Would you believe that parents in the United States spend more than $300 on clothes for back-to-school for their children? US News reported that according to a National Retail Federation survey, “American families plan to spend a whopping $335.38, on average buying new clothes and shoes for children.” Should you jump on the bandwagon and buy name brand clothes for your children? Here are some things to consider as you weigh your decision:
The younger they are, the less they care about the brand name.
If you have younger children, such as kindergarten through about fifth grade, odds are they won’t care very much about the name attached to their clothes. They typically care more about having fun, making a mess, and adapting to their new environment than what they are wearing.
Young kids grow so fast that name brand might not make financial sense.
Have you ever noticed that as your children are growing up they can outgrow clothing in what feels like mere weeks? According to the American-Academy of Pediatrics, children aged 10 to about 13 grow at an astonishing rate of 3.7 inches each year for boys, and 3.3 inches per year for girls. No wonder what fit last month doesn’t fit this month! Can your budget keep up with this fast pace of growth?
What is popular today might not be popular tomorrow.
Aside from your child’s growth rates, fashion trends changes just as rapidly as the weather. Sometimes faster! Therefore, investing in name brand clothes can result in items being worn once or twice and then being discarded.
Price and quality aren’t always in proportion.
Just because the clothes your kids want are popular and expensive, doesn’t mean they are going to last. In fact, some of the more trendy outfits have been known to literally bust at the seams after just one wash due to rushed jobs in factories trying to keep up with name brand demands.
It may be hard to say no, but name brands aren’t always worth it.
Your kids might be putting quite the guilt trip on you to get certain items, but that doesn’t mean you need to get them. Getting a couple of items here and there that are higher in quality might be okay, but you really should weigh the pros and cons of everything on your back-to-school list before making any purchases.
Although this article likely didn’t help make the decision for you, I hope that it at least gave you some things to think about. Whatever you choose for your kids, remember that what matters more than the label on their clothes is their self-esteem and confidence. Those are things that you must work on from within, not on the outside.