Trousers above the ankle, school shoes too tight, and the kurta for a wedding in May doesn't close. He refuses to go into a shop with me because 'everyone stares'. Online orders go back because he won't try them on if I'm in the room. My partner's hours rule out a weekend trip with them. How do you get a 13 year old to buy clothes?
We give our daughter a list and a budget and let her go round the store with a friend while I sit in the café next door. She sends photos from the trial room. It costs me an extra hour, but there's no fight.
The photo trick works with ours too. She vetoes anything I suggest, but if a friend says it's nice, it gets bought.
Same with our son. We let him order with a return option and try things in his room. He sent back five and kept two.
That works for trousers. Shoes I wouldn't buy without trying in a shop, growing feet are hard to guess. We made shoes a quick separate trip on the understanding that he chooses and I only pay.
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