Spoilt for choice

By Sean Coughlan
BBC News Magazine

Mothers are spending more on designer clothes for their young children than themselves. Has celeb culture reached the toddler market?

Greater love hath no woman than to lay down her credit card for someone else's wardrobe.

But the ultimate sacrifice is being made by mothers who are now spending more on dressing their young children than themselves.

While mothers are kitting themselves out from the bargain bins in Matalan and Primark, they're dressing their offspring in expensive designer gear, according to a survey from financial services company, Mint.

This research found that the average spending on toddlers' outfits is now £406 per year - and that 68% of mothers are now spending more on their children's clothes than their own.

A third of parents are buying designer clothes for toddlers; Norma Gerrard, head of Mint credit cards, says it's all part of the "obsession" with celebrity.

Junior celebs

"This has grown in tandem with celebrity culture. Parents see these pictures of celebrities with their perfect-looking children in designer outfits and they want their own children to look like that.

The Beckhams are role models for designer-friendly parents

"It's a desire to look the part - and when parents meet up there's also an element of competitiveness creeping in."

So if you can't afford to dress like Posh and Becks, then at least your children can get the spray-on glitz treatment.

And that's not a random example, because the survey found that for parental trend-setting, David and Victoria Beckham were the most-admired role models.

Twice as many of the mothers surveyed aspired to have children in the mould of Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz rather than the tweedy values of the Royal Family.

And it isn't cheap. Take a look at Selfridges. In their children's section, the current must-have is a D&G white leather motorcycle jacket costing £205.

White linen for toddlers?

Or how about a white linen suit for infants? "This slick little linen number comes in sizes for age two up, so no matter how early in his life this momentous occasion pitches up you need look no further."

The children's clothing market is worth £6bn per year

A white linen suit on a grown man has some serious odds stacked against its survival - but on a two-year-old? The most likely thing to "pitch up" is lunch - all over the trousers.

Even stranger, Selfridges is selling a brand of jeans and T-shirt for children called "Strawberry Fatal".

There are now dozens of adult brands which have junior ranges. Armani jeans for a three year old? Yours for £80. Ralph Lauren junior T-shirt, £42. Burberry infant shorts, £56. Or how about D&G dungarees for a six-month-old, priced £57.

And what's going on with paying a fortune for designer trainers for children who haven't learned to walk?

It's not even that parents are making a positive choice to dress their children like junior models. The survey found evidence of "parental paranoia", where new mothers felt under pressure to keep pace with the bling-encrusted style of celebrity parents.

Stylish wheels

It's not just what children are wearing. There's also a style issue over how they get around.

Royal carriage: state-of-the-art Bugaboo pram

A low-slung three-wheeler buggy used to be fashionable baby transport - the kind that looked like they should be pushed by tanned parents on roller skates.

But now it's the four-wheel multi-purpose, highly-manoeuvrable variety that are in vogue - with the upmarket Bugaboo versions costing around £500.

If that seems steep, then you can go further upmarket for a child's car seat - with the Aprica Euro Turn Hi Deluxe version costing £660, including a cooling system for the tiny passenger. Hopefully it won't be as irritatingly complicated to install as the cheap ones.

No proud father's wardrobe is complete without a baby-carrying device - the type that gets strapped around the front - allowing the father to complain about it and show off at the same time.

But while the mothers are splashing out on expensive designer gear, the fathers are getting away with the Baby Bjorn classic carrier for less than £50. David Cameron, a man with a finger on more pulses than an emergency paramedic team, was seen wearing his Baby Bjorn this spring.

Smaller families, bigger budget

If mothers are heading for the designer gear for their babies, then it's also a reflection of the changing demographics of parenthood, says Maureen Hinton, senior retail analyst at Verdict Research.

Are children feeling consumer pressure at too young an age?

Women are having children later in their lives - when they're likely to be more affluent and ready to invest more on their families.

Such wealthier mothers, wanting to lavish more on their children, have encouraged designers to introduce children's ranges - but it's not any kind of gold rush, says Ms Hinton, as the children's market has always been difficult for clothing companies.

While parents might complain that children's clothes are almost as expensive as those for adults - she says that producing outfits for little 'uns isn't that much cheaper, with the added problem of having to make so many different sizes to match age ranges.

But do we want children to be dressed up in designer clothes so early in their lives? Do we want them to go straight from the cradle to the rave?

A report from the National Consumer Council last summer warned that by the age of 10, many children in this country had become brand-aware shoppers - and were feeling the pressures and stresses of adult consumers.

It also showed that children in the UK felt under more pressure to get designer label goods than their counterparts in the US.

And with the UK's children's clothing market worth £6bn each year, it's unlikely that the pressure will relent.

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Add your comments on this story, using the form below.

I do spend loadsa money on my daughter - but it's on books for her bookshelves and programmes for her laptop rather than clothes for her wardrobe! Not that I spend much on my kit either (today's outfit is under £5 total!).
Megan, Cheshire UK

Whilst I'd like to say that this story is unbelievable, the sad truth is that, in this celeb-obssessed culture we now live in, it is. Children's clothing used to be bought for serviceability, now it's bought for street-cred. Parents who buy into this appalling trend are just fuelling the 'me,me,me' and 'must have the very best now even though I can't afford it' population of the future. It's about time this generation got back to treating children like children and not as miniature adults!
Donna Chisholm, Staffs, UK

Pressure, pressure, pressure. You'd think it was the challenge to reduce global warming or abolish third world debt job that this article is talking about not retail therapy. Shopping is just that, therapy. I think there's been a gross exaggeration as to any 'pressures' involved.
Bex, France

There is no need to spend a fortune on kid's clothes. Especially light colours because they will get stained and be ruined. Asda has a great range of clothes that are colourful and fashionable. parents spend a fortune on kids clothes so they can show off the designer names to other mums. it is not for the children's benefit.
leanne evans, porthcawl s wales

A quick way to nip this idiocy in the bud? Compulsory sterilisation for anyone seen buying Heat magazine. Simple.
Sue Lee, Twickenham

I think it's a waste of money, and can eventually even be counter-productive to being a good parent. As a child, I was dressed in clothes that were hard-wearing and good value. I remember one particular pair of culottes made from old curtains! And when I became aware of "fashion" the answer was no to labels, because they are just too expensive. I felt hard done by in school, but I think the message I was given is more important. Pandering to children's every desire is dangerous, and it's even more wasteful when little 1-year old Bobby doesn't even know/care what he's throwing up on, or playing in the mud in. I know where I'll be - with children that are allowed to get dirty!
alex imrie, braunschweig, germany

If the average is £406, that must mean there are a fair few people spending much more than this! We spend very little on our little boy. Most clothes are passed down from family and friends. The majority of the rest we get from supermarkets very cheaply! By far the most expensive item we've bought is a £32 pair of Clarkes shoes. So far he hasn't objected or been snubbed by his toddler friends for his lack of style!
Jonathan, Bury St Edmunds, UK

Rampant consumerism at it's worse!
ndelamiko lord, London, UK

Are you talking about me? this is spot on in my situation. 2 weeks ago I went to Lakeside and indulged in some £3 and £4 tops from Primark. They were gorgeous. I done a huge U-turn though when I reached the kids section. Reason? It's not that they are cheap it's because they look awful. I have 2 boys. Whilst you can go into Mothercare, Primark, Matalan and especially Next to get some very very very cute cheap outfits for girls, try it for boys. They are horrendous. They are all the same. Military pattern which in summer is a bright colour like orange and in winter the same military pattern but in blue. The clothes are all the same with just the colour changing to suit the season. That is the reason why I buy designer stuff for my boys. And why not? Then we have the added bonus of selling all the outgrown clothes on E-bay and getting some money back to buy new clothes for next season.
TB, Enfield

This is crazy. What are we teaching our children? Certainly not the important life skills that they will need as they grow older. Consumer pressure is already fuelling a credit card / store card culture. I think that this is borderline abuse. First we have silly little dogs being dressed up and used as fashion accessories, now people are doing this with their own children!!
Paul, West Midlands

My little girl always looks absolutely gorgeous, and I've bought all of her clothes from boot sales, NCT Sales and Ebay. Some of those have been designer brands, but bought for pence rather than pounds.
Holly's Mum, Wiltshire

Oh dear God... I never thought I'll read something like that. Children grown as fast as bamboo. There is no point in buying a designer item they'll outgrow by tomorrow afternoon. I do not want to restrict my children, stopping them from larking about on the grass and the mud because the jacket they have on cost £200. Kids are not self conscious, they don't care for prestige tag, as far as they are warm and they like what they are wearing, Tesco or Armani makes no difference to them.
Lucy, Manchester

In my experience the more the cost they less likely they are to wash and tumble dry well. Middle of the road M&S and George can't be beaten for washing and wear after wear. At the end of the day most mums will plump for this not a brand. I live in a very affluent area and it's all Next, M&S and yes, even George in the playground - not a D&G in sight!
Sally, Leics

These people all got hit with the stupid stick... Seriously though - not only are these people sad and shallow but they are teaching their children to be sad and shallow too. Of all the good causes, the need and the suffering in the world this is the best they can do with their money?!
Dana Valerie, London

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