In response to the celebrity-inspired trend, brands are now offering kids’ and grown-up versions of the same outfit for mums and their ‘mini me’.
Because if Beyonce can have custom Gucci creations made for her and six-year-old daughter Blue Ivy, then why should us mere mortals miss out?
But if you’re not a world-famous megastar with millions of social media followers, is ‘twinning’ really called for – or is it narcissistic and unnecessary?
Here, two writers argue for and against the mini-me trend…
Claire Spreadbury, journalist and mum-of-two says: ‘Twinning is sinning’
So ‘twinning’ with your kids is now a thing (yawn…). I, for one, will not be taking part.
Funnily enough, I don’t want to look like an eight-year-old, and I don’t want my eight-year-old to look like an adult, either. Or my five-year-old, come to that.
Whatever happened to using fashion to express yourself, your style and your personality? Isn’t that what we should be teaching our children, rather than following the herd and wearing the same things as other people?
It’s yet another social media craze I will try to ignore – and that’s another reason not to do it. If impressionable young people see us copying everything influencers do on Instagram and Snapchat, we’re going to be in a worse situation than we already are. Isn’t there already too much body dysmorphia, anxiety around needing to look a certain way and eating disorders caused – albeit in part – by posting our lives to the world?
Kim K, Beyonce, Demi Moore – I ask you this: Why do you want your daughters to look like you when they can look better? Let kids dress the way they want to and develop their own individual style. Let them be trendsetters, not followers. And stop forcing them to look like you for a shallow photo opportunity.
Katie Wright, fashion journalist, says: ‘Twinning is winning’
When I was little, my mum would often dress my sister and I in the same outfits. We were less than two years apart in age so people often asked it we were twins – and I loved it.
In fact, if my mum could have joined us (is ‘tripleting’ a thing?) I would have loved it even more, which is why now that the fashion industry has caught up with my childhood fantasy, I’m a big fan of the ‘mini me’ trend.
Just like baby animals, fun-size chocolate bars and mini lipsticks, anything that’s a tiny, identical version of something else is automatically adorable, and kids dressed like their parents are no exception.
I don’t have children myself, but if I did, you could bet your bottom dollar I’d be dolling them up to look just like me from day one.
OK, maybe some people are just doing it for the ‘gram, but that’s no different to how a lot of people choose what to wear/eat/drink these days, and as long as you’re not forcing your child to wear something they really don’t like then what’s the harm?
Ultimately, if twinning is good enough for Beyonce, why are we evening arguing about it?
