OT-Where do you buy cute, inexpensive clothes for 2yr old girl

[mamalle]

I have to agree about the disney store. All my kiddos PJ's are from there and some of their clothing. you cant beat their deals. I will on occasion hit gymboree but have found certain sellers on ebay sell their stuff brand new much cheeper. I rarely go in there now that the kids are older. Its great for baby clothes..

 

[CLEO Z]

I like the Okie-Dokie brand separates at JCPenney's. You can normally find them on sale for about $4 each. They are great for playing in the backyard and wash well. I also like their cut because soooo many of the toddler clothes for girls are cut too wide and short. My DD has always needed longer, slimmer clothing and the "slim" fit clothes don't start until kids size 4. I HATE IT when her pants/shorts are always falling down because they are too big in the waste and too short in the crotch! I've had better experiences with JCPenney's and Target than anywhere else for summer clothes. Target has GREAT little denim shorts! For jeans, we like Children's Place and the Gap.

Watch out for the consignment sales. Sometimes you get a bargain, but other times people are paying $3-$4 for a Walmart/Target/KMart brand that origninally cost $4-$5. I'd rather pay an extra $1 and get a brand new shirt. Know your brands. I find that the best deals at consignments are for the better brand names.

 

[Maureenmouse]

I understand what you mean about trashy looking clothing. Everything seems too tight, skimpy or short even for the toddlers. I like the mix and match items at Wal Mart as well as Target. They still look presentable. I love Gymboree, but leave those outfits for my MIL to buy. They are rather expensive. If you have a Belks near you, J Khaki clothing are reasonable , always on sale and really cute. They have lots of cotton dresses that are adorable for about $12. Also, Kaufmanns and Hecht's carry Just Friend clothing much like the J Khaki. My girls have lots of dresses and skorts from this brand. They make nice school clothes for my 5 yo DD ande they last too, so my 2 YO DD gets to wear them next.

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

I have the same problem. Bella is 20 months. Our Babies R Us goes up to 36 months and had some pretty cute stuff yesterday. I used to be a Gymboree junkie but gave that up the first time Bella came home from daycare with grass stains and red fruit juice all over on her Lemony Fresh outfit (thank GOD for the Chlorox Bleach Pen!!!). Plus, their stuff has been pretty flowery and pastel lately. I just spent about $75 at The Children's Place sale buying scooters, t-shirts, polos and leggings all in mix-and-match.

On the other side, we keep her Hanna Andersson outfits for the weekend when I can monitor her activities. She loves their stuff...it's all colorful and bright (but very expensive. That's good stuff to buy on eBay, and I can usually resell it for more than half the purchasing price).

 

[crazymomof4]

since she's now sizing a 2T or higher the clothes have gone from cute and innocent to....sexy toddler! Now, I am far from being a prude, but at what point does it stop?

I feel the same way. Sorry, but it only gets worse. For next winter, I am buying sz 5 for my DD (now 4 yo). I see a BIG difference between the styles of 4T and the sz 5 clothing. I am all about gingham. seersucker, smocking, eyelet and lace. (first girl after 3 boys, you can bet I'm sick of denim!) I know there will come a time where she will have a lot more input into her clothing styles but while she is still a little girl, I would like to still dress her like a little girl! It is getting progressively more difficult to do so. I was just telling my DH about this dilemma. Later, we were in a dept store and I took him into the girl's sz 4-14 clothing dept and said, "Look, 90% of these clothes look like shrunk down street walker clothes!"

So here is what I do: I go in the girls dept at every store I visit and check to see what they have. I might only find 1 or 2 "cute" items but I buy them. Over time, checking at many stores, I accumulate enough to make up a decent wardrobe for her. I find some things at Boscov's, some at Kohl's, and some at Target. Sears has Land's End stuff and when that stuff gets marked down, I grab it. I also check the clearance sales at the end of the season at Strawbridges, Macy's, JC Penney, Gymboree, The Children's Place (just hit the $1.99 sale at the outlet in Philadelphia!!!) and Gap Kids.

 

[Goofy22]

OLD Navy has some of the cutest lil girl clothes I wish my DD10 could still get those! And there clearance racks boy can you make a clean sweep! I also love JCPENNY's kids clothes! Children's place too! and TJMAXX or ROSS.
Mt favorite by far is OLD NAVY CLEARANCE RACKS! JCPENNY also has great sales at the end of the seasons!

 

[marcyinPA]

I have 2 ds's, so we don't really have the "sexy kid" issue with clothing, but I do have friends with girls so I witness their struggle when I shop with them.

For my kids, though, I love Kohl's (great clearance sales!), Old Navy (again, clearance!), Gap (you guessed it, clearance rack!), Gymboree (for the little one, and only sometimes I get lucky!) And EBAY!! I've purchased some great lots on ebay for a little bit of money. Some of the pieces had to go to goodwill, but the salvageable stuff was worth what I paid! I also shop Target quite a bit...I think of all the discount dept. stores, their clothing is the best made and the most in style. Can't forget the Children's Place...I just cleaned up there during the spring sale!! Tons of stuff for little $$!!Twice a year, we hit the outlets in Reading and Tannersville PA for Gap, Healthtex, Carters, and Nike.

I never ever buy anything full price *unless it is like a 3.99 knit shirt or shorts*.

 

[Alice28]

Lately I'm all about the Lands End clearance racks at Sears; they don't carry toddler stuff, buI have gotten crazy deals on little boy stuff- $3 long sleeved shirt & turtlenecks; $6 jeans. I love their stuff so much I will pay full price thru the catalog- their girl stuff is so cute- so glad I have one to buy for now! You can't beat the quality.

Also love Gymboree, but only 50% off or more of original price. I'm dying over the French market line they have right now; can't wait for it to go on sale to buy some stuff for Molly for next year (she has 3/6 month size coming out the wa-zoo for this summer!).

Am also a big Gap and Old Navy fan, but again Gap clearance racks...Old Navy is decent enough prices to get either full price or on their sales.

If you LOVE Gap and Old Navy, consider getting the credit card. My best friend is a manager with ON and she finally talked me into the store cards (I hate store credit cards). But they mail you coupons for Old Navy AND Gap (and Banana Republic) you can use the card at both ON, Gap, and the outket stores & you earn $10 back for every $200 spent, and you can redeem it at Gap too; not just ON.

 

[Kayleebug]

Do you have a Sam's club where you live? I have found very cute (and innocent) capri pants sets there this Spring for $11-$12.

 

[jjbblue99]

I totally vote for WalMart. I love to buy Gymboree stuff (mostly via Ebay) for my daughter but I always supplement her wardrobe with a trip to WalMart. They really do have some adorable outfits. I bought a really cute Pooh Outfit and adorable mix and match shorts, jumpers and tshirts -- extremely inexpensive. I always surprise my more "snobby" friends when they compliment her outfit and I get to say "Thanks! $9.99 at Walmart!"

 

[madisonsmom]

FYI... Sears also has a program that is free to sign up for, that if the children's clothing you buy wears out before your kids out grow it they will replace it free of charge. A girlfriend of mine really utilizes this with her kids, so even though they can get rough with their clothing, it is replaced with a new item and she has never been denied(that I know of).

My personal favorite...clearance anywhere!!! I always buy off season, I do not think that I have ever paid more than $8-9 an item for my daughters clothes and usually pay less than $5.00 and she is always dressed nice. I frequent Target, Old Navy, Gap, Childrens Place, Penneys, Kohls, TJ Maxx, Marshalls and Ross. I try to hit up Dillards and other dept stores but usually don't make it there. Also, we have Hamricks down here in SC and they have some really good deals on Heartstrings, and other nice clothesmakers for children. I have really found the older my DD gets the harder it is for me to find "good" consignment stuff. Used to love it when she was a baby/toddler, I could find so many new things for used prices.

 

[minnie1928]

I visited a few websites today that were in the list of stores you have mentioned. Children's Place looks pretty good. I also decided to drive to the outlet malls in Lancaster, PA (about 30 minutes east of here) and hit the Gap/Old Navy outlet. I did well there last year around this time. Someone else mentioned TJ Maxx, we have one on the other side of town that I completely forgot about! I have to take my dad to a dr. appointment on that end of town tomorrow, so we may have to swing in there too!

Thanks to everyone for their help! Now I know I'm not alone in my frustration for "cute" clothing. I never had this problem with my DS (6), his problem was finding clothes period! It seemed that for every 5 racks of girls clothing, there was 1 rack of boys! Thankfully he's not very picky and I can get his clothes at end of season sales and do very well.

Thanks again!

 

[D L and K's Mom]

We like....
The Children's Place....check out website and stores they have GREAT sales. Sign up for email and you WILL get coupons.
Priceless Kids. This just may be a local store I am not sure if it is a chain.....just got 3 disney outfits (pooh shirt and shorts, Nemo shirt and shorts and tinkerbell shirt and shorts) the outfits were 2 for $10.00.
I LOVELOVELOVE hannah Anderson. They are pricey but I LOVE THE CLOTHES. I bought DD a dress there that she now wears with leggings for a shirt. CUTE I love the european look 100% cotton.
H & M is another of our favorite stores.

I agree with you about the "older looking" clothing for the younger girls. I also have a 13 year old DD and I thank God she is a tomboy. I hate some of the popular looks for girl's. Some are cute but quite a few I think are inappropriate and I am not a prude. DH and I are both teachers , I only have first graders and they wear uniforms so I dont get to see anything bad but he is in the high school and he sees it all!!!!

 

[~Kathie]

Ahhhhh - some great memories!! The only time I stayed away from that place was the 2 weeks before Easter - you couldn't move in that place - or find a spot in their HUGE parking lot!

Oh me too!!! Those 2 weeks were insane. I used to find great boy clothes there........and NO ONE had boy clothes.

Did you ever go to the HealthTex warehouse sales in the late 80's in RI - when Health Tex would take over a mill or warehouse for a week and sell everything for like $.50 - $3.00? I lived for those!

I never did get to one of those sales. I was lucky that my MIL made dress up clothes for my son. Little jackets and pants and ties. Very cute!!

I do shop at the outlet stores for my grandson. Sure are a lot more great clothes for girls than for boys. Guess some things never change.

 

[Dutchmom23]

My favorite places: Gymboree=picking through sales racks, especially when I could coordinate both dds outfits. Kohl's has great prices and sales, as well. I love dept. stores, too, they always have clearance racks, and %off sales at beginning of season.

I am not a fan of outlet malls because I can get comparable sales locally without driving 45 min. to closest outlet mall negating my savings,

 

[eeyore kelly]

Children;s place has little mulipiles 3 for 415. Elastic waist shorts, tanks and shirts. The toddler girls are so cute, because they have ruffles

 

[snugglepeas]

I work at Kohl's and we just had alot of summer clothes go clearance last week, lot's of cute shorts and tops if you have a Kohl's near by I would check it out.

 

[welovedis]

I didn't get thru the whole thread, but I recommend Children's Place also. Right now they are having a nice sale in their outlet:
Children Place Little Girls Outlet

Plus shipping is a flat $5 per order.
There are couple of different codes you can try also:
$10 off $30 purchase NEM35
15% off when you spend up to $100 SMT45
20% off when you spend over $100 SMT245

Good Luck!

 

[jeepgirl30]

Gymboree has amazing sales and the quality is amazing. The outfits are usually very sweet.

My other favorite is Kohls.

I am not a fan of Once Upon a Child. I find I can get just as good of prices at Kohls for brand new if its a sale.