Reining in the label whore

[justme]

Aug 20, 2020 17:55:24 GMT -5 buystoys said:

I'm in the camp of giving them a set amount and letting them figure out the financing for what they want. 

I didn't buy the Guess jeans or other major labels, but I did have Candie's shoes back in the late 70's early 80's.  I paid for them with my own money, though.  My folks didn't buy any of my clothing or hygiene items once I turned 15 and had a part time job out of the house.

Lol that works unless your kid's a smart ass like me. I more or less refused to buy clothes that fit dress code for school (couldn't wear tank tops and I was tall so no shorts were for me). My mom kept telling me to buy jeans cuz mine had a rip on the upper thigh that almost showed my underwear (ironically it fit dress code!) but I didn't want to spend the money. So she bought me pants.

[Opti]

Aug 20, 2020 16:09:02 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Aug 20, 2020 14:58:50 GMT -5 Cheesy FL-Vol said:

I don't understand the need for name brand stuff. For clothes I buy for comfort. Eventually clothes wear out and you have to buy more, why spend a fortune on them? I will fork out for 3 things for comfort; undergarments, jeans, and shoes. That said, I work from home and have no one to impress. Even if I did work at an office, I still would only be buying for comfort not what the latest thing is.

Years ago when I got a job running a Ropes/Challenge Course, my girlfriend bought me a Patagonia jacket. She told me that if some guy was suggesting to her that she should climb up a tree, walk on cables to a platform, and ride a zip line back to the ground she would want them to look professional. A name brand jacket said that to her.

Interesting. I actually got into Patagonia because of annual whitewater trips. Sometimes industrial is good. 

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

I remember dropping $50 for a pair of Calvin Klein jeans when I was in college.  The first time I wore them, I needed to take the battery out of the car and spilled acid down one leg.  

$50.....when minimum wage was $2.90/hour!  This was my first foray into buying a label, and I got burned.

[stillmovingforward]

My DD2 and DS2 were label whores 🤣
Id give them a set amount of money for school clothes and ignore any whining. DD2 discovered thrift stores and that i really didn't care what she spent the money on (money was for clothes, spend it on anything else, that's your issues). She made it like a bandit! Her brother, he's finally learning that no one really cares what he wears as long as it's clean and neat.....
I had to put up with a lot of crabby comments from other parents though. They thought I was so mean to those poor kids! No, I just want responsible adults.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Aug 20, 2020 14:52:20 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Aug 20, 2020 14:49:13 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Daughters are 19-25, 2/3 have jobs and the one daughter that wants the linen bed set and Ray Bans has a job.  She's in her last year of college.  One is living with her BF (and actually, he seems to be reining in that niece some) and the other is still at home.  She lost her job at the daycare center due to COVID and is still collecting UI (which I'm guessing is soon to run out).  

In that case I would be telling her if her butt wants Ray Bans then save her pennies.   They are both plenty old enough that if they want those kind of expensive items they can save for it themselves.

 Gwen is 10 and wanted a Poopsie Unicorn (it shits slime) for $50.  I told her no way in heck was I spending $50 on something like that but if she could get the money together herself I'd make the purchase.  She did work for my dad and saved her bday money.  She now is the proud owner of a slime shitting unicorn.  So if a 10 year old can save up her money for a brand name toy she wants bad enough girls the ages of 19-25 certainly can.

Especially since it sounds like from previous posts your sister is not in a position to be buying them these things.  She's got more important money matters to worry about.

We did this for C and a Nintendo Switch.  He saved all his bday and Christmas money for over a year.  We also let the family know that he was saving for it so several of them got him Target gift cards to help him.  He's now the proud owner of a Switch.  I did shell out for 3 games for it though as it didn't come with any.  And a cousin is willing to lend him some of his Switch games. 

[bean29]

Aug 20, 2020 15:09:26 GMT -5 justme said:

My parents just give me cash except for small items. Not cuz I'm a label whore, but I don't have the same taste as my mom so she's over buying me stuff I'm meh on and she's decided to be lazy and just tells me to buy it myself rather than her deal with it lol.

This is pretty much where I am at too, for Christmas and birthdays I try to buy something they asked for.  Last Christmas DD asked for a GoPro for her traveling.  Two years ago I refused to buy the same thing for DS.  I verified with his GF he would still want it, and I bought two.  DS uses it to record his workouts and post to Instagram (I think).  DD's birthday is April 19th.  I bought her two pairs of shoes and a bunch of Clothing from Target.  Normally she would not buy anything other than Shoes at Target.  But the malls were closed down and I had failed to plan at least a week in advance to allow for shipping.  In late July, I returned almost everything but the two pairs of shoes (I confirmed with DD before returning it), and last night I took back the pair of high heeled sandals b/c now that I unpacked all DD's shoes and put them on shoe racks in her bedroom - yeah.  She does not need any shoes.

I have been very careful with DD for years - I have found clothing in her closet with the tags on them many times.  So I usually confirm with her what to buy for Christmas.  She knows what she is getting, but I am not wasting my $$.

For Christmas my family draws names for the Cousins and then they buy a $30-$35 gift.  Last year they were exchanging Gift Cards.  My Mom is kind of stressed about Christmas and says she does not want to buy gifts anymore.  I told her my Kids don't want to do it anymore either, so we will just say we are not doing it anymore - there comes a point were skipping the gift exchange and just enjoying each other's company is more appealing.

[TheOtherMe]

I no longer exchange Christmas gifts with anyone.  It seemed silly exchanging gift cards, so I quit.  I did let them all know.

I've never cared what brand my clothes were.

Dnephew1's wife only buys designer clothes.  She is the one who sent me a link to a nursing gown that cost $600 when I asked what they needed for their newborn.  That is not what I sent.

[bean29]

Aug 21, 2020 9:05:03 GMT -5 stillmovingforward said:

My DD2 and DS2 were label whores 🤣
Id give them a set amount of money for school clothes and ignore any whining. DD2 discovered thrift stores and that i really didn't care what she spent the money on (money was for clothes, spend it on anything else, that's your issues). She made it like a bandit! Her brother, he's finally learning that no one really cares what he wears as long as it's clean and neat.....
I had to put up with a lot of crabby comments from other parents though. They thought I was so mean to those poor kids! No, I just want responsible adults.

DD decided she wanted cut off shirts for summer, and she did not want to pay full price for them, so she went over to goodwill to see what she could find.  She came home with some very nice shirts (Personally I hate shopping there b/c everything is all jumbled up).  She said she could cut them off herself and make her own shirts.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Aug 21, 2020 10:29:06 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

I no longer exchange Christmas gifts with anyone.  It seemed silly exchanging gift cards, so I quit.  I did let them all know.

I've never cared what brand my clothes were.

Dnephew1's wife only buys designer clothes.  She is the one who sent me a link to a nursing gown that cost $600 when I asked what they needed for their newborn.  That is not what I sent.

She does realize that the baby is going to puke, shit and pee all over it right?  Sometimes all three at once. 

And then your boobs leak.   You're basically buying a $600 bib for your boobies.

[TheOtherMe]

That was my reaction.  I sent clothes for baby and a book that his daddy reads to him every night.

Crazy to spend that much money on a nursing gown.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I could see depending on the level of support you need and what you do at work dropping a hundred or so on a nursing bra might be worth the investment.  Still wouldn't drop $600 on one of those either though.

I spent at most $25 on a pair of nursing pajamas and I don't think I paid even that they were on clearance.  Eventually you will lose weight and your boobs will change resulting in your $600 gown no longer fitting.   There are plenty of inexpensive versions that serve the same purpose and bonus is you can toss them out without regrets after they become stained beyond repair.

[Wisconsin Beth]

I did shell out for a nursing tank.  I adored it and even wore it well after I was done nursing.  It was Medela so it wasn't cheap. 

[Deleted]

Aug 21, 2020 9:05:03 GMT -5 stillmovingforward said:

My DD2 and DS2 were label whores 🤣
Id give them a set amount of money for school clothes and ignore any whining. DD2 discovered thrift stores and that i really didn't care what she spent the money on (money was for clothes, spend it on anything else, that's your issues). She made it like a bandit! Her brother, he's finally learning that no one really cares what he wears as long as it's clean and neat.....
I had to put up with a lot of crabby comments from other parents though. They thought I was so mean to those poor kids! No, I just want responsible adults.

I did the same with my kids. Back to school shopping, they both had a budget of x amount of money. I didn’t care if they blew it all on 1 thing, they’d have to wear that 1 thing until it was time to go clothes shopping again.

DD got thrifty as hell. All of a sudden, $20 was too much to pay for jeans. Clearance racks became her friend, she’d go straight to them when we shopped. And that was how I discovered beauty supply stores sell shoes because she shopped there too. Before, she would pout because I wouldn’t spend over $100 for Jordan’s.

DS took a while to learn. I knew from experience that boys/men clothes and shoes didn’t get marked down like women and girls’ stuff, so I might have had a bit of leniency with him if he’d at least tried to shop smart. But he spent all his money on just a few regular price, expensive items. And when he saw that I was serious about not buying him anything else, he was not happy with me.

I do prefer certain brands for certain things. Certain brands of jeans and pants I like because they give me the illusion of a waist and hips that I don’t really have. When I buy shoes, I have go-to brands because their cute shoes are more likely to be comfortable to my picky feet. But even though I like certain brands and designers, I rarely pay full price for them.

The most expensive belt I ever bought was ~$90 at a Coach outlet in 2003. Around the same time I bought one for a lot less money at Old Navy. One black, one brown. I have worn one or the other to work every single day since then, and neither one is in bad shape. The Coach is a thicker, nicer leather, but the Old Navy one has held up very well too. My everyday purse is a Dooney and Burke I bought about 10 years ago on sale for $300 and it’s still in excellent condition. I only change purses when I’m doing something outside of my normal day to day routine. So, if nothing else, I do at least take care of my stuff and tend to get my money’s worth out of my splurges lol.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Aug 21, 2020 16:00:45 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

I did shell out for a nursing tank.  I adored it and even wore it well after I was done nursing.  It was Medela so it wasn't cheap. 

But was it $600? and if it was I want photo proof😉

I got mine at Target when I had Gwen. With Abby I bought cheap tanks in the teen section.

[jerseygirl]

I really dislike clothing or other items with highly visible labels. Too much like I’m doing free advertising for the company

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Aug 22, 2020 17:39:50 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

I really dislike clothing or other items with highly visible labels. Too much like I’m doing free advertising for the company

The thing is, this is not the reason why many younger people want these clothes.  For them, the more labels the better.  Otherwise, I agree with you.  I refuse to buy clothes, purses or shoes that have logos all over them.

But this is the difference between the 60 year old me and the 22 year old me.  Back then, having Calvin Klein smacked on my butt was all the rage.