as they're still in good nick. I have some tops that have done 4 years so far and I expect another 2 given they're still washing so well, which is brilliant value for £15 up front.

One example we have is a striped t shirt with blue, pink, yellow and green stripes - perfect for either gender. And their patterned stuff is awesome.

If you have a girl they do lovely dresses and smocks with interesting colour combos and patterns so you can do something girly but quirky.

On the high street, I think I like Next the best for finding interesting things amidst the blue and pink. DD wears some of DS's plain long and short sleeved t shirts from there - we have red, green, yellow, orange, navy and brown from them. I was in yesterday and they have a 4 pack of t shirts in the boys section which were white, yellow, green and orange.

M&Co worth a glance too I find although that varies by season.

Landsend do lots of fairly gender neutral stuff - mostly in the boy's section, of course! Next sell multipacks of plain dye t-shirts and a lot of their "boy's" shorts are nice bright checks or plain colours.

Boots

Boden

Ignoring the odd aberration on some of these pages (eg "little man")
www.next.co.uk/boys/younger-boys/holiday-essentials/1
www.next.co.uk/boys/younger-boys/jersey-essentials/5

www.landsend.co.uk/Boys_Short-sleeve_Super-T_/pp/P_20501.html?cgid=5387

Also in general avoid girls' sections as they can't help but put a frill or a sequin or a butterfly
on something plain. Boys' sections are more fruitful hunting grounds for things that have no gendered motifs.

Mothercare are actually pretty good at this, for boys at least.

here is their T shirt selection for 2-3 year old boys for example. Yes there are some motorbikes and trains but lots of plain colours and stripes and animals as well. I could see a lot of these on a girl or a boy.

Their girls' stuff however is much more obviously girly - all puffed sleeves and florals.

DS wears a lot of Matalan. He has quite a few nice plain tops.

I find some nice generic and bright clothes in sainsburys.

Er, nothing I have bought from H & M for DD who is 2 1/2 has been remotely pink or frilly!

www.zara.com/uk/en/kids/baby-boy-%283-months-3-years%29/jogging/striped-leggings-c372503p1910548.html

www.zara.com/uk/en/kids/baby-boy-%283-months-3-years%29/jogging/arrow-print-leggings-c372503p1784027.html

I'm not that bothered about gender neutral clothes but when I put my ds in these a few of my friends complain they are girly! I don't care, they are super comfy for him! A lot of Zara's clothes are quite neutral I think.

I love zara clothes too. Genuine question, why does it bother you? I'm not asking to be awkward or anything I'm just interested.

Thanks for all the tips, I'll look into them.
why does it bother me? For the same reason putting girls exclusively in pink flowery frills bothers me. They are children, forming their personalities and interests. I don't want my children to have our society's ugly warped hyper-feminine / hyper-masculine, rigid, binar, polar opposite gender sterotypes forced on them. I don't want my boy to dress like a thug any more than I'd want a girl to dress like a slut. I think this enforced emphasis of difference between girls and boys is incredibly damaging to them as individuals as well as to our society. Of course it's mostly women and girls who suffer the worst consequences of it but boys do too. And even if my white, male, middle class son never has to deal with the disadvantages that other sectors of society are born with, god knows I want him to be part of the solution and not the problem. I think the digger tshirts are one small step away from the porno tshirts teenage boys wear, it's all part of the same issue.
Rant over, but as you can see, it does REALLY bother me.

I see

Boden do completely plain tshirt www.boden.co.uk/en-GB/Boys-1H-12yrs-Tops-T-shirts/T-shirts/21683/Boys-1H-12yrs-Washed-T-shirt

And colourblock plain tshirts www.boden.co.uk/en-GB/Boys-1H-12yrs-Tops-T-shirts/T-shirts/21705/Boys-1H-12yrs-Colourblock-T-shirt

Both of which would suit your needs.

John Lewis
H&M (yes, even in bigger sizes)
Saino's
Next
Gap
Polarn o Pyret

Look in the boy's sections, these placed tend to be pretty good on plain, striped, basics - Ts, trousers etc, but you do have to hunt. Much easier online!

I have a 5yo ds and 2 yo dd. DD wears a lot of hand me downs, but everything I have bought her new this year had been from the boys' bit.

I now buy ds mostly jeans, coloured chinos and multicoloured stripey Ts so they can hand down well.

Next and Mothercare both do packs of plain or brightly coloured T-shirts.

If you want nice T-shirts with designs that aren't too boyish, then Monsoon do lovely T-shirts.

Don't children start expressing strong clothing preferences once they get to 2 anyway?
Mine certainly did, both were very opinionated on colour and design. I gave them a fair bit of say in what clothes were bought from that age, anyway. They definitely have their favourite colours; DD2 won't wear some of DD1's old favourites as hand-me-downs because she doesn't like the colour.

Lots of children like diggers, why can't they be proud of clothes that they have chosen themselves, and have a picture of something they like on?

DD is 2 and has two favourite t shirts, one has a sailing boat on, the other has butterflies. She chose them both. Yes the butterfly one is pink and girly and not what I would have chosen, but she deserves some say too, and both her choices are perfectly valid.