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In this article data are presented on children’s appraisal of clothing retailers and brands, and how this interacts with their identity and social contexts. In exploration of some of the meanings and processes surrounding children’s consumption of branded or labelled clothing, two case studies of child consumers are profiled: one who actively consumed designer-label clothing, and another for whom it held limited significance. It is argued that children aged 12 and under knowingly and skilfully use their consumer knowledge in the reflexive presentation of their selves, or their own ‘me’, but that these practices are structured by their place in the social and generational order.