Do you tend to consider fashion and trend when buying clothes for your kids or just buy what's comfortable? I always let my little girl choose clothes (within reason) - she's 2 and loves wearing things she has chosen. If it's not that fashionable or doesn't go together I don't mind, as long as it's weather appropriate. However my friend will only buy fashionable things of the top brands, she doesn't worry how comfortable they are or if her daughter likes them, she just wants to dress her little one up in the latest styles. What about you?
I am fortunate that my kids are boys and they don't care at all about the latest fashion trends. Regular boys' clothes are generally timeless. Jeans and shirts are their staple clothing items. We only buy new ones when the clothes look old or when they have outgrown the sizes. They also don't care about the brands, but I choose the ones that are durable such as GAP, Levi's and Banana Republic among others. The same practice goes when it comes to shoes. Children grow up so fast that sometimes buying expensive brand items only to be outgrown in a few months' time becomes impractical.
I've also never been an advocate for keeping up with kids' fashion because kids don't give a damn about fashion and in any case, as Athena says, kids grow up rather fast and in no time, they'd have outgrown the fancy clothes you bought them = Wasted Money. Why not just buy cheap, durable clothes and save some cash that way?
I firmly believe children should NOT be held to fashion standards. Youth should allow them to be more free in their dress. After all, when they grow up, they'll have plenty of people (bosses, spouses, etc) dictating what they should wear. Also, for kids under the age of 12, it's ridiculous to buy them expensive clothes. To me, this is the same as throwing dollars down an empty well. They grow fast and wear out clothes too quickly.