Son dressing smartly...

[anelli.saresx]

Hi Everyone,

My husband and have always taught our son, who is now 16, to take pride in his appearance and dress smartly. He always wears a suit to church on Sundays (although we don't go every week) and dresses smartly too - usually sports jacket and tie - when we go out to restaurants, family gatherings etc.

He doesn't seem to mind it, and it's been a long time since we've actually had to ask him to to dress smartly, but I'm conscious that virtually no other young people are made to dress like this by their parents. We of course want him to continue dressing well, but don't want to seem old fashioned or unreasonable. Often he's the only boy wearing tie for example at family gatherings, and we don't want him to feel uncomfortable.

What do other parents think? Do any other parents make their sons dress up smart regularly? Or should we just say to him that he can loosen up a bit if he wants?

Just a quick question, not really a problem!
PS. We live in the UK but are American originally.

 

[Trina]

It's totally up to you, but personally, I don't see the point in making kids dress up for anything other than church, weddings, funerals or other formal occasions. Our family gatherings are informal and everyone dresses casually. It's possible to teach kids to take pride in their appearance without wearing a suit and tie.

 

[fallon]

It's totally up to you, but personally, I don't see the point in making kids dress up for anything other than church, weddings, funerals or other formal occasions. Our family gatherings are informal and everyone dresses casually. It's possible to teach kids to take pride in their appearance without wearing a suit and tie.

I totally agree

 

[1dayatatime]

I'm torn on this. I really like the idea of kids dressing "smartly". I think if more kids wore suits and dresses on a regular basis there attitudes would be different. Years agao only "poor" kids ran around in what most would now consider play clothes. On the other hand if my child was the only child wearing clothing like that I would worry that he would be teased for being different. If the child chooses it for themself and has a strong enough personality to be different than more power to them. I often wore clothes that were considered "different" when I was a kid. My mom made alot of my clothes and then when I was old enough I made my own things. I would prefer my child to be a leader not a follower. Just because everyone else wears it doesn't make YOU cool if you wear it too.

 

[musicmom]

My children are always dressed niced. I press their school clothes.
They have clothes they can go to the park and places in but they are still well mantained.
My son is not made to dress up that much. A nice d polo shirt and a nice pair of dress pants is fine.
Our church is more laid back. No one dresses messy but a decent casual.
Whatever makes your son comfortable is fine in my opinion. A tie is a bit much no adays unless you have a job where one is required or you are a professional sports player and it's after a game.

 

[jenilouise]

Well I have girls who love dresses and request to wear them when we go places (like restaurants) but even beyond that their playclothes (T-shirts and jeans) are kept in good condition and fit properly. They also each have nice slacks and blouses because it's sometimes too cold here for a dress but they are going somewhere dressy. Nothing wrong with looking nice IMO.

 

[Illumination]

I think you have a reasonable question. You should let your son wear whatever he wants to, as long as it is reasonable for the situation. As long as he doesn't mind wearing what he wears on special occasions, he should keep wearing it, but if he feels like he sticks out in his formal clothes, you should let him dress down a bit.

 

[ntbuddy]

We actually allow our kids to dress with what they feel is appropriately. If we feel what they've chosen is wrong we ask them to change and explain why. For years our son wore suits everyday, including to school (public school). Now he likes the camo clothes. As long as it's an appropriate attire I would let him express himself in a way he feels comfortable.