As more parents dress like their kids – and more children dress like grownups – some are asking if our offspring have become style inspirations … or even accessories
T
he Princess of Wales and her 10-year-old daughter, Princess Charlotte, seemed to have shared not just a carriage but also outfit notes at trooping the colour last weekend, since they were both wearing neighbouring blues on the colour wheel. They do it a lot, this so-called “mini-me dressing” – via tartans and tiaras, nautical details and nifty colour accents.
She’s not the only one. Kim Kardashian does it with her kids, Beyoncé does it with Blue Ivy. In fact, it tallies with the whole vibe of nepo babies, who are now appearing in the public eye wearing outfits that are sartorial embodiments of the relationships that will privilege them for life.
It’s polarising – cute or crass? – and it isn’t just famous parents who do it. I see it at playgroups, at the school gates and – without ever meaning to, I see it staring up at me on my own daughter, too. And no wonder, in a world where adult brands promote their mini-me collections and children’s brands diversify into clothes for grownups. For a raft of newer kids’ brands, prints are unisex, arguably less infantile and certainly less “pink”, both in actual colour and general vibe (perhaps a helpful shift for the many parents pointedly putting their little boys in fuchsia), making sharing looks across generations more possible.
