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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

On buying baby/toddler clothing.

As I was browsing a couple of mommy's blogs I like to read, I noticed that one of them hosted a special link up that allowed you to share where you bought your kid's clothes. That was a couple of months ago, so while I'm not officially participating in the link up, I thought it would be fun to share where I buy Hannah Grace (and her soon-to-be-born-brother's) clothes. 

There really isn't anything special about where I buy these clothes. Target and Kohl's are usually my number one go-to stores when I'm buying the basics: shirts, shorts, pants, leggings, and skirts. From these two stores I can get each of these items in the $6-$8 range. I like to check Old Navy out for any special sales or clearance deals, but I find a lot of their clothes to be overpriced for what it is (except during their kid/baby sale that happens every February and August). 

When I'm in Murfreesboro, I like to make a trip to Carter's, Osh Kosh, and Gymboree. I think of these three stores, Osh Kosh is my favorite, but all three have cute and affordable clothing. When they have a sale (which is almost all the time), their prices tend to be similar to Old Navy's, but I prefer the quality and look to the clothing from these three stores over Old Navy's (which is funny, considering how much I love Old Navy for myself). 

The first thing I do when shopping for Hannah Grace (and now her brother)? Go straight to the clearance racks. Just this morning I snagged this Carter's brand, two-piece fleece outfit for $4.98 from Kohl's I willingly pay $5 for baby pants, so getting both items for $5 is a steal. 

Carter's (the actual store) usually has great clearance racks, too. You can almost always catch a great clearance sale when a new season is nearing and they're trying to clear out the old season's clothes. Late last summer I bought Hannah Grace several items off the clearance rack, with an additional 30% taken off at the register. This can make for some really inexpensive clothing for your child!

I think the most surprising place I like to buy clothes from is Sam's. Right now they have a large selection of infant (3mo-24mo size) sun suits, rompers, and dresses that are Carter's brand for just $5.95. What makes this even better is going to Kohl's and seeing the exact same things being sold for $8.99. Hannah Grace has the dress below (purchased from Sam's, not Kohl's), and several weeks ago I bought her a really nice, lined Osh Kosh brand raincoat for $18. That's about as expensive as I pay for her clothes, but considering a raincoat (that isn't lined) from Target is $12, I thought it was worth the extra money for the quality and lining. 
When I'm shopping for Hannah Grace, I like to keep things inexpensive. The most I will pay for a shirt or bottoms (whether it's a skirt, leggings, shorts, or jeans) is $10, but I rarely even pay that. I think the most expensive shirt I bought for her during the winter was $9 and pants were $8. I'll pay up to $20 for a jacket/coat (her heavy-ish pea coat from Old Navy was $14 and the Osh Kosh raincoat was $18); the pea coat has been worn since October and the rain coat is light enough to wear even during summer rain showers, so I am definitely getting my money's worth. I would spend as much as $15 on a dress, but I have yet to spend even that much thanks to Target's awesome clearance rack. Late last summer I bought three dresses (for this upcoming spring) for less than $10 total. And my mom likes to buy her dresses, so that helps :)

With the coming of a second child (and a boy at that), I'm realizing how easily the cost of clothes will add up. That's why I do my best to stick to the clearance racks, my budget, and even consignment shops (when I'm in Murfreesboro-- we don't have any good ones near my house). I also have to remind myself that Hannah Grace doesn't have to have every cute shirts and pair of leggings out there, even if they are only $5. I'm finding that it's kind of fun to take what she has and make new outfits out of one or two new clothing items. For example, she has grown out of two of her three pairs of jeans. Instead of buying a new pair of jeans, I bought a pair of jean shorts and will layer leggings she already has under them while it's still cold. Then when it gets warm, we'll nix the leggings, and she'll have shorts to wear! Then I'll buy her a couple of pairs of jeans to wear all next fall and winter.

I'm not sure if this was beneficial to anyone reading it, but if any of you are like me, you like to read about this kind of stuff. Hopefully it was at least a little enjoyable!

2 comments:

  1. Nice post, thanx for sharing. Keep the good work going. I am following your blog.

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  2. I went to Carter's recently for a friend's baby shower and I was in there a long time trying to decide what to get! I think it's neat they have so many baby stores at The Avenue.

    You reminded me I need to finish the Narnia series! I only have two books left and they're so short!

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