I recently went to a party where 2 siblings, both boys were dressed in matching outfits. To me this seemed very wrong. It was also clear that the elder brother was not too impressed either. These two boys were aged 11 and 1. An age gap of 10 years. As a scrapbooker who takes a humongous amount of photos of my children to scrap I often dress them co-ordinated. Not matching outfits but styles and colours that go well together.
Twins often dress alike and yes with pre-school children I think at times it can look cute. But is there a time when it isn't cute anymore, it's just plain weird?
Is an 11 year old dressed the same as his 1 year old brother cute or is it just stretching things a little too far? Or is the matching clothes thing only acceptable when children are very young or the age gap is small? I personally don't think an 11 year old dresses in the same style clothes as a baby so why would you dress them the same. One of them will obviously be uncomfortable and then there are the comments of others to contend with. As an adult I could hold my tongue but young children asked this boy outright why he was dressed as a baby. He was dressed the same as his baby brother so this question seemed logical to the children asking.
Kids dressing the same is one thing but whole families? Are such outfits only acceptable for fancy dress occasions or just plain wrong?
I have a boy and a girl so obviously it is a little more difficult to get matching outfits unless I follow my Mother's example. Personally for me it's a no, children, even twins are individuals and should stand out alone for who they are and not be the same as someone else.
I really do wonder if my hate of matching clothes stems from when I was a child and my Mother used to make matching outfits in the 70's for my Brother and I? There is this one particular outfit I can remember that she made for the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977. As luck would have it my Parents has a burst water pipe and all our childhood photos which were stored in the loft were damaged. Such a shame I can't show you all. There were were looking very chic in red, white and blue. Him with blue shorts and a red, white and blue striped top and me in a matching dress; red, white and blue striped bodice and blue bottom half. Both of us in knee length white socks and sandles. Socks and sandles....now that is a whole different topic.
2 comments:
I think it depends on what the children think! If they don't want to, it's unkind to force them just for your aesthetic enjoyment (same with making little girls wear fancy party dresses if they want to go out and climb trees). But the kids I looked after in my last au pair job loved dressing the same. There were five with an 11 year age gap between the oldest and youngest, and they had matching pyjamas. The three older girls would often wear the same outfit too, but that was their choice so I felt it was ok.
I think if they choose to then its one thing but I would actively discourage it, especially in twins. They are individuals and should be treated as such. Its one of my bug bears!
Post a Comment