Spoiled brats?

Nicole D

Vince for kids....not sure how I feel about this.

http://www.vince.com/kids/icat/kids

Who buys a $600 leather jacket for their ten year old? Am I too judgey? My kids wear a lot of Old Navy and Joe Fresh, and thank goodness my 12 year old has a school uniform. So I will not be ordering from Vince kids. Unless there's a GREAT sale.

11 years ago

Shopping

28 replies

Latest reply was from crutcher

cciele

Veteran

Well, if anything, women who are sized out of their normal line can perhaps shop this line?

But I hear you! At the rate kids grow, ugh. You're lucky if things last one season. Target and Old Navy for my kids!

11 years ago

Laurinda

Veteran

You might enjoy "My Imaginary Well-Dressed Toddler Daughter Quinoa'"s Pinterest board. http://www.pinterest.com/tiffa.....-daughter/

(with thanks to the YLFer who mentioned Tiffany Beveridge here)

11 years ago

Marillen

Active Member

haha, maybe those parents will think twice when their kid shrugs that jacket off to play outside and leaves it on the ground for someone to steal. Doubly impractical!

11 years ago

Diana

Veteran

Same people who buy Burberry for their kids.

ETA: Although I gotta say the burberry stuff is absolutely adorable.

http://us.burberry.com/children/

11 years ago

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

I think Dolce and Gabanna have a kids line too.

11 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

OMG, Laurinda. Your Imaginary Daughter's, Quinoa's, board is immortal. Just immortal. Can I share this with my neighbor? We live at the intersection of Hipster and Yuppie. Precious moments include seeing a woman run out of her house in her Lululemon and take a yoga mat out of one black Jetta wagon and put it another black Jetta wagon and then drive off. How we laughed. It was so, And what was the point of that?

Precious moments with children include a guy with two toddlers dressed rather like '20s newspaper boys. Only instead of short pants, they had on emo peg legs and baby Tom's. They were, of course, spotted at IKEA. Which, don't get me wrong, is my museum away from museum.

I wouldn't do it - a $90 tee for a baby, who will spit up on it and then outgrow it in two weeks. I don't see the point, like the woman with two black Jetta's and one yoga mat between them. On the other hand, I must confess, I often feel that way about the Vince line. I saw an adult Vince tee in Marshall's and passed it up for the same reason, at $30. At least on me, Vince does not beat all comers.

11 years ago

Laurinda

Veteran

I can't take credit for 'Quinoa' - the creator is Tiffany Beveridge. And I apologize that I forgot who first introduced that Link Love link at YLF.

{Quinoa and Cake Wrecks are where I go for afternoon humor fixes}.

11 years ago

crutcher

Veteran

Sad, sad commentary on our society when parents are willing to spend this kind of money on children's clothes...This message to the child is even worse than the money spent...The child will think that having labels and pricy items will buy happiness, establish worth and make them better than their peers..Even it I could afford to spend this kind of money on my child I would not do it...The destruction of the child is just too obvious...

11 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Well, you get credit for introducing me to Quinoa I love Quinoa. I will name my... neighbor's first born daughter after her. Lol.

11 years ago

Helena

Veteran

I totally agree with you Nicole, I think it's ridiculous.

However, it's all relative - I met a woman once who was new to Canada and trying to establish herself, who asked me where she could get affordable clothes for her kids as she was on a budget. I suggested Old Navy and she very graciously educated me, not in so many words, that I was crazy to think she could afford that level of clothing - she needed basically inexpensive thrift store, or else donations. I then idiotically went on to ask her had she done any Christmas shopping, at which point her absolute grace where secured beyond doubt. She taught me that everyone's normal is someone's rich, except for the absolute extremes.

I hope that does not sound at all critical of the thread; it's not intended that way at all and should be taken at my own expense only - it just reminded me of that story and I thought it was worth sharing.

I do agree with your point wholeheartedly - and I also love Quinoa!!

11 years ago

Parsley

Veteran

Laurinda, Quinoa is the find of the century! Thanks for introducing us to her!
Cake Wrecks is a longtime guilty pleasure of mine, too.

As far as pricy children's clothes. I don't think we should be judgmental about them any more than we should about what each of us here buys for herself. I certainly didn't have the budget for that kind of thing when my kids were little, but if people do, and choose to spend their money on them, it's their business. And does it make the kids spoiled? I doubt whether many little kids are even aware of whether their clothes are from Walmart or from Vince.

11 years ago

ironkurtin

Veteran

People (and grandparents) will buy pricey stuff for their kids. I forget the name of this one store that always stunned me, but it's on Madison Avenue in NYC, and everything in it is lacey and handmade in France for the wee ones. The clothing is gorgeous and a single pair of teeny panties cost more than my shoes. Boy were they covetously gorgeous...

11 years ago

DonnaF

Veteran

Okay, so where can these and other $$$ kids' clothes be found on deep discount? I remember that LeopardLuxe has gorgeous leather kids' jacket that cost a fraction of the adult version, and I'd love to find the same. And Suz has a great cropped white jeans jacket from the kids' section. . .

11 years ago

dustt

Veteran

if people have that much $$ to spend on children's clothes - my hope is that they forego them and donate to charities that help feed kids who don't have enough to eat - let alone buy $6 pants - $600 for a child's leather jacket reflects poorly on this society's priorities

11 years ago

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

One of my colleagues has a Dior onesie for her baby.

I didn't know they made baby clothes either :p The day my kid asks for a Burberry trench I will say, "That sounds like a great idea ... when you're an adult size. Better start saving now!"

11 years ago

rabbit

Veteran

DonnaF with the really relevant question for petites I think LeopardLuxe got them on ebay?

I remember reading an article (I think in the NY Times) about kid art collectors. Yes, kids whose parent's gave them money to start collecting tens of thousands of dollars worth of paintings before hitting puberty. What was deserving of a posting on Quinoa were the various parents expounding on the 'natural raw talent' to spot great art of these new collectors. Of course the gallery owners were accommodating, and I'm sure the artists were happy.

One result of the wealth gap is that some of the most wealthy have had their wealth grow exponentially, so in comparison the price of a baby!Vince jacket really isn't significant and the kids probably don't notice either way as it's all part and parcel of their lifestyle.

I found this video on perceptions and reality relating the wealth gap in the US very interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM

11 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

I know a rich family here in town. A $600 kid's jacket is absolutely nothing to them. They do give generously to charity (they have a foundation).

Me? I shop in thrift stores.

11 years ago

MsMary

Veteran

Ah, this is always an interesting discussion. People are super upset about a $600 children's jacket. But it's all relative, isn't it? What if you're, say, Bill Gates? You have all the money in the world and you donate literally billions of dollars to charity. Why on earth shouldn't you buy a $600 leather jacket for your kid if you want to?

Why can't we do both? Good works and frivilous spending? I spend far more than necessary on my clothes. I could certainly take my entire clothing budget and donate it to the poor. But I don't. I do make sure that my charitable budget is always bigger than my clothing budget, but I feel like it's reasonable for me to keep most of my hard-earned money and buy things I like with it. I also feel like I'm creating jobs with my purchases -- and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the working conditions for the people making the $600 kids' leather jackets are better than the working conditions for the people who make the fast fashion I'm sometimes guilty of buying.

Bottom line: I am not inclined to second-guess anybody's shopping decisions because I don't know what resources they have, I don't know what tradeoffs they're making, I don't know what they're teaching their children, I don't know anything about anything other than the price of the leather jacket. And that's not enough for me to say whether it's a sad commentary on anything.

/soapbox

11 years ago

Nicole D

Veteran

Nice discussion. From Quinoa (so clever and funny!), to that sobering video, rabbit. From a business point of view, I suppose it makes some kind of sense to pitch to the wealthy consumer. Also, considering the (I assume around 75%) mark up on clothes, you don;t really need to do a big volume to make money off of it. I appreciate your perspective, Parsley and I was worried that this thread would come off as a bit judgey. It's all relative indeed.

11 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Good video, rabbit. That's the state of things.

11 years ago

Echo

Veteran

I tend to agree with MaryK. Everyone has different budgets and different priorities. And who is to say that the person who buys a pricey toddler/children's outfit is NOT donating generously? They aren't mutually exclusive.

Besides, as someone else already mentioned, my discount might be someone else's spendy. So while we may consider our Levi's or non-premium denim jeans to be "reasonable", we still could have purchased less expensive ones at F21 and given the rest of the money to charity. When is it ever okay to spend on yourself or your own family when you consider the billions of people living on pennies a day? It is easy to judge designer children's clothing, but every parent has purchased something that either didn't work out and lost the receipt, or had a child grow out of something after one or two wears. Is that significantly better than spending a lot on brands?

11 years ago

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

Plus I've seen some grateful rich kids and some ungrateful poor ones.

11 years ago

Echo

Veteran

I'm not sure how many younger kids would even understand brands or the cost of clothing, either, unless someone told them. If you simply buy Burberry kids or Vince Kids and dress your child in it, they're just clothes to the child until someone tells him the meaning they attach to them. I don't buy my kids an outfit at a department store and then explain to them that it is more expensive or "better" than something from another store. They're just plain clothes to the child. Judgement, meaning, heirarchy and brand awareness must be taught, and many wealthy people aren't explaining a designer brand any more than I am explaining a department store purchase. It just IS. So designer clothes don't necessarily equal spoiled children.

11 years ago

Nicole D

Veteran

So many "Wisdom" badges to give out! You have a good point MaryK and Echo, if I am offended by designer kids' clothes then maybe I should assuage my conscience by giving away all my extra shoes... I do soothe myself by thinking of how much good I am doing for the economy by overspending on clothes, though.

11 years ago

Day Vies

Veteran

I think $600 on a kid's jacket is too expensive but it's all relative. If mom and dad spend $2000 on themselves it makes sense. In my house I've never spent more than $300 on a leather jacket.

11 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Well, I don't know that kids don't understand. I mean, perhaps someone does put out the message, but I think the message comes across pretty clearly at a pretty early age. When I was little (i.e., 4) I understood I. Magnin's was fancier than J.C. Penney; that Penney's was salt-of-the-earth and Magnin's nice. I also understood my best friend lived in the flatlands and had a goat. And I knew goats often come without electricity and running water.

11 years ago

Eliza

Veteran

Big believer in personal choice about spending one's own resources.

Had a long post drafted and then went back to re-read the thread. Echoing Echo. It's the attitude that counts. Didn't want my kids judging themselves or others by how much they chose to spend on anything. Talked a lot about priorities and decision-making and values. Had a ton of fun dressing them.

11 years ago

crutcher

Veteran

I had to laugh as I remembered my favorite everyday fragrance is...TADA...
Burberry Baby Touch...Kind of ridiculous that there is a fragrance for babies when babies have such a special fragrance already built in but in this case,
I am glad that someone did produce a baby fragrance...for me...It is clean, light and perfect for everyday wear...smile...

11 years ago

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