Woman asks if she should let her nine-year-old son spend his pocket money on a £150 Gucci hat

Mother asks if she should let her son, 9, buy £150 Gucci Fedora hat to reward him for saving up his pocket money – but critics warn it’s an ‘utter waste’ and teaches him to be ‘shallow’

  • Anonymous British woman said her son, nine, has saved up £200 pocket money 
  • She admitted to being torn about letting him spend it on a Gucci Fedora hat 
  • Responses on Mumsnet encouraged her to allow him to purchase the accessory
  • Others warned she should be worried about him becoming materialistic  

A mother has revealed she’s torn about letting her nine-year-old son spend his pocket money on a £150 designer hat.

Posting anonymously on Mumsnet, the UK-based woman explained her little boy saved up £200 and wants to spend the majority of it on a Gucci Fedora because he loves fashion.

She said her partner is supportive of her son’s choice, but she thinks the purchase would be ‘madness’.

While some fellow parents argued her son should be able to spend his savings as he chooses, others warned she shouldn’t encourage him to be materialistic.

An anonymous woman who lives in the UK has sparked a debate about letting children spend their pocket money on designer items. Pictured: the £150 Gucci Children’s Original GG fedora the woman’s son wishes to buy

Posting on Mumsnet, the woman explained her son has saved £200 worth of pocket money and now wants to purchase a Gucci hat for £150

Posting on Mumsnet, the woman explained her son has saved £200 worth of pocket money and now wants to purchase a Gucci hat for £150

Torn about the purchase, the woman wrote: ‘My son loves fashion. He always likes to look good bless him. Anyway, he wants to buy a Gucci Fedora hat which is £150. He has saved up £200 from pocket money.

‘What are your opinions on this? Partner says it’s up to him! I think it’s madness.’

A stream of responses argued the mother shouldn’t encourage her son to be materialistic and said they wouldn’t allow the purchase.

One person wrote: ‘Absolutely not. What a ridiculous idea. I wouldn’t spend £150 on a piece of branded fashion tat for myself, never mine a nine-year-old. You need to ask yourself some serious questions about the shallow, superficial materialistic values which this child has evidently been taught. Poor kid.’ 

Another said: ‘Absolutely not. I have a nine-year-old and there is no way I would allow or encourage him to have clothes of that value. He doesn’t look after anything as it is. What does he want it for? I would also worry about it being stolen or lost.’

Many responses said they wouldn't allow their child to buy a Gucci hat and warned the mother not to encourage her son to be materialistic

Many responses said they wouldn’t allow their child to buy a Gucci hat and warned the mother not to encourage her son to be materialistic 

But others argued the son should be rewarded for saving up and the mother shouldn’t stop him from buying what he wants.

‘He saved up for it, it’s his money. He knows that to have nice things, you save,’ one wrote. ‘I can’t see why you wouldn’t allow it. It’s also a good idea to show him that he needs to look after it.

‘If he’s into fashion then that’s his thing. If he were into Lego and wanted to spend the money on that I imagine you wouldn’t have a problem. I say this as someone who shops for clothes at Matalan and Asda.’

Another said: ‘Yes I think £150 on one thing at nine-years-old is fine. If he doesn’t like it or loses it or damages it then it’s a lesson but not the end of the world. It’s much less than many that age spend on games or consoles.’

A third added: ‘Of course it’s part of the issue. Either you don’t give him enough money to be able to afford it, or you start dictating to him what he can and can’t buy. In my eyes, you can’t let him have the pocket money then control what he does with it.’

Others responses to the thread argued not allowing the son to buy the hat could discourage him from saving in the future

Others responses to the thread argued not allowing the son to buy the hat could discourage him from saving in the future