Children's Clothing

[DLgal]

I have 2 boys, which is admittedly easy when it comes to clothes, but their clothes over the years came from 3 places:

Target
Old Navy/Gap
Costco

They are 14 and 12 now and still that's where all the clothes come from. Thank goodness for this "athleisure" trend and the popularity among their age group of Adidas, because Costco has tons of Adidas activewesr for SUPER cheap. Also, Old Navy and Champion Activewear both hold up VERY well over the years.

 

[shannon104]

Carters, OshKosh, Gymboree and Under Armour usually for my 3 boys. They are hard on clothes, especially the 6 & 8yr olds, if I can i usually will look in Goodwills or Thrift stores before buying new. I've been able to find tons of Under Armour super cheap at Goodwill and just got 4 practically new pairs of Gymboree pants for the 6yr old at $4 each.

 

[pezgirlroy]

Pretty much buy all of my daughters' clothes from Target. Esp. the Cat and Jack line.

 

[BearFamily]

Brands that would last longer than they would fit her:
Carter's (through pre-school)
Hanna Andersson (until upper elementary school)
Kohl's Jumping Beans label - they are my go-to brand every year for shorts that aren't ridiculously short on her!
Tea Collection
Land's End
Garnet Hill

Sometimes Target. Some stuff from there wore great, some wore out pretty quickly. Depends on the actual brand. Old Navy generally didn't stand up to her level of wear.

 

[bcla]

Everything and anything. Often outlet malls, which OshKosh and Carters (I've even seen combined stores) was mentioned. We'll see what we can find at Nike, Under Armour, etc. Discount department stores like Target or WM. Also the kids clothing stores like Gymboree (regular or outlet) or Crazy 8, but always headed for the clearance rack first. And some of the best finds were at department stores like Macy's, although again the clearance rack first. Chidren's Place isn't bad either.

Occasionally we've bought more expensive "designer" stuff (i.e. Polo), but never full price. We'll get those as gifts from family.

I figure why bother spending a small fortune on clothing that a child will grow out of in two years or will tear holes.

There was one specialty children's clothing store called Hartstrings that we liked, even though it was a bit pricey. I remember getting a Ferrari-branded Puma warmup hoodie set for my kid. That was my kid's favorite thing to wear. Unfortunately they shut down.

 

[firefly_ris]

Target

Wal-Mart for leggings, socks, underwear

Children's consignment shop

Carter's / Oshkosh outlet clearance section

I also receive hand me downs from their older cousins

Fortunately my mother supplies 99% of my kids wardrobe, she is very very good at finding deals at Marshall's, Macy's, Penneys, Children's Place etc. I am clothing 3 children and can't afford all of that year after year. They grow out of things quickly so it's difficult for me to justify higher cost clothing.

Clothing that's still in nice shape, or has popular characters, or dressy things, name brand things etc. I sometimes put in groups and sell on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace so I can put that toward new clothing.

 

[barkley]

My one walmart love it their cheap kids' jeans. They are the only pants I can find to stay up on DD, she is so tall and skinny.

Thank goodness for this "athleisure" trend and the popularity among their age group of Adidas, because Costco has tons of Adidas activewesr for SUPER cheap

Wal-Mart for leggings, socks, underwear

another fan of walmart for certain items-their jeans are much cheaper and very durable (i have pairs of my son's from years ago that he outgrew that will last me forever (and when he went through the uber skinny/tall phase they were the best place to get the adjustable waistband style). i also get kids/mens underwear there b/c hanes is hanes is hanes no matter where you buy it.

i am NOT a fan of target's clothing-no matter the brand and despite religiously following washing instructions it just too frequently shrinks (granted, some walmart brands do as well but the bulk don't-i am esp. impressed with their george and no boundaries brands). walmart's stuff is durable as well-we round robin t-shirts between family with some dating back 10 or 12 years, so long as you use a color safe detergent they stay in great shape.


COSTCO-if you buy clothing (actually anything) KEEP THE RECEIPT AND WATCH FOR THE NEXT MONTH'S AD. if you find the price dropped w/in 30 days they will honor it and give you a refund. i stocked up on some of their sweatpants only to see them go on sale the next month for about 20% less so i filled out the on-line form (on-line if you mail order, in store purchases you go to the store) and with 48 hours they had credited my card back the difference).

 

[Kitty 34]

Back in the day.....Sears and JC Penneys.

 

[tcufrog]

Honestly, it depends on what I’m buying. For play clothes I go to Target, Old Navy and Costco. For other stuff I go to Crazy 8, Gymboree, Macy’s and Gap. My older son likes the Karate jeans from Old Navy because they are more flexible than most jeans. For winter coats I use Children’s Place for their 3 in one jackets. Costco usually has the Adidas shorts and pants that are cool among DS11’s friends. He also likes the Champion brand clothes at Target. DS11 is starting to get too tall for kids’ clothes which sucks. He can already wear my size 9 shoes.

 

[wenrob]

What I learned real quick is that it’s insane to spend $50 on a pair of jeans or shirt that a kid will grow out of in 3-6 mos. I buy/bought big and went with moderate prices/decent quality. Oldest DD was Mervyn’s almost exclusively until sadly they shut down. I did a lot of sale shopping at Babies R Us when my younger two were little. I could coordinate them without them being matchy matchy twins. Target has always been mixed in. Cat & Jack is perfect for daycare or if you have a hardcore grandma like I did who sent them home wiped out and filthy.

From about two/three on I’ve gone with Old Navy/Gap on sale for the younger two. They have changed the fit of the boys jeans the last year or two and they’re just really weird now. I moved the boy up to Levi’s this year. It was painful even on sale for a kid who seems to grow in his sleep every night. I buy the thermal/waffle long sleeve shirts every year for both. These have come to be known as their “uniform.” But hey, they’re a decent price and they hold up well. We’re into function over fashion here. As long as they look neat and clean when they leave the house it’s all good.

 

[ols386]

I’ve purchased clothing for my five-year-old grandson at Old Navy, on-line. Their prices seem reasonable, and so far the quality is good.

 

[dotfurio]

Mostly Target, Children's Place, and Kohls. I'd buy Gymboree when I could get it for a good price on clearance. When the kids were little I'd score a bunch of Gymboree clothes for awesome prices at a semi-annual resale event for kids gear. When they're little they grow out of clothes so fast they don't have as much time to wear them out I guess. The older they got the harder it got to find decent stuff second hand.

 

[Floridaman999]

We went with target mostly, or at least until they started to grow a bit slower. No sense spending big bucks on clothes they can only wear for a short period of time due to growth.

 

[design_mom]

Great call on the school vs. weekend clothes. They were definitely dressed a might bit waspy this summer and there's no need for me to press a 2 year old's button down every morning - especially since it was wrinkled the minute he was in a car seat. In my defense, I was new to the thing and now I see I don't need to do all that just for daycare.

I suspect his daycare teachers would appreciate it. Nobody wants to worry that a parent might freak out over the ketchup, fingerpaint, or mud that he might have gotten on his "good clothes." Send him in clothes where you won't cry if they get stained. It's easier for everyone. Save the nicer stuff for weekends.

 

[low-key]

I know when I was a kid, my mom would take me to Sears and we would shop in the Husky Department

 

[Floridaman999]

I know when I was a kid, my mom would take me to Sears and we would shop in the Husky Department

I remember a few years of kindergarten when we visited the Sears Husky department. Thank God I finally grew upward a bit instead of outward by middle school.

 

[MrsPete]

Consignment stores are the way to go:
- Used items cost less.
- Buying used is better for the earth.
- Used items are already washed, so you know they're not going to shrink up after the first use.
- Kids' clothes are used for such a short period of time that it just makes sense to treat them as "temporary" purchases and spend as little as possible on them.

Similarly, sharing used clothing among friends and family just makes sense.

For what it's worth, my kids had essentially nothing new until they were 6-7. SO MUCH cute, cheap stuff is readily available. No regrets at all. Once they started school, they wore uniforms. I bought most things from Lands' End because they'd last for the younger child -- and because at that point Sears replaced worn-out items.

I'm surprised so many people shop at Target for clothing. The last item of clothing I bought from Target was a maternity tee-shirt when I was expecting my now 24-year old. I wore that tee-shirt once and loved it, but when I washed it for the first time, it shrank -- I could never use it again.

 

[firecracker725]

So, looking for opinions on best places to buy children's clothes for cost vs. quality. I'm too cheap to buy all the kids' clothes at Nordstorm's despite their very targeted and adorable advertising and I've been really unhappy with some things from Zullily and Old Navy (although, that may have been the boy). Do any of you parents have any brand loyalty in this regard? I've been very happy with things from Carter's (and love their sales prices!) but I'd love recommendations. We've got some serious winter clothes shopping to do this weekend either in person or online.

We started out with Carter's for my first, but by the time my third came along, the quality had gone down a lot. Now my girls (5, 7, and 10) are confirmed Gap girls with a sprinkling of Justice.

 

[jaiminee krikit]

We had a Carter's outlet we'd occasionally buy stuff from. They sell a line called Child of Mine that is made by Carter's at Wal-Mart, I bought a lot of that, too.
The Children's Place though is where I bought a LOT of clothes. They have nicer clothes and good clothes for getting dirty - and their clearance section online was always awesome. I miss their holiday clothes!

 

[wishesuponastar]

About 15 yrs ago When my girls were in 12 month to 2T I bought their clothes from eBay . No one upthread has mentioned eBay, is that not a source for kids clothing now?