How much do you spend on school clothes?

[momto28weeker+1]

Do you have any consignment shops near you? Once upon a child or plato's closet??? They both have Aero, Abercrombie,hollister, gap, old navy etc. at huge discounts. I have a dd who is going into 5th and wears all of the labels and doesn't mind the consignment shopping. She gets such great name brand things and we do buy some online and in the store too. It saves us so much money.

 

[Hannathy]

totally forgot i have to include shoes!

really appreciating all the viewpoints - thanks!
keep 'em coming!

Well I'm sure she had to have shoes before so it really isn't that different!

 

[rantnnravin]

Well I'm sure she had to have shoes before so it really isn't that different!

My mom always bought her shoes - she loved getting her the saddles, oxfords, and the like...

 

[sookie]

I think you'll find yourself spending much less on regular clothing than you would have on uniforms.

Anyway, about Justice. I think the cutoff on Justice is 6th grade. I know that toward the end of 6th, my daughter and her friends wanted nothing to do with Justice and they all moved on to AE, Aeropostale, etc. That will be short-lived, however, because in 8th grade, they all moved on to Forever 21, H&M, etc.

PLEASE do yourself a favor and sign up for their emails, catalogs, etc. You'll get coupons before you go shopping and save yourself some money!

Oh no.
My daughter is 11 years old and going into 6th. She is so skinny and short. We are still firmly in Justice sizing. She won't turn 12 until just before 7th grade. Will I even be able to find her clothes?! Arg?!

 

[littleelf]

My DD is 10 and just finishing up 5th grade, and is one of the shortest/skinniest in her grade. We were outlet shopping and she wanted to go in the Aeropostale outlet and I didn't think she was big enough, but the XS shirts fit. She's maybe 65 pounds, 4 foot 6inches maybe? We didn't try the shorts, but she just wanted the shirts with the names on them anyway. We got a hoodie and two t-shirts and paid maybe $15-20 total and she's been wearing them constantly.

 

[tasha99]

DS14 got into the career and tech high school. They have to wear business interview clothes one day a week, so we will be buying ties and a sports jacket for the first time, as well as dress shoes. Other than that, I was thinking about $200. Our big budget buster last year was winter gear, but it's all still good, and at least his feet appear to have stopped growing.

 

[dhardawa]

Remember to that when school starts it will be hot, so probably for the first month she will wear her summer clothes. I would buy very little before school. Let her see what the kids are wearing. I never bought a lot at one time. Usually for my DD we would buy only a couple new pieces and then as the year went on buy something when she saw something or if she needed a new shirt for a dance or something.

I totally agree with this. I don't truly "back to school" shop for clothing. My kids have tons of summer clothes and that is what they wear back to school in the fall (which is really still summer).

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I totally agree with this. I don't truly "back to school" shop for clothing. My kids have tons of summer clothes and that is what they wear back to school in the fall (which is really still summer).

Along these same lines, my kids keep reminding me that because it's still hot the school will have a/c on and they actually get very cold in there in summer clothes so make sure you ask your kids. Mine will wear t-shirts, jeans and hoodies so they can take the hoodies off when they go outside, but be warm in the classroom.

 

[MrsPete]

Most 7th grade girls don't wear Justice anymore. They shop at Aeropostale, American Eagle, Hollister. ntil laster fall (late sept/oct) when they start wearing pants to buy those.

My girls are high school, but I'd say that girls tend to fall into two categories: Those who love the stores you mentioned . . . and those who absolutely despise those stores. OP, be sure which category your daughter's in before you buy much!

I like your idea about waiting for fall too. Maybe start her off with a week's worth of anchor pieces and do a little more every other week as she's exposed to different styles?

I was going to say something similar: Buy her a week's worth of jeans and a couple shirts . . . but wait 'til she's been to school a week or so to finish your buying. Don't spend your whole budget, then discover that she didn't know about that "gotta have" item.

Also, don't feel that you need to buy her a whole new wardrobe for school every year. Make use of what she already has, but do check the school's dress code policy -- the only problem you're likely to have is length of shorts.

I think you'll find yourself spending much less on regular clothing than you would have on uniforms.

Oh, no -- uniforms are so much cheaper. With uniforms you don't need a large wardrobe: They can get buy with only a few items. And in a uniform school people are constantly giving /selling used uniforms -- it's super easy to pick up gently used stuff for pennies on the dollar. My two girls wore all Land's End items, and I spent something like $150/year to outfit the two of them. Low price is the #1 reason to go with uniforms.

When they moved to public school, I was dismayed at how much I spent on their clothes -- and at how much faster they wore them out.

Do you have any consignment shops near you? Once upon a child or plato's closet???

Another vote for Plato's Closet - they're the best for jeans! The Plato's Closet near the university has markedly better stuff around Christmas and around the time dorm students are moving out. I figure that's 1) when the college girls need cash, and 2) when they figure out they can't take it all home, and 3) when they realize that the Freshman 15 has hit them and they can't wear their high school jeans anymore.

My mom always bought her shoes - she loved getting her the saddles, oxfords, and the like...

Oh, no, no, no . . . I haven't seen those in public school since I wore them myself so many years ago. Not a single pair. Sperrys, Converse, flip-flops, ballet flats, mocassins, Uggs, Toms.

 

[pigletto]

I really don't find Uniforms save money for us. This is mostly because A) We are allowed to use ONE uniform company and everything but your socks and shoes MUST come from that company. For 9th grade I spent 650 dollars getting all the uniform pieces. And B) She still wears regular clothes after school, on weekends and all summer. So we end up spending just as much as we ever did on every day wear.

Now ds's elementary school is switching to uniforms as well. If they make us use the same company as the high school I will lose my mind.
650 is a lot for dd's uniforms but she has stopped growing and most of it will last her all through high school (though I replace socks, tights, shoes often).

But I am NOT paying that much for a 9 yr old who is going to grow, get grass stains and rips and need new pants, shirts and sweaters every 6 months to a year.

They still haven't told us who the contract is awarded to. We better be able to shop on our own for the pants etc.

Anyway, now that I am done ranting...

I would get only what you absolutely need and have your dd determine what she wants to get after going to school for a few weeks. Prices will come down and she'll have a much better idea of what her friends are wearing.
To some kids that is important.

 

[NemoMOm]

I have 3 boys but I shop at Children's place. We have just moved down South and mostly wear summer clothes in the fall and spring. They just started their monster sale plus emailed me coupons for an additional 20 percent off.

I literally got t-shirts for $3 and shorts for $7, better quality than Target.

They had really cute girl clothes on sale too.

 

[sk!mom]

My mom always bought her shoes - she loved getting her the saddles, oxfords, and the like...

Maybe your mom can now enjoy shopping for Sperrys, Toms, Chucks, and Uggs. my DD doesn't care for Sperrys but they are very popular here. DD wears Toms, oxfords, and cute sandals from anywhere. In winter she loves Uggs and riding boots.

My DD16 is mostly Urban Outfitters, Forever 21, and Miss Me jeans with a few nonbranded things from AE (their jeans and shorts fit well and the tanks last well) or Abercrombie. She dislikes Aeropostale and wouldn't consider Penneys.

Here Justice (Limited Too then) was done after 5th grade and AE, AF, or Hollister was in for Middle School.

I can't really give you a dollar amount as I never have had to buy a whole wardrobe. I always get DD a couple of outfits for the first week of school and then we fill in when she sees something cute for a good price. I would think that by shopping sales you could get 5 jeans/shorts/capris for maybe $100. You should be able to get all the tops for $10 each on sale.
You can do really well with the sales at any of the stores mentioned. If you aren't working right now then just hit up the sale racks every week.

One other thing, If she we'll be changing for PE in the locker room then ditch the little girl undies. In middle school here the girls started wearing VS Pink or Aerie undies. Victoria's Secret is having their sale now. Sign up at VS ...I don't think I've bought DD panties since the first purchase years ago. They constantly send coupons for free panties.

AE has a good reward program too. Sign up for that too.

Edited to add...Northface is the jacket to be worn here. Hoodies are still worn some but Northface is what they want.

 

[MomToOne]

DD12 is entering 7th grade as well this year. I've budgetted about $200 for her fall "wardrobe". She'll probably kick in about $50 of her own money (saved from birthdays, allowance, etc.) to buy extras I don't feel are necessary but she really wants.

While she likes some things from Aero, Holister, American Eagle, Abercrombie and Urban Outfitters, DD is currently obsessed with Forever 21 and Love Culture. Now, their clothing is absolute crud quality-wise, so I don't let her buy tons of stuff there but it's usually where she gets the stuff she absolutely loves. (And I just constantly patch and resew bad seams each week when I see them in the laundry starting to fall apart.) We also get a lot of things at good ole Macys since they carry lots of things that fit her sense of "style".

To make my budget go further, we usually buy only tops at the places I listed above. Jeans and basics like tank tops we just get at Target. I figure most jeans look pretty much alike, so there's no point paying an extra $50 for a pair of jeans with a designer name on them. DD12 is good with that philosophy, although I'm sure I'll start getting resistance on that in another year or two.

I also always buy everything on sale. Even the Target stuff.

As far as shoes go, DD wears mainly Converse. By watching for sales throughout the year, I can usually get her a few of those for around $20-30 a pair.

 

[jenluvs2go2disney]

I would just buy a few things to start. My oldest was in kindergarten this past year. He wouldn't wear jeans in pre-k, so I didn't buy any jeans for him. We start school here August 1st, so the first 2-3 months, they wear summer stuff. However, when he saw all the kids in jeans, he only wanted to wear jeans, so I had to buy new stuff. He wanted what the other kids had. Lesson learned, I bought a couple things on clearance for him, then will let him pick out a few things. He had a bunch of stuff that he wouldn't wear. Now I will try to get my youngest to wear that stuff.

 

[MrsPete]

We have just moved down South and mostly wear summer clothes in the fall and spring.

Yes, short-sleeved shirts are a great buy here. You wear them in the summer "as is", then you wear them in the winter with a cardigan or jacket. It's rare that I want a long-sleeved shirt and a sweater together.