Children's Place or Gymboree?

[mamaLori05]

When my dd (almost 5) was an infant, I liked some CP, but now for her age I think they just look really tacky. I do like some CP for my ds because the colors are not as crazy for boys. I buy some Gymboree clothing for my dd, but even that I feel she is growing out of. I think a lot of their clothing looks babyish. I still buy gymbo stuff for my ds (2).

Our favorite store is Gap. I'd say I buy (and have boughten since birth) 85% of their clothing from Gap. I love the styles they have as well as the quality. All the kids clothing I have from Gap still looks brand new, even several years later. Stains even seem to come out of the clothing easier.

 

[victorandbellasmom]

My daughter's closet has been about 70% gymboree since she was 4 (2005). It's only been in the past year where it's gone down to 40% gymboree, 40% gap and 20% other. She has recently discovered Justice, but I just don't like the quality of clothing in that store. I have yet to make a purchase for her in that store although MIL has. I think I've only bought jeans, shorts and basic t's for my son in the past at TCP. He's outgrown that store so I really don't shop there too much.

 

[lizzyb5280]

I like gymbo stuff, but most of it isn't really in my budget. Got most of DD's stuff for spring/summer at the outlet mall this year. One outfit from gymbo (a tee and knit shorts that were on sale), the rest was from TCP or Osh Kosh. She's tall and proportionally very thin, and the TCP bottoms seem to fit her the best, esp. since they've got the adjustable waist.

I also like a lot of the Okie Dokie stuff from JCPenney.

 

[Melrosgirl]

I prefer Children's Place, based on price alone.

I don't resell my clothes, so I don't bother with which ones hold up their value.

 

[DisneyAndRedSox]

I just recently started going back to gymbo. DD loves the bike shorts and hopefully I can get more today with gymbucks! Plus I got some pj's and a nightgown on clearance and they are SO much better than carter's and TCP. DD loves comfy clothes, so for play clothes I get some Target, a little TCP here and there but I am getting so sick of tacky designs and peace signs. My absolute favorite of all time is Hanna Andersson! The clothes hold up so well, plus they have a great resale value! One of my 'regular moms' just bought enough off me to pay for one of my Sept airline tickets! Plus the way the clothes are cut I can sometimes get 2 seasons out of it (especially summer dresses.) If you shop the sales you can get summer dresses for $19 but you really can see a difference! For dresses I also love the "unshrinkable knit dress" from LLBean. We have gotten a lot of use out of those!

I am no longer shopping at Old Navy, why??? Becase I am sick of seeing DD's butt crack! Even the pj bottoms show her bum! Even have the same problem with gap. I bought DD some ON yoga type pants. They were so low cut in both the front and the back. I got similar pants at Hanna and the rise was at least 1.5 inches higer!

 

[Tiger926]

Wow! I am shocked when parents used the word 'babyish' to describe 5 and 6 year olds. What exactly does that mean? How is a shirt with a flower or a car on it 'babyish'? Certainly everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I don't get this line of thinking at all for little children...? This is exactly why kids make fun of each other. I'm a teacher and it appalls me to hear of how kids react to their peers' clothes. My DD tells me some of the things that the kids in her class say about clothes, and it's ridiculous that a flower or sailboat is 'babyish' at that age. When you are in kindergarten, a flower is age appropriate and is not 'babyish'! I just don't get it at all...

My DD will be 7, and loves Gymboree. It's age appropriate, and that is just fine by me. I don't find most other child retailers to be age appropriate, and by that I mean style of clothes, as well as designs.

Very interesting responses on this thread, Tiger

 

[mollybug2]

I buy my kids (5.5 year old girl and 33 month old boy) 95% Gymboree. I love the way it washes, holds up, and looks. I resell it and often break even or close to on it. I rarely buy it at full price and almost always wait for a clearance sale or coupon, I get things SO cheap there!

 

[katied]

I buy a lot of Gymboree for DS. Some GAP as well. For Gymboree, I tend to buy with coupons from the sale racks, at the time they're handing out Gymbucks. Then, when I redeem the Gymbucks, I buy from the sale racks again. This makes the price much more reasonable.

I just don't like the styles and the way CP holds up as much. Over time, I sure I'll have to shift based on DS's preferences (and soon to arrive DD), but for now, I pick what I like, and that's Gymboree.

On a side note - DS has lots of clothes that are hand me down from a friend. Of those the absolute best in terms of holding up at the GAP items - second, Gymboree. Worst is the CP.

 

[HLDisney]

Wow! I am shocked when parents used the word 'babyish' to describe 5 and 6 year olds. What exactly does that mean? How is a shirt with a flower or a car on it 'babyish'? Certainly everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I don't get this line of thinking at all for little children...? This is exactly why kids make fun of each other. I'm a teacher and it appalls me to hear of how kids react to their peers' clothes. My DD tells me some of the things that the kids in her class say about clothes, and it's ridiculous that a flower or sailboat is 'babyish' at that age. When you are in kindergarten, a flower is age appropriate and is not 'babyish'! I just don't get it at all...

My DD will be 7, and loves Gymboree. It's age appropriate, and that is just fine by me. I don't find most other child retailers to be age appropriate, and by that I mean style of clothes, as well as designs.

Very interesting responses on this thread, Tiger

I love Gymboree stuff for my DD, too, but I will have to say that at age 8, it's getting harder to find stuff for her at Gymboree. She usually doesn't care too much about what she wears but compared to her classmates, the cute little girls or animals on the Gymboree clothes does make her stand out a bit from the rest of her classmates. I will still buy a few of those tops and save them for weekend wear but I won't force her to wear them for school. I will still get Gymbo clothes that are solid colors or maybe stripes or something not too noticeable, though, but those aren't as easy to find in the clearance or sale sections.

I'll be sad when my DD completely outgrows Gymboree, though, as I do like their quality.

The other store I like for buying clothes for my DD is Lands End. I like that their clothes aren't too "grown-up" and yet not too "baby-ish" I can usually find some pretty good deals in their Overstock section.

Helen

 

[Tiger926]

I love Gymboree stuff for my DD, too, but I will have to say that at age 8, it's getting harder to find stuff for her at Gymboree. She usually doesn't care too much about what she wears but compared to her classmates, the cute little girls or animals on the Gymboree clothes does make her stand out a bit from the rest of her classmates. I will still buy a few of those tops and save them for weekend wear but I won't force her to wear them for school. I will still get Gymbo clothes that are solid colors or maybe stripes or something not too noticeable, though, but those aren't as easy to find in the clearance or sale sections.

I'll be sad when my DD completely outgrows Gymboree, though, as I do like their quality.

The other store I like for buying clothes for my DD is Lands End. I like that their clothes aren't too "grown-up" and yet not too "baby-ish" I can usually find some pretty good deals in their Overstock section.

Helen

I am sorry she experiences this...most of what I see on a daily basis is not age appropriate, and this is one of my biggest problem areas. Kids are into fads, and parents allow that, so then they are forced to buy the crap at the stores that sexualizes young girls, and it's a vicious cycle. Then when kids like yours or mine wear a nice age appropriate item, they are made fun of?

I really don't want to hijack this thread, so I'll keep my comments to myself, but this is one area that makes me crazy as a lot of it is allowed and perpetuated by parents. When a mother describes an age appropriate shirt as 'babyish', I don't go any further as I know exactly where the kids are getting their opinions from.

Tiger

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

I don't think flowers in general or sailboats are babyish, but its the gymboree whole matching thing that my DD (6) doesn't like. There are some things from Gymboree she just adores. I bought her the mermaid set last year and she LOVED it. Especially the green dress that had the flipflops and hair bows to match. She wore it so much the color has actually faded from me washing it so much. She received so many compliments on that outfit.

I bought alot of her summer clothes this year from Justice and Childrens Place. There are some things at Justice I won't let her wear because I feel it is too old for her. Childrens Place is having a huge sale at our outlet mall and I got some great deals for her.

We did stop at Gymboree the other day at the mall at DD's request and she looked and walked right back out. She seen the giraffe line and said , no way! And I can't say that I blame her.

 

[labdogs42]

I never liked Gymbo's styles for boys, so I have always been a CP shopper. I also like Target and the Carter's outlet store for basics. I also think Gymbo's stuff is overpriced. All of our CP clothing has held up well while it still fit! I swear my DS grows as soon as I buy him new clothes!

 

[MinnieForMe]

It's Gymboree for me! I love how classic many of their designs are! Although, I have purchased a few items from Children's Place over the years. It's not a store I shop in but I'll look online occasionally.

Why not purchase your favorites from both places? I find Gymboree a bargain when you can shop ahead of time. I purchase a lot for my daughter at the end of the season in a size bigger. If it doesn't bother you to wear last year's styles than that's the way to save money. I find Gymbo is one store that people even buy clothes from season's past.

 

[gandycat]

When my dd was small, I always bought Gymboree b/c she didn't have an opinion and I could resell it for a good price on ebay. Now, she won't wear it and TCP is her absolute favorite store (she likes Justice but I find the styles too much like a preteen would wear, she is 7). She is much more into the skater/cool look now. She thinks Gymobree is too cute, lol.

I'd buy a few nice outfits at Gymboree and the rest at TCP. If you have a TCP outlet near you, you can get really good deals. Off season, things are way cheap, I always buy ahead for the next year. With my 15% off coupon, I got shirts for as little as $1.49. I've never had an issue with how TCP clothes wear but the sizing can be off at times.

Have fun shopping!

 

[arihillfarm]

When my dd was small, I always bought Gymboree b/c she didn't have an opinion and I could resell it for a good price on ebay. Now, she won't wear it and TCP is her absolute favorite store (she likes Justice but I find the styles too much like a preteen would wear, she is 7). She is much more into the skater/cool look now. She thinks Gymobree is too cute, lol.

I'd buy a few nice outfits at Gymboree and the rest at TCP. If you have a TCP outlet near you, you can get really good deals. Off season, things are way cheap, I always buy ahead for the next year. With my 15% off coupon, I got shirts for as little as $1.49. I've never had an issue with how TCP clothes wear but the sizing can be off at times.

Have fun shopping!

I love shopping at our CP outlet store. Jeans and pants for $4.99, tops for $2.99-4.99. Can't beat that and so far their clothes are holding up well to my 9yo DD and almost 2yo DS. Gymboree is fine for the younger kids but my DD doesn't like much of what they carry anymore. Her favorite store is Justice and when at the mall we always have to stop and I cringe everytime we go in there. The clothes are IMO, a little on the trashy side as far as style and cut goes and the quality is even worse than Wal-mart's brand of clothes and costs 5-6x as much. I did break down and get her a couple of tops for Valentine's Day at 80% off (which is where their quality should be priced anyway, IMO) but everything shrunk so much, I should have ordered even larger. I do like Crazy 8's, both their styles and quality (a little more "preppy" and upscale looking, not trashy) and their prices are better than Gymboree.

-Astrid

 

[lovintennessee]

I love Crazy 8 for both my kids. They are owned by Gymboree but have better prices and the Crazy 8 cash makes it worth it for me. Shipping is also $5 no matter how much you buy online.

 

[ceecee]

I always thought Gymboree held up better, I thought CP looked and felt cheap. I loved the Gymbo shorts and DD was hard on clothes. She has been grown out of those stores for a while now so I don't know if the quality is still the same.

 

[Fall1]

I love Gymboree for my DD, but TCP and Gap for my DS.

 

[dclfun]

Grandma here- one of my indulgences is buying for my grandchildren. I have three, ages 2 1/2, 9 months, and 3 months. I buy almost exclusively Gymbo as I love the coordinating pieces and the quality of the clothing. Stains always come out and the clothing looks new after many washings. My oldest daughter ( with the 9 month old) buys from Gap also and my youngest daughter ( with the 2 1/2 and baby) buys from TCP- mostly the cargo shorts which I also love and have purchased for DGS- they hold up really well and basic khaki and navy go with lots of t-shirts and polos. I find if I shop with a coupon or during the COF sales,AND buy the sale items, the prices are really reasonable. I just spent my $125 Gymbucks online yesterday and got two full outfits each plus some extra mix/match pieces. When they get older though, I'm open to shopping at other places. For now, Gymbo and Janie and Jack are my favorites- Kathy

 

[KELLY]

Well we are off to TCP tonight. Thanks for all the resonses. My dd almost 5 said she perfered TCP clothes. I showed her them both gymboree and TCP online. Yes I let her choose her own clothes as long as there age appropriate. I do like to cordinate and TCP has alot of the same styles for BG as KG so I'm happy with that.

I think the prices on some things will be about the same. I don't resell there clothes so that is not the issue. I never had a problem with TCP clothes in the wash. My dd likes Justice also but for some reason we have trouble in the wash with them.