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Faternal or Identical? & Do you dress them alike? - Page 2

post #21 of 32

Identical Girls

They are three now and they share a closet full of clothes and pick out their own outfits each day so, no they don't dress alike. I was never into the matching thing so maybe that's why they dress differently. Even though, they are sharing from the same articles of clothing they put together outfits that are very unique to their own personality. Girl A is more feminine and will be in flowers and frills from head to toe (skirt and dresses a must). Girl B style is simple feminine items paired with shorts or something boyish. They look alike but, like to be different. I think it may be time to split up the wardrobe because, they sometimes fight over a particular item and it's hard for me to remember who got what for their B-day. Up until now they have shared and never wanted to wear the same thing on the same day.
post #22 of 32
We have fraternal twin boys. They're 18 months and both have brown eyes. William has straight light/mediumbrown hair and John has curly dark brown/ almost black hair. While we don't usually dress them the same, they do coordinate. They may have on the same pants, but different shirts/t-shirts that co-ordinate. My dh likes them to be matchy-matchy. I honestly, could care less as long as they're clean! :LOL
post #23 of 32
My 31-month-old MZ girls look a lot alike to people who do not know them well but nothing alike to the people who see them often. At first I was adament about not dressing them alike. The closest I would get was to dress them in the same outfit in different colors for special pictures. I was very careful to get their pictures taken seperately as well as a few together. As they've gotten older, I do sometimes dress them in the same outfit. My dh's family and my parents especially like to see them dressed alike...it's very endearing to them. My one dd is very into dresses and the other one is more of a t-shirt and shorts kind of girl. So when they pick on their own (which is most days) they look totally different.
post #24 of 32
Our twins are 2.4 y/o fraternal boys. They are quite opposite in every way including the way they look.Including they both got different versions of their daddy's cute pug nose Rarely, will I find matching outfits,especially since I almost exclusively shop at garage sales and thrift store.So that settles that dilemma for me,lol.Other than my children's great-granny buying them identical outfits on their birthday's,the only identical outfits I have received were the five outfits I received soon after they were born.These five outfits were actually selected by 11 y/o fraternal twin girls I knew from our local homeschooling group.These girls looked identical but their personalities were such complete opposites ( one was the full-on girlie-girl whereas her sis wouldn't wear a dress if her life depended on it).Which made it that much more interesting to me that they chose the gifts.Their mom told me they insisted on my boys having matching outfits.The girls told me"better put them in matching outfits before they get big enough to protest like us". The VERY few gifts that we have recieved have been either completely different or coordinating. I love coordinating/matching outfits and get potraits done of them whenever we receive them.If I could afford it, I would buy some matching outfits.Partly b/c lately they have been fussing over which of them gets to wear what.Our families lifestyle is similar to what I've heard here before...I'm too exhausted to care what they where as long as it's clean and over the summer they tend to be matching b/c they're usually wearing only diapers.

* For new twin families I highly reccomend buying identical shoes for two reasons: 1)you double your chances of finding a pair when only one child is going to where shoes.
2) when both children are wearing shoes they won't fuss over which child gets to wear which shoes.
post #25 of 32
My 2 year old fraternal (obviously) b/g twins sometimes choose to dress alike now. As babies, I didn't, although they did have many gifts of coordinating outfits. It was just tooo much work to keep them coordinating - one spit up constantly with reflux and changing 2 infants outfits 8 times a day would be insane!
Now, they have one outfit (a gift) that matches. Their "matching" outfits now consist of wearing the same color t-shirts. Ironically, my SIL has boys 18 months apart that she dresses identically all the time. I think she likes people asking if they're twins!
post #26 of 32
Twins run in my family. I have identical win boys who are 4. When they were babies, I dressed them in coordinating outfits that were just different colors. The only time I ever dressed them alike was for special occasions. DH and I don't buy them matching outfits, but we have gotten them from family. SO, in that case, I dress them alike for church, and they will be dressed alike for my sisters wedding in 2 weeks (they are ring bearers).

I don't think it's wrong or bad to dress them alike. Yes, they are 2 separate people, but that does not mean that they will be harmed in any way by dressing them alike. I am doing it more now simply because they are at the point where I allow them to pick out their clothes and often, they pick out the same thing.
post #27 of 32

Dress alike?

My boys are fraternal. It depends on the day. Sometimes they are dressed alike (like today) and other days they are dressed different. Some days they at least have a coordinating outfit on even if it isn't the exact same.
post #28 of 32
I have boy/girl twins and never dressed them in coordinating outfits with the exception of making sure they didn't clash for formal pictures. I do have a good friend w identical triplet girls and she and I have talked about this a lot. Her girls get enough attention, comments and comparisions as it is. She feels and I completely agree that dressing them alike is disrespectful to their individuality and sends a message that even their parents see them as 'one'.

It might be fun for mom although I can't really see how it is easier (if one gets messy do you change both?). I always wanted any attention for my twins to be based on who they were individually - not what they looked like as a unit. And I hope that they will be able to define themselves independently - not as a function of who they are vis a vis their twin.

post #29 of 32

I almost always dress mine alike.........

We still don't know if they are fraternal or identical, the hospitol said identical but they look less and less alike each week. They are 3 mos old now. I had 2 sacs with a membran between them meaning it was 2 sacs that adhered together (fraternal) or 1 that never totally separated (would make them identical). Time will tell, but, for now I chose to dress them alike as I know in time they will pick their outfits themselves and I won't get all this fun!
post #30 of 32
Thread Starter 
LOL brand new boys what a blessing! I have to say I am jealous . I dress my girls alike too, at least I try too. My daughters pick their own clothes at age 8 but one in awhile I get to dress them alike, and show off their twin-ness. when they were little I really enjoied dressing them alike. it was a nice perk
post #31 of 32
I have 19 mo. fraternal girls who only dress in coordinating outfits on special occasions. I'm not into the matching outfit thing, but I when the girls were newborn, I experienced a very strange psychological phenomenon.... I dressed them in identical clothes for the first few months even though I swore I wouldn't do it. In retrospect, I think I was having trouble bonding with two very different babies at once, and somehow dressing them alike helped me cope. Did anyone else experience anything like this?
post #32 of 32
I have b/g 26 mo.old twins. I like them to coordinate/matching outfits for special occasions and sunday worship when I have the energy for such stuff. Most times they just look nice on their own. I have been thinking I should hurry up and get them some matching outfits before they are old enough to put their foot down on that sort of matchy-matchy nonsense, I might as well get to have fun dressing them up, kwim? I also put my son in a lot of light blue and babyish colors b/c he is growing up too fast and soon will only want to wear navy blue I suppose. I put my dd in a lot of baby pink for the same reason. As soon as they show a preference they will be given free reign.

And IMHO I don't think matching them *destroys their individuality*. I think that being part of a tribe/family/twins is a special link to loved ones that is where your home base is. I feel it gives security to know the bond that is there. From that security comes total freedom to then venture out and explore their individuality to the fullest, not wondering if there is a secure *homebase* to go back to in the event that is emotionally needed. It probably only becomes a problem in families that don't allow that *venturing out* that all children need to do eventually. So it isn't the clothing, but the parenting IMO. I see families with different aged children buy matching outfits all the time and I think it's cute as long as it isn't overdone. I mean, who would be anal enough to actually change outfits on a clean twin when the other twin gets soiled? Does that sort of thing actually happen? How does that mother have the TIME to do all that wash??? Could she even be AP'ing? I couldn't imagine having the time or taking the effort to do that. But, hey, that's my own lack of energy speaking.
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