At what age did you start worrying about "brands"

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  • KateHill1981
    KateHill1981 Posts: 43 Member
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    Sketchers have got to be doing something right with their advertising! My son was 2 begging me for z straps. A couple years later it was some horrendous neon green and white light ups aka the ugliest shoes I have ever seen! My son is now 11 and I haven't heard him mention sketchers in a few years thank God. But instead, I get to hear my sweet daughter go all ape over twinkle toes! She is 5. The commercials are definitely working! We found some shoes with sequins on the toes and sparkly hearts on the back at a thrift store- told her they were twinkle-y toes and she loved them! She was 4 at that time.

    Now all I hear about is dream lights, magic slushie makers and whatever commercial she has memorized and obbsessed with.

    I remember starting to care about brand probably around age 12. All I wanted for my 13th birthday was a pair of Nikes. My only present was the cheapest pair of Nikes in the store. I wore them untill they fell apart. By then, I started babysitting and earning my own money to buy my own brands if I wanted.
  • wolfehound22
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    Never cared, and still don't. Altough maybe I did some in high school, but outside of that I could careless, guess grwoing up with not a lot of money does that to you.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    I never worried about brands. That's for suckers! :tongue:
  • Shelbert79
    Shelbert79 Posts: 517 Member
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    I remember being ten and wanting 'Keds looney toon sneakers'. All the cool kids had them. Anyone remember those?

    I had them and LOVED them! I think I got them for my birthday though.
  • bluebug53
    bluebug53 Posts: 86 Member
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    Its all marketing to the kids, and to the adults, to get you to buy certain brands, its all about the money, and at 53 I have never really worried about brands, except maybe Apple! : )
  • deadbeatsummer
    deadbeatsummer Posts: 537 Member
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    I just think that's the way it is now. It's not a new problem either. When everyone was little there'd be trends of certain things and if you didn't have them you'd feel left out.

    I dislike it when parents go out of their way to stop their kid from partaking in trends (like getting yo-yos, tamagotchis etc) just because of their own feelings against children and brands. the parents arent the ones who have to go into the playground and not be included. sad but that's the way it is and it's not a world our children created either.
  • Im_NotPerfect
    Im_NotPerfect Posts: 2,181 Member
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    I don't remember what age I was....but I knew we didn't have the money for the brands I wanted anyway, so I never worried about them too much.

    My son (age 6) though, wanted sketchers last year while in Kindegarten. It's all friend-influenced though. He really could care less, other than the fact that his friends have them and they look cool. Now one of his friends in day care has Nikes and he wants those. I'll probably get him some just for the fact that I think they'll actually last longer than a month!
  • Shelbert79
    Shelbert79 Posts: 517 Member
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    It depends on your kid too, my oldest who's 10 doesn't really care about the 'name', as long as she's comfortable (jeans, tshirt) she's happy. But my 6 year old is a DIVA!! All her clothes have to fit a certain way, her hair has to be a certain way, she doesn't want to wear tennis shoes unless they're pink and glittery, luckily she doesn't care about the name (yet) so much as the look she's going for. And I have 4 girls ages 10, 6, 4 and almost 2, I'm in BIG trouble! :smile:
  • luv_lea
    luv_lea Posts: 1,094 Member
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    It was in about 5th or 6th grade for me, which slowly faded by Junior year in high school.

    Once it faded I avoided anything that 'everyone else was doing' at all costs. It annoyed me how people did that, and still does.

    My son is 6 and hasn't started that yet; I'm hoping since he's a boy it won't be 'as bad' but I'm still expecting it to some degree.
  • ashnm88
    ashnm88 Posts: 748
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    Yeah that's kind of young..I don't own brand name clothing because i'm just paying for a name.
  • Pacificplayland
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    I remember when I was 10 I was always made fun of for not having Nike's, Dr. Martens and those Teva sandles, lol. We couldn't afford that stuff, so it bothered me on some level I guess. More so, it was a style thing and not a brand name thing, an example was; when I was 6 all the girls wore those leggings with the lace on the bottom and 2 tiered skirts - I remember wanting them sooooo bad. Lol, yuck the early '90's were gross lol.
  • Eisskween
    Eisskween Posts: 84 Member
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    I'm 58 and I still haven't started worrying about "brands".

    Just looking for comfort, fit and economy. When I find something I like, I buy several.

    Ditto at 53. I've never been into labels. Not to say that I don't buy a name brand every now and then, but I don't let labels consume me. Kids only repeat what they learn.
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
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    I remember caring in Jr High, but I didn't have the option to wear them unless I bought them myself. Sooo... when I had kids and they started the 'brand' thing, I told them that I would give them the money for a 'regular' priced item, say at J C Penney's and they would earn the money for the difference. Every one of them took me up on it. It worked like a charm for all 3 kids, they manage their money well and none of them are hung up on what other people think about what they wear. They care if THEY like their clothes and that's the way it should be. I taught them that the kind of person they are is more important, they respect me for that and are passing it on to their kids. :)
  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
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    I never have. Except for brands of tools and brands of electronics.
  • MonkRocker
    MonkRocker Posts: 198
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    I buy stuff that fits a certain way, and if there IS a label on it - at least one visible to someone other than me when I'm wearing it, I will usually cut them off. I also don't wear t-shirts with logos or anything like that.

    I already bought the product. I'm not going to advertise it for you also.
  • tigerlily8045
    tigerlily8045 Posts: 415 Member
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    My daughter is almost 5 and she doesn't know brands, Even if she did she still wouldn't get any thing unless it came from walmart, Kmart or payless shoes...If its good enough for me then its good enough for her. She wears uniforms to school so that helps but shoes and socks can be anything.
  • MrsSorenson
    MrsSorenson Posts: 450 Member
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    10 was it for me.. but the tv programs these kids! My daughter is 5 and begs me for Sketchers too!
  • Natashaa1991
    Natashaa1991 Posts: 866 Member
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    I started at 15. Stopped at 20.
  • bleacheblonde
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    I'm 27 and I still don't care about brands. I buy clothes that I like and that I can afford, which consists mostly of Walmart, Target, Goodwill, and the occasional splurge pair of shoes. I was raised on a farm and I still live in an area that's fairly rural, and while I hate it sometimes, one good thing about it is that people don't give 2 ****s about brand name clothes.

    But I think that has been ingrained in me so much that I could move anywhere and still not care about it. I hope my kids end up the same way...
  • gvheintz
    gvheintz Posts: 138 Member
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    I remember the line from Crazy Stupid Love where Ryan Gosling said "You're better than the Gap. Be better than the Gap.". I thought, "Ummm, I don't even shop at the Gap.". Then again, I'm sure I'm beyond the sizes they carry in store. New non scale goal! :bigsmile: