by Sarah Lewis

Created on: December 13, 2010

Clothing designers know how to attract a young audience. Look in every high street and you will see Gucci, Lacoste, Prada and a host of other top notch clothes designers who have a range of clothing especially designed for the kids. Naturally young people need to feel fashionable so their parents bow to peer pressure and dip their hands deep into their pockets. Deck your children and teens in the latest designer fashions and you are going to make a huge dent in your family budget.

Parents often dress their young children in the latest designer clothes but that is moreso for their own pleasure. Trendy parents love to see their child parading in designer fashion. The kids in question have no idea that they are being clothed in Armani or Mochino. But many teenagers have a keen sense of fashion and intend to follow it at any price.

Teens and their friends enjoy talking about the latest designer fashions. The most recent offering from Nike or Adidas may mean little to us but to them it is everything. The majority of young people see dress code as an unwritten rule that must be obeyed. If their mates hang out dressed in designer clothing then they would be ruled out as one of the crowd if they did not follow suit.

Fashion and fashion accessories do not come cheap. The price tags on those designer bags, belts and shoes will render you breathless. When we were children designer clothing was reserved for the film stars or the rich and famous, nowadays fashionable clothing is worn by everyone. Watching the top models strutt down the catwalk wearing the latest fashions is a teen girls idea of heaven.

Rightly or wrongly we do tend to shell out for designer clothing for our kids. Children entering their teenage years often tend to suffer from lack of confidence, asking them to wear clothing that is outdated can sadly set them apart from others. In an ideal world kids would relish the thought of wearing chain store clothing but this world is by no means ideal.

In recent years vintage designer clothing has become highly sought after. Teenagers love designer clothing that has been pre-worn and has a lived in look about it. But that lived-in look comes at a price and vintage designer clothing now commands high prices.

The one thing that we as parents do not want to do is to set our kids apart from the rest. If the kids at school all have designer trainers then we want ours to wear them too. Common interests are important and for many teenagers fashion is a huge talking point.

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