What's "hot" at your kids' schools?

[lemondog]

As a spinoff from the Sillybandz thread, what are the "hot" must-have items at your kids school??

My oldest is in 3rd grade, and this is the first year she is starting to notice brands and want them. All the rage at my daughters' school (PK-8 parochial) are:

-North Face Denali jackets...mainly black in the upper grades
-Ugg boots
-Vera Bradley lunchbags

And of course, the Sillybandz as mentioned in the previous post.

So to get this straight, I have an 8yo who is begging me for a North Face jacket, Ugg boots (must say Ugg on the back, no knockoffs)...she is not into the Vera Bradley thing yet, that's mainly grades 5+...and let us not forget the iPhone that she feels she is somehow entitled to.

Can you hear me laughing? I told her I would think about the NF coat in a couple of years when she outgrows the coats she has, that I would be happy to get her the Ugg lookalikes at Target, and when pigs fly and hell freezes over would she be getting a cell phone at age 8, much less an iPhone.

As they get older the cost seems to increase exponentially. And I still have 2 more coming down the pike!

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

I'm not sure how, but we've managed to get to the 4th grade without any of this stuff.......as I knock on all available wood surfaces. Maybe it's because we have uniforms at our school, but there's never been a "thing" or clothes that they "had" to have. DD's one true purpose in life was to get a cell phone....but she didn't have a brand preference, any old phone would do. Also, I think it helps that there are very few girls in dd's grade. Out of 100 plus students there are less than 25 girls, split into 4 classrooms.....the only reason I mention it is because I think that's cut down on the fads and such. She's just not exposed to it. DS is 7 and a boy...obviously...and therefore oblivious.

 

[lemondog]

DS is 7 and a boy...obviously...and therefore oblivious.

Haha, true! I am cursed with 3 girls.

There are 700 kids at our school, and although we do wear uniforms, she of course sees the coats daily and on Fridays when the kids get to come out of uniform for AR points there are an awful lot of Ugg boots.

I still can't get over the iPhone. I got one for Christmas and she literally locked herself in her room and sobbed like it was the end of the world because SHE didn't get one. She thinks it's terribly unfair. I told her life is not fair (one of those things my mom always said to me that I hated, and of course now I say it to my kids). I honestly have no idea where this sense of entitlement comes from.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

Wallabees, Northface, Vera Bradley everything, sillybandz, Funky rainboots, Flannel shirts (like Nick Jonas wears) Curly hair , Itouch, cell phones, hair bows, Guy Harvey t-shirts (?), Energy necklaces, Southern Bell t-shirts & Zebra things. Oh.... and laptops!

Now in the summer it's Yellow box flip flops, Rainbow flip flops and I don't even know what else yet.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Admittedly I am sure things are different at my kids' school as it is an international school in Germany. With 1200 kids from 80+ countries there seems to be less push to try to all look alike. The fashion is all over the map there--which is kind of cool. But the things I have heard about being cool here (grades 5-12, mine are in 5 and 8) are:

Jack Wolfskin coats/backpacks
Uggs boots
Chuck Taylor hightops (girls only)
Spyder Coats

I am lucky taht for the most part my kids don't care about these things. Neither would wear a Jackwolfskin product if they had it becuase DD13 researched it once fora report and she is so mad at how the company has gone after every other ocmapny to use any paw print as a logo.

DS11 does really want a Spyder coat to replace the one he will outgrow by the end of this year. The one he has now was a hand me down. I knew they were expensive, but I had not realized HOW expensive until I started looking to repalce this one (which he got two years out of). Thankfully a friend found him one on clearance at TJ Maxx last week and nabbed it. We will pick it up this summer when we visit the US.

Maybe you could also call having a cell phone a trend I honestly do not know of a single kid in either of my children's classrooms who does not have one. It is a bit different here with jsut about every child taking trains, trams and/or busses to get home every day. Also, if a teacher is sick and it is the last class of the day they jsut let the kids go early and do not notify parents (the idea is that the school is there to teach the kids, not babysit them). So, it really is more of a necessity than a luxery in such circumstances.

 

[jlima]

At DS9's school, almost every kid has a rolling book bag called a Zuca. It is a giant, rolling locker thing that I hate lifting in & out of my car, but it does fit all of his stuff and it is quite durable. You can buy different fabric inserts for it; and we've had a plain grey one, a cow-print "Moo-Ca" and one with flames

He is in 4th grade now; and in his 3rd grade class last year only 3 kids had normal knapsacks. This is the outside of his 2nd grade class room 2 years ago; DS's is the cow-print one:

 

[susykt4]

My kids are in a K-4 public primary school that requires uniforms. I doubt my daughter (4th grade) would have a clue what Uggs or a North Face jacket are. My son (1st) always wants Sketchers shoes, but I think that has far more to do with how they are overadvertised on Nickelodeon. My son picked up an interest in Bakugan at school. Otherwise, I can't think of anything else. My daughter has that stereotypical spoiled rich girl in her classroom, but she is probably one of few kids with cell phone, a great interest in brand names and fashion, etc. I'm sure middle school next year will be a whole different story. At least they still wear uniforms!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I would not know because my 13yodd could care less about that stuff. My 18yodd never cared either.

I try to get them Ugg boots or a North Face jacket, they just don't care. They think trends are dumb and will not buy it on purpose.

They suck all the fun out of shopping.

 

[java]

At DS9's school, almost every kid has a rolling book bag called a Zuca. It is a giant, rolling locker thing that I hate lifting in & out of my car, but it does fit all of his stuff and it is quite durable. You can buy different fabric inserts for it; and we've had a plain grey one, a cow-print "Moo-Ca" and one with flames

He is in 4th grade now; and in his 3rd grade class last year only 3 kids had normal knapsacks. This is the outside of his 2nd grade class room 2 years ago; DS's is the cow-print one:

Hey I like those! I wonder if our school still has the no rolling backpacks rule? OUCH those are expensive! And I don't think they would fit on the bus. But I think I WANT ONE! lol
Around here the kids are STILL big time into Pokemon. (this is elementary school)
Middle school- vera vera and more vera- uggs,
High school- I have a son in high school that wouldn't know a trend if it hit him in the face so I have no clue what's big in the high school now. He's into Skater/Snowboard brands. But I don't believe that's the "trend"

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Thank goodness for uniforms and see- through backpack requirements! The only clothing item my kids have ever asked for was Sketchers tennis shoes. And after they fell apart after 2 months..we don't have to buy those anymore either!

 

[Hollywoodhaha]

I laugh at the young kids wanting cell phones

I didn't get mine until my 16th birthday which was this past August.

Erhm .. in high school, the animal shaped rubber bands are good ?

 

[aprilgail2]

In my daughters fifth grade there are an awful lot of Ugg boots and there are only 13 kids out of 66 that don't have a cell phone. We actually had to make a "no cell phone" rule at our girl scout meetings because they were all ringing, buzzing etc during the meetings- we make them keep them in their backpacks on silent now!

No one has those giant backpacks around here- I can't imagine my daughter trying to lug that thing up the stairs to go to class!!

 

[::Snow_White::]

At my high school: Coach purses, these huge purses that I'm not sure the designer of, zebra print purses, ugg boots, converse, iphones, skinny jeans, flannel shirts, and I'm sure other things that I'm forgetting.

I don't own any of these things except a pair of red converse from target because I think they're cute and a few flannel print shirts I bought on sale at sears. I just buy what I like.

 

[Ephany]

I have no idea, DD7 hates to go shopping with me and is perfectly happy to let me buy her clothes. Every now and then I'll guess wrong, but that's mainly b/c she says it doesn't fit properly rather than she doesn't like the style. She does have a couple of tiny VB Bradley bags that she was given to match my purses; she still thinks it's fun to be like mommy.

I did ask her at Christmas what the girls in her class were asking for and cell phones were the major thing. She looked at me and said she knew better than to even ask, there's no way she'd be getting one of those!

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Animal shaped rubber bands at our school! $2.99 for a dozen at Shop-Rite!!

And our school is big into FUGGS. That's the name for Fake UGGS!! All the girls know they are knock-offs but they don't seem to care. My DD has a lovely pair of teal ones, 40% off at Justice that seem to match absolutely everything! Can't beat that!!

And while DD has a cell phone, very few of her friends do and no one in her class has one. She got the free phone when I got my new one 2 years ago. She doesn't use it much. I told her that when I get a new one she can have my used ENV2. She's pumped. So probably some time next fall I will get a new one.

Oh and if DD threw a tantrum about not getting an iPhone, she would cell phone less until she could afford to pay for it herself.

 

[golfgal]

WOW, so early for all the name brand pressure. We didn't and still don't have the name brand pressure around here--THANKFULLY. Our old town and now were we live are pretty laid back communities. For the most part the kids wear t-shirts and jeans and no one really cares what the label is. Coach purses are pretty popular though--but these are HIGH SCHOOL aged kids. A lot of kids do wear North Face but we are in MN and they are not only fashionable but WARM . The majority of the kids do have cell phones but again, we are talking HIGH SCHOOL not first grade.

 

[Darsa]

Duct tape.

The girls in my DD14's grade have been making "things" out of duct tape. She has a couple of belts, a wallet, some flowers with pencils for stems, neckties, hairbands... it's amazing to see all the colors duct tape comes in!

 

[wdwgirl03]

It is quite amazing going to the mall around here and seeing all the young girls with all the stuff the OP mentioned...Ugg boots, North Face jackets, Vera, Coach. Dude, I am 24 and I don't even own Uggs or a Coach purse! Some kids are in such a hurry to grow up. Sorry, I don't get it.

What's worse is that some parents just let their kids get whatever they want! There's a VB store around here and I've seen some mothers literally ask their daughters, "honey, what else do you want? Do you want the lunch box to go with your backpack? How about the pencils too?" It is insane.

OK, I think I'm done now.

 

[golfgal]

Duct tape.

The girls in my DD14's grade have been making "things" out of duct tape. She has a couple of belts, a wallet, some flowers with pencils for stems, neckties, hairbands... it's amazing to see all the colors duct tape comes in!

A friend of DD's got duct tape for Christmas. She was in heaven . She also got a shower curtain of the Periodic Table of Elements that I think she liked even better. She is a funny kid.

 

[Auggietina]

The only thing Hot at my dd's school right now is going to the basketball games and checking out the other team's players!

Seriously, if there are any trends in the school, I haven't noticed.