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

[Jennasis]

I don't get the fascination kids have with Vera Bradley. Her stuff SCREAMS "Old Lady" to me. I wouldn't be caught dead with it. Luckily my students are into "important" things like Ariat Tall Boots (or custom Vogel's), Mattes Half-pads, Tailored Sportsmen Breeches, and GPA Helmets. If any of them own any high end clothing you can be sure they would never wear it out to the barn!

One girl is very into Hollister/Abercrombie, and lately Hot Topic.

 

[NAB]

I have seen these bags before but never in school. They are used for figure skaters to put there skates and other gear into. At least that is what they are used for here.....Can't imagine lugging it up stairs at school either.

My dd is in grade 4 and it is pretty well anything Jonas Brothers for her.

My ds is into skate board shoes , which he has and they just fall apart fast. And hoodies .

 

[NHMom4]

My guys go to a charter school in rural NH. The only thing I notice is American Girl Doll stuff. In fact I went into the school today to drop them off in my pink Powerpuff Girl PJ's and NO ONE cared! I love it!

 

[mjkacmom]

Thankfully we have not had the fashion or cell phone issue yet with DD (9). Her brother could care less. I am lucky if I can get him to go to school with all his clothes facing the correct direction.

I think as PPs have said that school has made a huge difference. They do not have uniforms but can not wear jeans (pants, skirts or dresses), any clothing with logos or words showing, no pictures on shirts other than small butterflies or flowers and no character shirts.

I don't think my daughter would know what Uggs, Juicy or Vera Bradley are. I took her shopping this year for back to school and gave her a set amount for school. We went to the outlets and bought 12 pair of pants and shirts for about $150. I told her we could go to the mall but it would not go as far. She was more than happy to go to the outlets to see how much she could get for her money.

OMG - we have the same ds! Mine is now 7, and rarely has his shirt or his pants on right! Even though my girls love Justice, I only buy with a 40% off coupon from the clearance rack, so we can get a lot. And they both wear a 7 slim, so they share clothes - they don't even own their own underwear!

 

[LuvOrlando]

Here in the Lehigh Valley PA:

For my 11 year old DD
Uggs
skinny jeans so the Uggs look right (of course)dark blue or medium, no light or black allowed
Chuck Taylor Converse in Black ONLY
long straight hair with loose curls on the bottom
Peace signs seem to be dying out
Justice seems to be dying out as too girlie in favor of a more androgynous look
Abercombie t-shirts
Aero t-shirts
White cropped winter coats, or other as long as it's cropped
texting phone with a cool plaid cover
being an athlete

For my DS12:

Snow boarding
and all the gear that goes along with it from a specific jacket to the cool helmut and, of course he NEEDS a Camelbak
Texting phone
I-pod Touch
Skateboarder shoes are still in as long as they are Fallen or DVS
straight leg pants, not the girl skinny
longish hair
skateboarder backpacks
Abercrombie T-shirts
Aeropastle T-shirts
Thick fleece lined hoodies from Pac-Sun, never a regular old winter coat
being an athlete

Oh, and both kids love smelcils, which are scented pencils made from recycled paper instead of wood.

I don't know where these kids get this stuff from but if I'm buying a coat or shoes anyway I don't mind a brand if it's what they really want and good quality.

 

[CathrynRose]

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

Isn't it great?

I have an 18 y/o and a 14 y/o - and there were a few minor pain-in-the-wallet things, they wanted - but generally, easy as pie.

I have said before on these boards, how my oldest really just liked plain T's. No name brands - didn't care, just plain T-Shirts.

He was out running errands with me, and I had to stop at Michael's. He saw the "5 for $10" plain T's and asked "Can I get 5? - please?" ...with a puppy dog look, like he was asking for something huge.

I was a super cool mom that day, when I said "Grab 10!"

He was thrilled to pieces! 10 plain T Shirts, in an assortment of colors, grinning from ear to ear. And I'm thinking "Heck yeah! Twenty bucks - yeee ha!"

 

[cheermom1]

We don't have lockers here so they have to have BIG back packs ..

what is in...cell phones ..my kids both have one but that is b/c they are in to sports and other things that keep them after school and such..plus they walk to and from school so I thought it was something they really needed...

dd16 really doesn't care about what is in style ..she wears what she thinks is cute..I think it has a lot to do with that she is a cheerleader and she likes to start trends

now head bands are in I guess but they are cheap...

uggs are really in here but most girls wear the knock offs

skinny jeans for my son and tees mainly ..oh and skater shoes yep both think they have to have skater shoes and neither skate board

an on going trend we see here is for girls to wear their cowboy boots with their prom dresses...this year dd wants to war toms..(whatever those are) she also wants to get a funky out there dress ..her style is so very individualistic

 

[itchin2go]

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.

I dropped my iphone and broke it. It was a short drop and it only happened once. The face was shattered. There's no insurance policy. You either pay to repair it or buy another. For that reason, I would never buy an iphone for a young kid. My 8 year old would also love one, but no way. Plus the lowest plan in my area is like $60 a month. No way would I pay that for my kid's phone plan. In the next couple of years, she may get a phone, but it will not be an iphone.

 

[akhenaten]

I have seen these bags before but never in school. They are used for figure skaters to put there skates and other gear into. At least that is what they are used for here.....Can't imagine lugging it up stairs at school either.

My dd is in grade 4 and it is pretty well anything Jonas Brothers for her.

My ds is into skate board shoes , which he has and they just fall apart fast. And hoodies .

Same here .. I have only seen those backpacks at the rink with the figure skaters. My DD 7 does not skate but has seen them at the rink (at her brothers hockey practice) and would probably love to have one... but I am sure our school would ban them immediately... takes up too much space!
(regular rolling back packs are supposed t be banned.. but they have laxed up on enforcement...I am sure that would change the day one of theses showed up!)

Luckily my DD7 has not been concerned with brands... still enjoys her fake uggs LOL she does ask for a cell phone and I laugh
DS 16 is getting into band t's , skinny jeans and skater shoes...
(hot topic.is his fave store at the moment)

carol in NJ

 

[moet7]

Here's one I haven't read yet...........slippers!

The middle school my daughter goes to 6th, 7th and 8th grade girls wear these slippers that are from Target to school. They have a rubber sole on the bottom of them. I laughed when my daughter asked for them. I then started noticing all the girls getting out of the car pool line with them on.

 

[KirstenB]

Uggs, Aero, Abercrombie, American Eagle for my 6th grader. She is done with Justice, too elementary-schoolish. She has a pair of pink converse for PE class. I'll buy her name-brand tops and hoodies, but try to save $ on jeans. As long as their skinny jeans, she's happy. I've seen some North Face jackets around here, but most kids do hoodies instead of winter coats.

Oh, and no socks. I'm working on that. I keep telling her I don't want that middle school foot funk stinking up the house!

 

[Mrs.Toad]

Oh, and no socks. I'm working on that. I keep telling her I don't want that middle school foot funk stinking up the house!

Oh, that is the worst trend! My dd's friends will come in our house, take off their shoes, and I think I'm going to pass out from the stench!

I have convinced my 12yo to wear no-show socks with her sneakers so hers aren't so bad. But she has to go barefoot in the knock-off Ugg-type slippers!

Slippers as shoes are popular around here, too (as well as actual shoes that look like slippers). Converse and DC brand shoes are common, too. Lots of A&F, Aeropostale and Hollister Tshirts and hoodies. Most of the kids have nice jackets like North Face or Columbia because skiiing is so big, but they don't wear them to school unless it's really cold.

I haven't heard of the silly bands yet. They are all into making videos. They take the camcorder and come up with silly skits, then a few of them have youtube accounts or facebook, and post these crazy videos all over the place.

I'm with the person who is surprised by the Vera Bradly lunch boxes. I also think those things are hideous and scream old lady. I cannot imagine a kid/tween/teen using one. The older kids here don't use lunch boxes at all, they usually buy thier lunch, bring a paper bag or plastic grocery sack, or a Lunchables box with no bag at all. The young ones still use the insulated Target lunch boxes with thier favorite TV shows on them.

Justice is big with the first graders, and anything with a monkey on it.

 

[golfgal]

Ok, I just have to get this off my chest, stop justifying why you bought your kid a cell phone, so what, your kid has a cell phone. I bought my kids a cell phone because they wanted one, no other reason-well that and it is a heck of a lot easier on ME that they have one. No one NEEDS a cell phone but guess what, they are fun and nice to have so buy one if you want. If you don't want one, ok, no big deal either--just please stop justifying why you have one. Thank you.

You can return to the thread now.

 

[Vixen]

Let me tell you what "in" here in Nicaragua... i dont have kids and i didnt go to school here but when i go to the malls i see all the tweens and teens using this:

Cell Phones : they all have them here as young as 8
Abercombi & Fitch
Hollister
American Eagle
FUGGS :yes the coldest it gets here is around 70º but they still wear them
Skinny Jeans Both male and female
Chuck Taylors
Summer Scarves

 

[mjkacmom]

Uggs, Aero, Abercrombie, American Eagle for my 6th grader. She is done with Justice, too elementary-schoolish. She has a pair of pink converse for PE class. I'll buy her name-brand tops and hoodies, but try to save $ on jeans. As long as their skinny jeans, she's happy. I've seen some North Face jackets around here, but most kids do hoodies instead of winter coats.

Oh, and no socks. I'm working on that. I keep telling her I don't want that middle school foot funk stinking up the house!

My dd8 is petite, and although she loves Justice now, the JH kids don't wear it. Dd13 has some small friends who have to suffer through wearing Justice now, because they're too small for juniors. I hope we get a growth spurt!

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Let me tell you what "in" here in Nicaragua... i dont have kids and i didnt go to school here but when i go to the malls i see all the tweens and teens using this:

Cell Phones : they all have them here as young as 8
Abercombi & Fitch
Hollister
American Eagle
FUGGS :yes the coldest it gets here is around 70º but they still wear them
Skinny Jeans Both male and female
Chuck Taylors
Summer Scarves

Doesn't sound like Nicaragua is any different from NJ in terms of trends. Who knew?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

DS15 wanted a NorthFace jacket, but I refused to pay that amount of money. He does hiking and camping for Boy Scouts, but I refused to pay that much. He looked online and found a nice one on E-bay and paid about $70 for a really nice jacket.

DD10 is the consumate tomboy and couldn't care less about trendy items. In fact, the jacket she wanted is the "anti-NorthFace". A teenager in St. Louis has created a new brand - The South Butt. It is too hysterical, so for her B-day, she got a SB jacket. Luckily none of the administration at school has banned it (yet).

DD, however, does want a cell phone. Her brother didn't get one until he was a freshman in HS, so that's when she'll get hers, unless she starts playing a traveling soccer team, or some other reason that I want her to have one. Until then, it's a no.

Just have to say that my 7th grade dd told me THIS MORNING that South Butt is banned and a kid in her business class had to go and put the jacket she was wearing in her locker.

 

[Vixen]

Doesn't sound like Nicaragua is any different from NJ in terms of trends. Who knew?

yeah you would think it would be a tad different but its very simmilar to many of the other ones i've read. There's alot of american infulence here.

 

[MinnieMe87]

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!

Duct tape was popular when I was in high school! There was a girl I was friends with who made her entire prom ensemble out of duct tape. It was awesome! She even covered her shoes, made her date's tie, and made the corsages out of it.

 

[MickeyCrazedMom]

Here in SE Michigan - for the elementary level - the only big things are smencils and squishys. Squishys are small pencil toppers in the shape of an animal. We sell them for $.50 in the school store and made over $100 on those today. It is insane!

I have noticed at the dance studio uggs and north face are a huge deal. There is a mom who orders them from some secret place for a really great price (uggs for $100 or less). DD, age 5, hasn't gotten into the name brand yet, but it is only a matter of time. She loves clothes and I tend to lean toward name brand, so I know I will give in!