It won’t surprise you to hear that for me, the answer is ‘not much’.
This isn’t because I am spending all my cash on the latest fashions for myself, it’s just that spending on clothes generally just isn’t something that really appeals to me. Perhaps if I worked in an office I would feel a bit more motivated, but why would I dress up in a fancy skirt just to sit at home on my own? That would be a bit weird.
Buying clothes for children feels even more pointless, as they have that annoying habit of growing. They do it bloody quickly too, so no sooner have you forked out on a lovely new pair of jeans than they are flapping unfashionably around their ankles already.
A recent survey though by Cotton USA reveals that the average British child’s wardrobe is stocked with a whopping £1,348 worth of clothes.
£1,348??!
Seriously, you could go on an awesome holiday for that.
What could you possibly even spend that much money on?
Plus that means that to balance out me, who buys Belle a pair of jeans once a year or so and the rest of the time relies on Gran to make occasional visits to Matalan, there must be a family somewhere spending twice as much. I am imagining a family somewhere with kids who dress everyday like this:
So stylish.
How though could you let your son go out and play knowing that his trousers cost more than your washing machine? It doesn’t exactly inspire a sense of freedom and creativity does it?
Personally I would rather have my kids in a £200 wardrobe and spend the other £1,148 on actually having some fun. Visit popgear for character clothing at affordable prices.
I totally agree. I hardly spend anything on Iyla and Jobey’s clothes. Iyla is a toddler and gets everything mucky within two minutes and Jobey is a baby that grows out of things in a few weeks, spending money on clothes for them seems silly so I buy it all mainly in supermarkets. I’m the same with clothes for me, I don’t do anything very exciting with my day so doing it wearing nice outfits would look ridiculous! Plus I end up with snot all over me after about an hour!
I think if adults choose to spend money on expensive clothes it’s totally their choice but I will never understand people who buy them for their kids! x
I have friends who would spend a fortune on their kids and I always feel like a rubbish mum when I go round to other one-year-old’s houses and see they have half of mother care in their living room. I absolutely feel peer-mum-pressure to get my one year old a Smart Trike because everyone else has one….
I love to get bargains for my wee boy and we are very lucky that we have very generous grandparents who literally buy Ray a new wardrobe every 3/6 months when we see them.
I would only spend more for special occasions i.e. weddings, parties etc and you can always get bargains on eBay. I never buy something expensive from a shop without checking eBay.
I like Ray be matching colour-wise but I am the same myself. I think it’s my little bit of OCD but it doesn’t mean spending a fortune.
I enjoy reading your Blog.
I’m charity shops and hand me downs all the way. I hardly spend anything on their clothes
I try to spend the least amount possible so any donations from friends/family or charity shop finds are the only way to go. I also have two very generous Grandmothers who like to help out as well. I totally agree that the money is so much better spent on having fun. Besides, do small children really worry about which shop their clothes came from?
I don’t know anyone that spends that sort of money on kids clothes… but then I don’t expect someone with that kind of money to spend would want to associate with me haha! The majority of my kids clothes are from charity shops and car boot sales or swapped with friends. The only thing I’m usually forced to buy new are shoes.
I believe there are 2 sides to this story and it does matter what clothes you buy, even if it is more expensive.
I personally prefer to buy used clothes but simply because they are less toxic. But when ever possible (price is an issue here) I buy organic clothes. In any which case I avoid polyester and acryl. I don’t mind spending more on 100% cotton shirts.
Young children are much more vulnerable to the effects of toxic chemicals than adults. Their immune systems and central nervous system are still developing, which means their bodies are generally less capable of eliminating toxins.
To think about what clothes you are buying for your children is very important, I believe. Who does not know a child with eczma or allergies?