Trends and Designer Clothes
Remember when it was easy to dress your son? You had five or six solid-colored T-shirts and several pairs of jeans, with an occasional nice outfit thrown in for good measure. Those days are long gone. What your son wears now will play a large part in determining how he feels about himself. Give him some freedom. Letting him pick out and buy his own clothes helps teach him how to care for himself and how to fit into society.
What your son wears will help him identify himself. Your ability to have any say in what he wears has just about gone out the window. That said, you are still the fashion police.
Fact
Be very leery of alcohol- or tobacco-related articles of clothing. Your son might insist that they are jokes, but studies have shown that some of these items do seem to be related with the use of the product.
Your son will have certain ideas about what he wants to wear and how he wants to wear it. Schools may have rules about what he wears and how his clothes look on his body, which means he'll save all of his clothing angst for you, after school hours.
Develop some straightforward rules early on and enforce them. Your rules might include the following:
No clothing that makes reference to drugs or violence is allowed.
Clothes must be worn as designed: no pants dragging to the knees, no external underwear.
He must care for his clothes, including washing and mending them.
Boys are just as susceptible to fashion trends as their female counterparts. They don't go far in life without seeing something aimed at them from a marketing perspective. You don't have to look any further than big teen clothing retailers like Abercrombie & Fitch and Gap to see that teen fashion is an important part of their marketing strategy.
Essential
Some of the most fashionable clothes and shoes can be wildly expensive. Consider sharing your clothing budget with your son so that he can see how far your money has to stretch. Strategize together how you can come up with extra money for other items he wants that the budget doesn't cover.
Remind your son that he is an individual. Help him select clothing that looks good on his body type. Compliment him on his style of dress, and assist him in finding a happy medium between being one of the crowd and finding his own sense of style.
Your son may be interested in some minor accessories like hats, sunglasses, jewelry, and belts. These help him define his fashion sense.
More and more boys are getting their ears pierced because it is fashionable. Discuss with him why he wants to do it and how you feel about it. While you must consent for him to get his ears pierced at a shop until he is eighteen, it doesn't mean that he and his friends won't pierce his ears at the next football game or after party. Be clear about what you want and need from your son.
E-Fact
If you are having a problem with your son leaving his clothes everywhere from the bedroom floor to the laundry room floor to the bathroom floor, consider buying more hampers to help him keep the clothes contained.
