Help, my daughter only wants to wear branded clothes

At 14, no girl wants to wear clothes that her mum likes. Whether because of the brand or the colour is ultimately irrelevant. It's all well and good for a daughter to develop her own taste. Clothes really do make the man and puberty is about discovering who you are. Return the jumper and give your daughter a budget for clothes shopping. Then she has to decide for herself whether she wants to afford the brand-name jumper or would rather buy two no-name pieces or even buy a really unique wardrobe second-hand. This is good for personal development and promotes money management.

In some circles, wearing the «wrong» clothes can quickly get you a bad reputation. A teenager once explained to me that students without brand-name clothes were automatically labelled as «Nüütlüt» in her class: People who are worth nothing. How sad! Dressing against the trend is a feat of strength for many young people. For them, it feels like an adult going to work at the bank in a jogging suit just to avoid having the dress code imposed on them. Your daughter is 14 years old; give her a budget for shopping for clothes. She can choose the styles herself.

Why the brand is so important can only be explained tautologically: because it's just that important. The right brand is both community-building (the other cool people wear it too) and a means of differentiation (the uncool don't wear it). What can you do? Hardcore: You can explain to your daughter that you don't care what the others think about the «wrong» brand, the jumper will simply be worn. The soft option: The jumper will only be worn when visiting the grandparents. The surrender option: you wear it yourself.

