They’re not hand-me down clothes, they’re a

HAND-ME-DOWN clothes have had a bad rap over the years.

No matter how lovely, there’s an innate prejudice against party dresses that have already been in a few games of musical bumps or shorts that have been at a football match or two.

And Kirstie Allsop can extoll the virtues of upcycling all she likes, there are still people who think dressing your child in their brother or sister’s old clothes means you haven’t lavished as much expense – and presumably therefore love – on them.

Which is rubbish. I love hand-me-downs, not because I’m tight-fisted, but because I love dressing my children in nice clothes but can’t stomach the idea of paying through the nose for a posh Breton-stripe fisherman’s jacket if they’ll only wear it a few times.

Surely we all know that feeling – when your child is shooting up the growth chart in their little red book. Then overnight, that lovely cardigan you bought five minutes ago – or, worse, was lovingly created by an aunt with a pair of knitting needles and lots of time – suddenly looks like it wouldn’t fit a doll.

Saying a premature goodbye to these little items feels like a hideous, unsustainable waste that is probably terrible for the planet as well as being a bit plain sad if you’re a mum.

The issue of hand-me downs hit the headlines last week when Laura Tenison the founder of the baby fashion company Jojo Maman Bebe leapt onto a Facebook page selling secondhand clothes originally bought from her firm, saying: ‘Why anyone would pay near to full price or full price sometimes plus postage for something second hand is crazy.’

I can see her point about the prices. But it’s also understandable why people are reluctant to