WWYD: Matching clothes

74dragonfly

DD is 5.5 and just started kindy. I am not sure how to approach this "issue". she will get dressed and her clothes don't match at all. Now I am no fashion plate but i think her clothes should match. example she will wear an orange shirt, purple shorts, blue socks. when I tell her they clothes dont match she cries and says she thinks I dont think she looks pretty (I never say anything like that). when she finally began to dress herself I was in the camp of "yeah!, you are dressed" but now that she is older I feel like i should guide her to match clothes. or I am being silly? I just know kids pick on other kids and I don't want her to be a target. she tells me she doesnt like things to match.

If this a chill out, she will grow out of a crazy matching phase I will. or if it is time for me to "teach" her  I will. Just not sure what to do. 

funchicken

I think I would let it go for now. She will probably become more aware of how her peers are dressing as the year goes on.

I'm not one to get into clothing battles unless DD is wearing something completely inappropriate for the weather.

Spin313

I just had this conversation with my son (6.5). He put on his favorite green, yellow, and grey shirt with a pair of plaid red and blue shorts. I said, "I love how you got yourself dressed and ready! But those are a lot of colors you're wearing...Let's find some shorts that match a little better." He was a bit annoyed at first, but now he's super proud of his selections. I always give him high fives and tell him be looks great.

DD is 3.5 and very into picking out her stuff too. I try to avoid meltdowns by sneaking in a pant/skirt change when she goes to the bathroom, but I'll have a similar talk with her about clothing combinations before she goes to grade school.

ss+el

The only way I've been able to combat this is to make his clothes as mix and match as possible, with mostly neutral pants (easier for boys, I think), and hide certain articles of clothing on days when I really don't want him looking ridiculous. Also, I can usually get away with putting a couple of outfits together in advance and asking him to pick one. Fortunately, he wears a uniform to school!

neverblushed

I had to teach my DD about what clothes matched and worked together.  It certainly wasn't something that just came to her naturally!  There were times when she was (and still can be) sensitive about this subject.  I just try to be as gentle as I can.  She gets upset sometimes, but we work through it.

Just so you know... I'm still dealing with this even though my daughter is 13.  Most recently we had the "casual outfits = flip flops; dressy outfits = flats; cut-off shorts and a t-shirt are casual and look weird with flats" convo.  It's a process.

74dragonfly

Thanks everyone. I did buy things that less of a wide range of colors. I will let it go, excluding weather inappropriate clothes.

macchiatto

I've taught them some basic rules of thumb about what things look good together and which things don't and they somewhat follow them.

ss+el

Another thing I do is "hide" clothes if it's a day I'm concerned about him matching. If it's not in his drawer, then it's "dirty". He never wonders why so many of his clothes are allegedly not clean.

ppants

DD is big into her own style at 8.5. I'll ask about pairing a shirt with different shorts or something and her typical response is "no, I like it this way". If I want DD to wear something in particular for an event, she will. DS wears whatever really.

emberlee3

DS likes to be as colorful as possible.  This is one of many reasons why I am thankful that his school has a dress code!  He looks so handsome on school days   Most other days, he looks pretty kooky. 

lilies&orchids

DS and I pick out his clothes for the week together. Really, it's me giving the choices and him giving the OK that he will wear them. He could really care less what he wears to school and would be very mismatched if he picked out his own clothes. I wouldn't really care too much, but DH is the one that wants him to be matched. We hang up 5 outfits for the week and each day he picks which one he wants to wear. It makes the mornings much easier! On the weekends we are more lax about it.

janinekrause

Sounds like my daughter. She loves dressing herself- you should have seen her first day of school outfit for 1st grade this year. If something looks horrendous- i.e. an outfit with purple and patterns, and then weird striped socks- yes that was the outfit- i just told her honey, you look great but let's just change the socks. Usually I can make small changes without her freaking out, but most times I let it go. She's happy and confident and thinks she looks fabulous which is all that really matters in the grand scheme of things. The only reason I cared was we do pictures for grandma for 1st day of school that sit framed at her house and that one was really bad!