Parents splash out for fashionable kids
We may only just be struggling out of the recession but it seems modern youngsters no longer have to suffer the indignity of wearing hand-me-downs. According to a survey by department store Debenhams, parents are well and truly splashing the cash on their little darlings in a bid to ensure that they are the envy of the fashionable school gate crowd.
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The poll revealed that parents are now spending more than £700 on childrenswear each year, an average of £357 per season. Of course, daughters demand more from their wardrobe and enjoy a £427 allowance.
Leading the charge for catwalk kids is three-year-old Suri Cruise, whose wardrobe is reportedly worth around £2 million, with stylish nippers such as the Beckham kids and the Pitt/Jolie brood rating high amongst tiny fashionistas.
Kate Liszka, head of Childrenswear at Debenhams, told the Daily Mail: "Brits are famed for a competitive neighbourly streak. Now it seems that where our kids are concerned, we're keeping up with the Cruises! The amount of money some parents are willing to spend on kitting out their kids in the latest catwalk fashions would pay for a family holiday."
So while we continue to bemoan the celebrity-obsessed youths across the country, it seems it could be the grown-ups that start it all off. Some confessed to buying an average of seven dresses and five pairs of shoes (with heels, in Suri's case) for their daughters every season, with boys striding through a six-month period with 10 new t-shirts and five pairs of jeans.
An astonishing 45 per cent shop for kids clothes at least once a fortnight. Growing boys and girls or not, that seems unnecessarily regular.
So is it the tabloids and the fashion mags that influence our youngsters, or are fashion-conscious parents to blame?
