How do you feel about 'Hand-me-down' clothes?

[KimRaye]

I am going to my DAunt's Monday morning, she has 2 older teen girls (my cousins). My SIL, and 2 other cousins are also invited for breakfast & clothes-giving-away party (so to speak). Between SIL, 2 cousins and myself, we have 6 DD's among us! They range from almost 6 to almost 1yo. (See a fight breaking out?!) Anyway, I was just wondering, would some of you even GO?? I have NO problem with 'seconds', my DD has already been beneficiary from yet another cousin's DD's hand-me-downs. However, out of the 4 of us going Monday, I KNOW 2 of us don't NEED to be there, if you know what I mean. This is NOT deragotory, it's just a fact. (We ALL came from the SAME humble beginnings, some of us are just still there) We are ALL going to help DAunt clean out her attic. She has ALL her DD's clothes packed in boxes, from infant through almost teen years. And, this Aunt ONLY shopped Marshall Field's and Better!!

Without getting any more specific about recent developments of 2 of the 'don't need to be there' attendees Monday, all I'll say is that I'm happy to be invited!! Heck, I've got a 'list' in my mind already!!

So, yes or no to 'hand-me-downs'??

 

[tiggerlover]

I love hand me downs for my DS, but I am particular about what I take. I also love to shop the better consignment shops, sometimes you can find some really great deals. Sometimes kids only wear clothes for such a short time and then they grow, that happens to us a lot in our house (DH is 6'4" and DS is always growing out of his pants!) So if in good condition hand me downs are great.

I would go and have lots of fun "shopping".

 

[mamajoan]

Hey there late night girls!!

My kids are getting a little too old/too large.. (15 y/o ds is 6'2 and over 200#) for the hand me down stage.. but when they were younger than 8-9 I loved having the option of the hand me down stuff.. It allowed my kids to have more stuff to choose from. Youngest DD12... still loves having handmedowns.. from older sis and my friends teen dd.. actually 12y/o loves even having her BROTHERS hand-me-down shirts.. she is so proud to sleep in brothers old t-shirts... gotta love her.

 

[DocRafiki]

I've lived on hand-me-downs, thrift shops, and outlets. Still do. Here's the shocker... I guess I was good at putting them together because a few people from high school told me they thought my family must be pretty wealthy, the way I dressed. HA!

Anyway, are you one of the ones who doesn't NEED to be there? If so, I would avoid it. If not, go claim your share!

 

[KimRaye]

Oh No, DocR, I need & WANT to be there!! I've only got the one DD, no other children planned so, hand me downs play a BIG part for me! I'll be 'claiming my share', as you say!

 

[Cindy B]

this is the first year I have ever had to buy anything for my daughter and she is now 5 years old.


Yes, I would go in a heartbeat. I, Like Doc Rafiki, lived on consignments stores, thrift shops, and hand me downs all my life literally.

I am grateful for anything that I get for my son or daughter. Sometimes its not the best fit or whatever, and it goes to someone else in church or whatever.

Yeah, I know what you mean about people not needing to be there. There is a clothing exchange spot in my town ( a prettty wealthy town), and there are people that show up there in the new import cars, (think German imports, and I'm not talking Volkswagon) .. and take multiple bags of things.

I think in my head, come on people. But again I don't know thier situation. Maybe they are so in debt with the fancy car they can't afford anything else.

Anyway, just stake your claim, and have fun!

 

[janette]

When my girls were smaller I found lots of clothes at garage sales. Now I just shop the bargain bins.

They do tend to have too many clothes but I have several neices that can wear them after they do. I'm always passing down clothes to the younger ones.

 

[Serena]

My girls wore them all the time when they were little, especially for play clothes.

 

[believe]

DDs wear hand-me downs. My niece is one year and 6 days older than DD#1. Her Mom is a clothes-a-holic....needless to say DDs have more clothes than they could ever want. I do buy them 'their own' clothes for picture day at school, birthday and holidays. Once I am finished with the clothes, they go back to my sister and she puts them in a yard sale. I could never buy my girls the clothes and shoes they have now. I am so thankful for my sister.

 

[mamajoan]

I forgot to add .. that I think of hand me downs as the ULTIMATE in Recycling! good for you, good for the enviroment... so I guess it is AOK in my little book for anybody regardless of need to "recycle with hand-me-downs"...

My favorite type is when schools have Uniform swaps. My kids have not attended these schools, but have many friends who have... seems to work out really well for lots of people..Swap on!!

 

[addicted_to_WDW]

The only hand me downs I like to receive are play clothes and heavy winter clothes. I have only one child and absolutely love shopping for him. I'd be disappointed if I couldn't go shopping at the beginning of each season. I'm by no means well off, but keeping my son well dressed is something I enjoy.

We do have a neighbor who gives us sweats and such as her son grows out of them, and they really come in handy in the winter time.

I hand DS' clothes down to another neighbor who has two younger boys.

 

[Jeafl]

Strangely enough, none of my kids have ever worn hand me downs. There has never been anyone older or bigger than them to give us anything! Even my younger daughter has never worn anything from her older sister, because my older DD was always very tall for her age, and the younger DD is very petite. Also, since they are almost 7 years apart, styles change by the time younger DD fits into them.

On the other hand, I almost always give my kids outgrown clothes away. I used to take them to a resale shop, but after getting 25c for OshKosh shirts and $3.00 for $70 Christmas dresses that were only worn once, it wasn't worth the aggravation. I give tons of stuff to the Department of Children and Family Services or a women's shelter in a nearby town. I actually saw 2 little girls wearing my daughter's old Christmas dresses at a party at the shelter. It thrilled me more to see those girls enjoying them than getting ANY money at the resale shop!

 

[aprincessmom]

I love hand-me-downs and DD does too! My friends and I still do this, cleaning out closets and asking if anyone "wants that suit I only wore once and decided I didn't like it on me". And DD loves getting clothes from older cousins and neighbors, especially those who are now teenagers!

I have very few things I need to buy this year because of it. Heck, if those two don't want to go, call me! I'll come shopping in her attic.

 

[catsrule]

yes to freebies!

 

[kinlaw6450]

I wish I could get hand-me-downs. My kids are the ones that hand down their clothes. All the cousins are younger But My neice looks really nice in DD clothes...

 

[Jenn Lynn]

MIL is a garge sale nut! She buys all kinds of clothes for DD, but she is very picky about waht she takes. My DH cousin has 3 little girls and they live in a neighborhood with 100+ kids. The Moms take all of the outgrown clothes and pass them around the neighborhood. It is $1/item/outfit. MIL gets lots of clothes for DD there.

I do have to say that a lot of the stuff she picks out is not my style, but they are good play clothes. Plus it makes MIL happy to see DD wearing the clothes she picked out. I try to dress her in one of the outfits when we visit.

 

[Buckalew]

I buy my niece's clothes from my sister. She gives me a great deal on Jen's clothing and we wear almost hand me downs exclusively. My sister likes to shop and she is very good at it too.
I'm betting that nobody knows Hunter wears "used" clothes. They probably think I'm a compulsive shopper!! LOL Hunter will wear anything I lay out for her cutsy or stylish--doesn't matter to her at this age (8yo) so I take full advantage of it!

 

[MerryPoppins]

I never had anyone to hand down to my kids, but I've always loved consignment sales. If you are careful what you buy, they often look good as new and you get so much more for your money. I love for my kids to look cute and people have always asked me where I get their clothes. Unfortunately, as they get older it's harder and harder to get secondhand finds in their sizes.

 

[Robin]

My DD is the last wave of little girls in the family... she is four now and I have second cousins that are yearly stair steps for 5 years before her. By the time we got to get the hand me downs most things had gone through 2-3 little girls.. I wouldn't have used some of the things as dish rags.

After I got used to buying all new stuff for Caitlyn my cousins started having baby girls again... so I hand all of Cait's stuff down. I don't buy anything unless it's on clearance... at least 75% off

 

[Kallison]

My youngest DD is 8 and has gotten the most hand me downs. One of my friends from h.s. has an older dd, she brings her years worth of clothes every summer to my house. Her "NaNa" almost exclusively buys her clothes and they are gorgeous. If there is something I don't like, I just pack it on up and forward to Goodwill. I have two older DS's which I give to this same friend for her younger son. Unfortunately my boys usually have their clothes too trashed, but she does get some nice Sunday School clothes, snow suits and boots. I get the better end of the deal! I've hardly spent any money on outfitting my DD. I do buy some new, just because it's fun to shop and she is getting pickier about what she wants to wear.