Young House Love

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Some Ways We Save Money With Kid Clothes

One of the most common questions on instagram/Facebook/Twitter when we share a photo isn’t “what paint color is that?” or “who makes that lamp?” – it’s “where did you get that shirt/dress/skirt?” – and they’re not talking about me (or John)… they’re talking about Clara. Yes, there have been a bunch of requests for a post about how we score deals/save money in the kid clothing department along with where we get her clothes. So whoop, here it is. And thanks to all of those aforementioned instagram photos that we’ve shared, we have a whole bunch of shots to use throughout this rundown.

a-few-ways-we-save-money-on-kids-clothes

Admittedly it’s kinda weird to analyze your kid’s clothing in so much detail (she’s two! we just buy things we think are cute and try to save money when we can) but I realized when I was writing this up that we’ve actually learned a decent amount over the last two years of dressing a tiny person. And there are definitely things we wish we had known in the beginning, which would have saved us money and time – so maybe they’ll help someone else out there. So without further ado, the story of Clara’s clothes, as told by our instagram feed…

Target Dress Gift

Most of Clara’s clothing comes from these four places:

  1. Hand me downs from her sweet cousin Elsa (or the three year old who lives next door)
  2. Old Navy (usually on the clearance rack or purchased with a coupon)
  3. Target (always on the clearance rack)
  4. H&M (they have the cutest stuff, especially summery dresses)

Of course she also occasionally gets things as gifts or we get gift cards to a place like The Gap for our birthdays (and spend the money in their kids department instead of on ourselves). And we’ve also ducked into other stores from time to time, like the Carter’s Outlet near John’s parents’ beach house. But I’d definitely say the majority of her stuff comes from the four sources above. Like the dress in the picture above (from the clearance rack at Target) for example.

It was actually a birthday gift for her from John’s sister Emily, but we love that she knows one of our favorite Clara-clothing spots (I think it was around $6). It’s a size 2T, which should last Clara at least a year (we can add jeggings underneath to carry it into colder temps or to cover things up if it gets shorter as she grows). And it might seem obvious, but we’ve finally realized that dresses are often the most bang for our buck in the clothing department since they’re just one piece (so instead of finding a cheap t-shirt for $4 with cheap shorts for $4, that dress is an entire outfit for $6).

Here is a dress from H&M, which was $12. Initially I thought that was expensive (I’m cheap, so I like things in the single digits – anything over ten makes me flinch, haha) but Clara has worn the heck out of it. Probably at least once a week for the entire summer so far. So by the end of its life I’d guess the cost per wear will probably be around fifty cents. And if we hand it down to a future kiddo it could be even less.

Clara Handm Candy Store

Unlike a Beverly Hills housewife, Clara wears her outfits a whole bunch of times. You might see her petting goats in something one week…

Skirt And Top Petting Zoo

… and playing with Barbies in the same outfit a week or two later.

Skirt And Plain Top

This is a clearance skirt from The Gap and a white top from Old Navy. I think this outfit total was around $7 ($4 for the skirt and $3 for the top). Basically the top + bottom equation with her is usually: colorful blousey top + basic jeggings/dark jeans OR colorful skirt or pink/yellow jeans + basic top (like this white ruffled tank top). Something sort of classic with something else that’s bright and fun. That way it’s not too boring or too crazy, it’s a little bit of each. And when it comes to trying to “make” outfits from random items that she has in her drawers like a pair of jeggings or a cute t-shirt, I can now make pairings pretty much on autopilot with that general equation. So as weird as it is to have a “Clara clothing formula” it saves us time (and money spent on things that wouldn’t fit in as easily). And she seems to really like her clothes (last night while going to visit her grandparents she said she couldn’t wait to show them her “pretty pretty dress”).

Another great example of that equation would be one of my favorite Clara outfits ever. See how the basic printed t-shirt (featuring a Burger lookalike from the J Crew Outlet) + a girly ruffled soft pink skirt (a hand-me-down from the girl next door) can add up to something playful and sweet at the same time? Especially when paired with a RAD tattoo. Haha.

Tatoo Outfit

Another example of this would be one of my favorite shirts (from Old Navy for around $8), which you can see in this picture. It’s blousy and flowy and Clara LOVES it. Everything from the big sleeves with the scalloped trim on the bottom to the colorful flowers float her boat. So we pair it with basic jeggings or jeans most of the time. Just because it’s an easy foolproof outfit. And it keeps me from having to buy more specific bottoms that “match” it (ex: purple pants, orange capris) since we have enough classic items like jeans/jeggings in our drawers that already work with it.

Old Navy Shirt

Here’s yet another example of girly/bold/patterned bottoms with something basic on top. This is an outfit I found at the Carter Outlets in Delaware when we stopped there over Memorial Day. I think it was under $10 total for both pieces (total) and Clara has easily worn this at least eight times since then.

Skirt And Top Carters

When it comes down to numbers, Clara usually has 10-12 “good outfits” in rotation, which is just a number that seems to work well for us since we do laundry once a week and she has some other “messy outfits” that we’ll put her in before doing anything crazy like painting or running around in the mud. So it’s not like she changes clothes three times a day and needs 30 good dresses and pants and tops. I’d say 95% of the time, she wears one outfit all day long. So since 10-12 outfits isn’t really that many, we try not to go for quantity, but for quality. Not by spending a ton of money on the item itself (goodness knows kids get things dirty and grow out of things all the time) but by trying to stay “focused” on things that work well for us (especially Clara) – so she doesn’t end up with dresser stuffed full of mismatched deals with no real pairings or purpose.

We didn’t always follow this technique. When she was smaller we used to go for quantity, so if Old Navy was having a t-shirt sale I’d get three for eight bucks instead of one dress for eight bucks on the sale rack. But as Clara grew we realized that a bunch of clothes that you don’t love (and that you didn’t necessarily buy as an “outfit”) aren’t as easy to use or love as trying to keep your focus and only buying things that you’ll end up reaching for them again and again. One easy question I ask myself before I buy something for her is “will this be something I put in our ‘favorite outfits’ drawer, or will it end up in the middle drawer with a bunch of on-sale mismatched items that she never wears?”

This is a tee we got on clearance from Old Navy with a red skirt from The Gap that Clara got as a gift… wait for it… over a year ago.

Really Old Skirt

So another one of our learned-along-the-way tips would be to ignore the size on the labels when it comes to retiring items of clothing and just go by how they fit. This skirt actually says 12 months in the label, but it still fits her comfortably (and although it’s a little short it has built-in bloomers for toddler modesty, haha). So instead of just stashing it in the tupperware bins in our attic (where we store all of the clothes she has outgrown – more on that here) I’m cool with her wearing it as long as it comfortably fits. We’ve gotten at least one “bonus year” of wear from it already, so I’m psyched. Saves us from buying another one until she truly outgrows it.

Here’s the opposite application of that last tip. If something is too big, you’ll get more wear out of it by figuring out how to get your kiddo into it sooner if at all possible (two summers of use from a dress instead of one = added value). So when I slipped this $8 Target dress onto Clara and it was way too big (the straps were so stretchy the neckline slipped down below her chest), I tried turning it so one of the arm straps went around her neck like a halter. The other strap got tucked into the elastic back of the dress, which doesn’t seem to bother Clara at all, and now she can wear this dress now, and hopefully next year too with her arms where they’re meant to go.

Dress Old Navy

This is another dress from H&M (it was $11). It’s hard to tell from this photo, but it has a pretty eyelet detail on the bottom and it’s a soft blue seersucker material. One thing to notice from the picture is that Clara has a favorite pair of shoes, and it’s her pink Crocs. So those are what she wears 95% of the time.

Dress Handm Crocs

It has saved us a ton of money to recognize that the girl has a favorite pair of shoes (we used to buy her a bunch of different kinds and she always requested the same ones, to the point that she’d outgrow perfectly pristine shoes without ever wearing them since she favors her Crocs so much). But now we’ve realized that they’re her shoe of choice and we’re ok with pairing them with almost any outfit. Sure, navy shoes might be cuter with this blue dress, but pink crocs send out that “these are the shoes I like” vibe, which we’re cool with.

This dress is from Old Navy. It was $6 on clearance and after stacking additional coupons on top it was $4 at the register. Woot. I always keep Old Navy coupons in a little file folder in my purse (more on that here) so I basically never buy anything there without using a coupon since they pop up in the mail all the time.

Old Navy Dress

In general our theory on dressing Clara is that we want her to be comfortable and cute. We could always spend more, and definitely could spend less, but after two years we think the $6-12 per outfit range is the sweet spot for us. We’ve also finally figured out the stores we like and how things fit her (ex: 3T jeans and PJs at Old Navy fit her like a dream, 2T dresses are better for her from almost everywhere, etc). This is helpful because it saves us money and time (had we invested in three more pairs of 2T pjs without knowing that 3T fits her better, she would have outgrown them faster and we’d be back at the store buying more).

This outfit is all Old Navy. The top was $4 and the jeggings were 2/$7 (so it was $3.50 for this pair). I’d say Clara’s “summer uniform” has been sundresses and the occasional skirt and top, but for the spring, fall, and winter, jeggings and dark denim jeans (along with a few pairs of colorful jeans – in pink & yellow) have been awesome.

Jeggings Bright Top

And in case you’re wondering, Clara totally goes shopping with us. Her favorite spot ever = the fake family at the front of our Old Navy. She literally runs towards them and says “I see the children and the dog!” and even lifts up the girl’s shirt to look for her belly button.

Clara In Old Navy

This is one of my favorite instagram photos ever, and Clara’s wearing a hand-me-down shirt from the girl who lives next door. I thought the checkers on her shirt looked so cute with John’s checked shirt while they were lying in bed, and I’m so glad I grabbed this shot. Makes me melt. And even though you can’t see the rest of this outfit, since Clara’s hair has yet to grow in and she sometimes gets mistaken for a boy, her pink crocs help to add some girl power. Not because we’re weird about gender stuff and covering her in pink, just because we like to throw strangers a bone so they don’t blush profusely after calling her a boy. And Clara actually says “pink and yellow” when you ask her what her favorite colors are. So those definitely get worked in a fair amount when it comes to her clothes.

Hand Me Down Shirt

So that ends our little Clara clothing rundown. I hope our weird analysis of why/what we buy and how many we get/how much we spend somehow helped folks out there who were wondering! What are your favorite kid clothing stores? Do you have any money-saving tips? Or do you have a magic number of “good outfits” that carry you through the week without making you feel overwhelmed (or making your drawers feel overstuffed)?

Psst – I’m obsessed with this beach house. How pretty is it?! Thanks to the sweet reader who suggested the link. I’ve had the page open for days.

Comments

  2. Lauren Nicole says

    FYI – you’re going to really need to up the number of “good outfits” once you start potty training so be prepared for that. ;)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha thanks! Clara has already peed and pooped on the potty but we have a long way to go! Since cloth diapers are like undies we’re hoping that dresses + cloth dipes might help us go through less outfits, but we have no idea what we’re in for. Haha.

      xo,
      s

    • alex says

      Hey j&s. I just wanted to mention that, while in theory cloth diapers are sort of like undies, they are still absorbant….so, when really potty training, try using just regular panties because they are associated with going to the bathroom and the feeling of having an accident is more easily distinguished. It can be frustrating but ive learned that routine and being repetative are so important. Plus when she goes to day care, she will be part of the whole potty training crowd. Just my little input from what i have experienced.

    • Alice H says

      I also agree with the underwear suggestion. I have potty-trained 3 kids. My older 2 were 2.5 years old and my baby was 21 months when they were peeing/pooping in the potty! And I did underwear only once I decided it was time. (Except at night time, they still got a pull up until 3.) Don’t get me wrong, they have accidents. But I just keep one change of underwear and clothes with us at all times.

    • Megan C says

      We had really good luck with a product called “The Potty Watch” – it played music at 30 min, 60 min or 90 min intervals and reminded our daughter (as well as ourselves) that we should think about “does Cady need to potty?”. After about three months with our potty watch we didn’t need it anymore! It was very low stress and fun – she would dance and say “I DO need to potty!”.

  4. audra says

    I love me some Target!!! I generally will buy my girls clothes one size bigger (and always on sale). That way they can wear the pieces longer, especially if they have the adjustable waist. My girls are 5 years apart, and I saved EVERYTHING from my oldest. It doesn’t hurt that my 2 year old is so tiny, she still fits into 9-12 month stuff, so we’re getting a lot of wear out those peices. I have 2 nieces also, so we trade clothes in a pattern: My oldest passes stuff to my oldest niece (4 years), who passes it to my younger niece (18 months- she’s bigger than my youngest), then back to me. It’s the circle of “clothes” life.

    Reply

  5. Sara says

    I’m obsessed with buying all my son’s clothes at consignment shops – the clothes are always in great shape (the shops around me are very picky with what they will buy and sell in their stores) and it’s a great deal. On facebook, there are “mom’s tag sales” where local moms are buying and selling their own stuff – if you like something, you comment on the picture, and then go meet at like a grocery store parking lot or something and pick it up!

    Reply

  6. Sarah says

    Thanks for the tips. We’re expecting to adopt newborn twins in six weeks, so budgeting will be extra important. Do you guys every thrift for clothes? I was so happy to see lots of great baby and toddler clothes in like-new condition at our Goodwill and Salvation Army last week – Goodwill was $1 an item, and Salvation Army was $3 per bag of baby or toddler clothes.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We love hand ne downs do we definitely love the idea of thrift store finds! Just haven’t been lucky since most of the thrift stores we go to are furniture heavy. Probably just looking in the wrong places. Haha.

      xo,
      s

    • Megan C says

      Thrift stores are great until about the 12 month mark. Thrifted baby clothes tend to be gently used, but toddler stuff that was too roughed up to sell/pass down are what generally ends up at the thrift store.

  7. Stephanie N says

    Sweet, love that last pic too. It looks like John asked her a serious question and she is like, “I don’t know”…

    Do you ever look at the thrift stores for clothing? Or just furniture? Love the little table below!
    :)

    Reply

  8. Susan says

    Such a fun post! I have twin girls and absolutely love the whole “shopping for girls’ clothes” experience. My very best deals, though, are from our local twins’ club consignment sales. You should check it out in your area. The sales are open to the public and are awesome.

    By the way, I share your love of the beach house. Every single room and detail is fabulous!

    Reply

  9. Kerstin says

    I hope the 3 year old lives next DOOR and not next store!
    Or ist that an expression? I’m not a native speaker, so I sometimes don’t get things right ;-)

    Reply

  10. Reenie says

    That last pic of John & Clara is absolutely adorable.

    Clara always looks so cute in her stylish clothes =)

    “I see the children and the dog!” …… love that line. ha!!

    Reply

  13. Lindsay says

    Great tips! This is why I can relate to you guys…you’re so practical & real.

    BTW-that beach house is making me melt. I’m in love with the white furniture on the porch (among other things).

    Happy Friday from Pittsburgh!

    Reply

  14. mariela says

    Love your tips Sherry! How about winter clothes? Do you usually shop the same stores for her? I am expecting my first, so a lot of baby/kid clothes are in my future :)

    Reply

  15. bridget b. says

    thanks for sharing your tips! for our 2 1/2 year old daughter, we usually shop at target, the osh kosh outlet and (thanks to you) old navy for her clothes.

    we usually try to stay under $10-12 for a complete outfit and i always buy one size up so that they start out a little big but she can wear them longer as she grows into them.

    you can literally get t-shirts for $2 and $3 (or less) at osh kosh’s outles clearance racks and target has the cutest/original designs. i like that old navy’s clothes seem very durable and well made.

    we also have a formula that i use for her everyday/ daycare clothes: each season, i start out buying solid colored bottoms in a few go-to colors (usually hot pink, turquoise, khaki, and denim). so for the summer it would be skorts and capri pants, and long pants for the fall/winter. target usually has the best selection/prices for these.

    then i buy patterned cotton shirts and tops that we can mix and match with the pants. so on any given day, we just grab a pair of bottoms and we can always find a color in her shirts to match them.

    during the winter, i buy long sleeved white shirts that she can wear underneath her short-sleeved shirts so we can still get some wear out of them.

    p.s. that beach house is gorgeous! i love the use of primary colors in the hallway and living room.

    Reply

  16. Coleen says

    I get a lot of my kids clothes from big consignment sales. A lot of the sales I’ve tried have been overpriced but I’ve found a few with great prices. We were actually able to get a co-sleeper for $30. My favorite sale for kids clothes is put on twice a year by a moms of multiples group. They tend to have a lot of really nice stuff. I was even able to get a $100 letterman jacket (http://www.upandawayjackets.com/boysletterman.htm) for my 2yo for 7 bucks! The lady who checked me out said it had been hers and it had never been worn! Her in-laws had sent it for her son but it was too small for him.

    Reply

  17. Lu says

    speaking of questions about paint color and whatnot, is the paint color on your book color a “real paint” or is it a bit of digital magic? meaning, if it is a “real paint” could you share the brand/color?

    Reply

  18. Julia says

    I’m going to go out on a limb and say we should expect a bolder cushion swap for the egg chair with that beach house porch inspiration? Just a hunch. ;)

    Reply

  19. Lauren says

    Love this post. I have an 18 mo old boy so I am definitely jealous of the cute dresses you have going on here! Along the same lines as you though, I have found that making his whole wardrobe interchangeable saves time and money. This summer he has mostly rocked cargo shorts (which I believe I got on sale at Target for $5-$7) and cotton polos – and my hubby can just grab one shirt and one pair of shorts and it almost always matches!

    Reply

  20. Debbie says

    awwww…she has mandy hair!! my niece amanda had the thinnest hair. when she was 5 yrs old my brother said that if he could still see her scalp, he wasnt sending her to kindergarten. she did go to kindergarten, but for most of her life, you could see her scalp. in our family whenever we saw a child w/ extremely thin, wispy hair, we’d call it “mandy hair”. i remember at the viewing for her funeral, i overheard someone make note of how thin her hair was & they blamed it on sickness (she was actually murdered at a house party at age 29) & i thought to myself, nope, thats just mandy hair.

    Reply

    • Tonya says

      My girls both had very little hair until they were closer to three. ( I was the same way.) no matter how i dressed them, prople thought they were boys. Now, at seven, my youngest has decent hair. Thin-ish, but not too bad. My oldest, at 11 has the thickest, most beautiful hair. Like, I have to use the big, heavy-duty hair bands to pull it into a ponytail. I must say, I have pretty good hair too. :) So don’t lose hope! Lol! I’m sure your little beauty will sprout some more hair soon. Also, my grandma always said bald babies were a sign of good breeding. :) I have no idea why, but since I come from a long line of people who birth baldies, it sounded good to me.

  21. Nicolas says

    Love the outfits! Our eldest just turned two last week, and our shopping goes pretty much the same way yours does: clearance racks at Target & Old Navy, hand-me-downs, and gifts. It’s the way to go! My question is totally not related to that, though. I just saw that ice cream quote poster on your instagram feed and I’ve gotta know, where the heck did you see that? It’s awesome!
    And I know you’ve heard, er…read this probably 1001 times, but my wife and I love your blog. It’s inspired us to totally redo our home and make it a place we love to be instead of just waiting to sell it and buy a nicer house.

    Reply

  22. Vanessa Gasca says

    I have a 5 year old girl and I love all the same places. I agree that they always have cheap CUTE girl clothes and yes my daughter is small so we have been able to use her clothes for a long period of time. They look adorable in anything! She has a better wardrobe than me! I agree keeping it reasonable is important since they are kids.

    Reply

  23. Melissa says

    One tip that we have from our daughter Claire is that dresses make great tops once they are too short for dresses. Just about all of her summer tops are old dresses from previous seasons so we just have to buy a few pair of shorts and few new dresses and we are done shopping for the summer!

    Reply

    • liz says

      Love that tip too! We also buy a few plain long sleeve tops that can be put under her summer dresses so they’re super winter friendly. My daughter is 5 and still has some 2-3T dresses that she can wear as tops! Love that!

  25. Rhiana says

    I love Clara’s Style! I started shopping at consignment shops and I get very high end clothing very inexpensively. You can also consign some of the items that Clara grows out of that perhaps you don’t love (maybe hand me downs you don’t love?) and get money for new clothes! I find the deals at consignment stores can be even better than sales with coupons!

    Reply

  26. Diana says

    Just one tip ( as my daughter is 4 and a half, been there, done that): dresses can very well act as tops the next year, it only depends on the clearace they give to the arm. There are dresses, size 2T, my daughter has since she was 18 months old, the summer of her 2 and a half they were still OK, and last summer and this summer they acted as tops with shorts or leggings or whatever. Actually, this year I’ve bought only leggings, all the rest was already here. And, in the other sense, she’s wearing a top, size7, as a dress, as we are ” speaking”. What can I say? I’m the cheapest!

    Reply

  27. jennifer says

    Once Upon a Child is our go-to place for kid’s clothes. They have a pretty strict screening process, so everything’s in great shape. Tons of name brand items end up there too, for even cheaper than the sale prices at the store. We’ve even snagged a couple Groupons for $20 of clothes for $10 – that’s a ton of clothes for next to nothing.

    Reply

    • Bethany Annechino says

      One of my first jobs was at Once Upon A Child, and I can verify the insanely strict screening process. I had to turn away things that were ALMOST pristine over and over and over to some very unhappy Moms. “It’ll wash out!” was a common complaint. I’d try to let them down gently with a “Give it a wash yourself and if you can get it out, I will buy it!”

      /ramble

    • Crystal @ 29 Rue House says

      I shop there sometimes too but a lot of the times their stuff isn’t any cheaper than Target. I’ll usually see what I can get new at Target for a comparable price first and then go to Once Upon A Child for more unique/random finds a few times a year. I also like to get toys there – definitely cheaper!

    • Katelyn says

      Ours has a card that’s stamped for every $10 spent and is good for 15% off your total purchase when you turn it in.

    • Nancy says

      LOVE Once Upon A Child. I used to spend $100+ per size between Target, Old Navy and the occasional Carter’s sleepwear. Thanks to Once Upon A Child, I spend an average of $3 per item (tops tend to be cheaper, jeans a bit more) – and twice stuff is from Baby Gap, Old Navy, Children’s Place, Gymboree etc. That puts me at about $30/season for basics. I still hit Old Navy for the pair of cute jeans, or a particularly adorbs t-shirt, but baby resale has been a real budget saver. I’m the cheapest cheap person alive, and spending $100 for clothes that my son could only wear for
      3-6 months was causing me physical pain. :)

      You dress Clara so adorably. She’s the cutest!

  28. Monika says

    We buy most of my son’s clothes at end of season sales. So for example, clothes for this winter I have purchased back in February when last season’s deals were heavily discounted. I find that Kohl’s in a gold mine for this (usually 80% off + 30% coupons they send in the mail + $10 off $50). I think that $8 to $10 an outfit is realistic for summer but not for winter. For my son a typical winter outfit consists of undershirt, sweater, jeans, boots, coat, hat and gloves. And that is way more than $10. I’m sure you find the same for Clara?

    P.S. The beach house you showed is pretty but seems very stark and lacking some warmth. Some darker and warmer tones would help that so much! Is it an inspiration for your future beach home? :)

    Reply

  30. Alex Pieschel says

    Wow, girls have such cuter clothes than boys!! My boys are 3 and 1, and there are definitely tips to be learned when it comes to their wardrobe, great post! Also, now that our 3 year old is out of diapers, he is back into all of his 2T shorts, none of his 3T fit anymore, they are too big! So make sure you do not toss stuff that is a touch snug when they are transitioning from diapers to undies :)

    Reply

  32. Andrea D says

    One kid clothing tip I would file in the ‘wish I knew that before’ category- skip the dresses for baby girls during the time period they are crawling but before walking. I agree that they are perfect for once they are walking, but I bought a bunch for my daughter to fit when she still just crawling, and they would trip her up under her knees!

    Reply

    • Megan C says

      I have a crawler right now and rather than have the knees of all her outfits ruined we put her in a cute onesie, a pair of socks and a matching set of BabyLegs (leg warmers) almost every day! She is warm, can move easily, and the knees of perfectly good outfits aren’t being worn through! Once the babies outgrow the legwarmers they make excellent “sleeves” to go under t-shirts for toddlers during colder weather. LOVE ME some BabyLegs!

  33. Jess @ Little House. Big Heart. says

    Since Kevin and I are aunt/uncle to two beautiful little girls we get the privileged of buying them all kinds of fun and frivolous things.

    We bought them 4 bathing suits each last summer at Kids-R-Us because they were on clearance for $2 each. Emma wasn’t even born yet!

    Reply

  34. Amanda says

    I love posts like these – we don’t have any two-legged kids yet (as opposed to the furry four-legged ones), but I totally need to start a folder or a Pinterest board for all of this info!

    Reply

  35. maribel says

    i wish my boy was a girl…boo!…BTW that beach house, when do you think we can move in, I’ll take the iron bed.LOL

    Reply

  36. Stephanie says

    Clara is so cute! My girls love watching her videos:) Thanks for the link to the Tybee beach house. We took our first family vacation there back in 2008. We have awesome memories from that trip. Highly recommend a trip there. Very laid back, quaint, not commercialized. Then, you also have the beauty of Savannah so close.

    Reply

  38. Tasha says

    Your outfit planning works for adults too (though it can be hard to find women’s clothing even at such amazing stores as those for single digits). Mixing and matching is the best way to have a versatile wardrobe without feeling like you are repeating your outfits. I need to take some of my own advice and start gathering good pieces!

    Reply

  39. Natalie @ barnesdailycircus says

    I LOVE this post! My daughter is approaching the “growing out of all the clothes that we got as baby shower gifts” phase at 16 months and we are starting to buy her clothes. I have found some cute things at thrift stores, but I didn’t even know that H&M sold kid clothes! I’m going to have to check it out! Clara is such a fashionista :)

    Reply

  40. Marlena says

    My mom is generous, so that helps us a lot – but she’s a mega coupon clipper and sale sleuth – she hits up Gap and Tuesday Morning with coupons for clearance days. I head to St. Vinnie’s (like Goodwill), but I honestly get 80% of my clothing from my friends’ consignment sale, Half-Pint Resale (www.halfpintresale.com), which is amazing. Our daughter has preferences, and now refuses to wear pants with a snap or button – so now we focus on dresses, leggins and cardigans, so we can do the same layering of summer dress to fall/winter/spring.

    Reply

  41. SB says

    Your clothing formula for Clara is TOTALLY MY CLOTHING FORMULA. Boring bottoms means an interesting top, or vice versa. I spent my kid-hood in school uniforms, so it’s my adult uniform and ensures I spent zero time agonizing over an outfit in the morning. (Date nights are tricker, though!)

    Thanks for sharing, loved this post!

    Reply

  42. Gina Trexler says

    Clara is so adorable and very stylish. I’d almost bet she’ll be a trend setter when she goes off to school (in a million years) ???

    Reply

  44. Tammy says

    Clara is one of the best dressed little girls I’ve ever seen. I have a little boy (who will be 2 next month!) and his daily outfit during summer have consisted of pair of shorts and a fun t-shirt. Literally every day except Sunday when I can dress him up a bit more for church. So I’m totally envious of the fun you get to have with Clara’s clothing!

    You are so right about sizing though. Our guy is a small fry, so sizing can be so varied for him. He fits just fine in 24 month pajamas, but throw him in a pair of jeans that size and he’s swimming in them. I honestly think we may get away with using his jeans from last winter, when he was barely one, this winter! I’ve found that Children’s Place pants fit him the best, and I love their outfits and sales. There’s an outlet in Rehoboth, and their prices are always so reasonable. They have fun stuff for girls too!

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  45. Suzanne says

    I am surprised you didn’t mention the thrift store! That is where I do the majority of my clothes shopping for my children, I love finding Gymboree or Hanna’s for 50 cents!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I havent had much luck at thrift stores but we love hand me down clothes so we’d love thrifty finds. I’m probably looking at the wrong places! Haha.

      xo,
      s

    • LauraC says

      Our Goodwills here in WA routinely set their kid clothes at $4-$4.50/item, not kidding. I find new stuff cheaper (or $1.00 more) routinely, that’s why I don’t even look there anymore. Super crazy.

  46. katie says

    Great tips! I’d add that having a few long sleeved white (or neutral) tops/onesies really helps us stretch outfits. Last winter my daughter wore a ton of “summer” dresses with leggins and a long sleeve shirt underneath. Totally cute, totally weather appropriate and it was much easier and less expensive to buy a few plain long sleeve t’s than a whole new winter wardrobe.

    Reply

  47. Sandi says

    Has Clara started to have any input on her outfits yet? I don’t have kids and I’m always kind of curious when the personality starts to show there, via refusing a certain item or type of clothing, asking for something specific.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      She definitely requests certain outfits so if they’re clean we put them on. She likes to layer her big poofy dress up tutu over her pjs too. Hilarious.

      xo,
      s

  49. Keisha says

    Ditto consignment sales, they are the best. And aren’t dresses great?? Too bad that doesn’t work for boys. :) I always try to buy things a bit big so they can wear them longer.
    I wanted to say too that some of your ideas work well for adults too. :)

    Reply

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