What does your kindergartner wear?

[delmar411]

while I'm glad that both my girls have to wear uniforms so I don't have to figure outfits each morning, labels are still a major issue here. Esp for my older DD. This year her tops *had* to be aeropostale. Which ended up to be just fine as we got them for $7 each on sale but she also wanted the khakis as well which just wasn't happening at $25/pair!

It's annoying as the whole point of them switching to uniforms was to take away the distraction of who was wearing what brands!

Thankfully younger DD is happy as long as her polos look girly and her hair is done up pretty.

 

[1stvisit0909]

We have uniforms too. I love it. No fuss, no muss. DD8 is in school, this is her 3rd year with uniforms. She doesn't like the pants though (and they are hard to fit!), so she wears mostly skorts and jumpers. Makes her happy.

Dd4 is starts 4K on monday, but she goes to a no-frills place...so they wear what they want. And DD4, for some reason, doesn't care what it looks like as long as its A DRESS. IT MUST be a dress. So she can twirl. She has to wear shorts under them....but she MUST have a dress. Its really funny. In K next year i'm sure she'll be another skort/jumper girl.

 

[2bearsmom]

I'm thinking I'm glad I have boys! My almost 8yr old is starting 2nd grade soon. He still doesn't say too much about what I pick out for him to wear. In K and 1st grade I would lay out his clothes the night before for him. Sometimes he'd say I don't want to wear that, why can't I wear my Transformers or Star Wars or whatever shirt and we'd just change it. But as far as a certain style or brand we aren't into that. He does have a ton of different polo style shirts though (Children's Place had them for $3.99 each and I got a bunch at Target) and a few character. I normally shop Target, Kohls and Childrens Place or Gap for him on clearance. He also likes to wear more sports outfits, Reebok or Nike shirt and shorts sets that I get cheap at TJ Maxx. Plus those last him like 2yrs. So far no one at school says anything about clothing, maybe the girls do though. There are boys that tell him they are better than because they have more Star Wars toys or Transformers or because of this and that and I'm so sick of hearing about that. I do wish our school had uniforms.

My 4yr old however may be the brand/style kid. Last summer I bought him a pair of Skechers for $2.99 (they were marked $12.99 but rang up cheaper!)at Kohls, because they were so cheap and he could use a new pair of tennis shoes come fall, not because they were Skechers. I get home and tell him I got him a new pair of shoes, he takes one look and yells yeah, you got me Skechers!! I didn't even know he knew what they were. He is Skechers obsessed now. Back to school shopping for his brother he is heartbroken he doesn't get to get new clothes (he never will thanks to the hand me downs) school supplies and shoes. So my dh broke down and bought them each a pair of Skechers and he wanted the little skater style with the skulls on them. He shows me at the store what clothes he wants for K next year and it's all the skater type clothing. He's also the one that had a fit this spring when I put overall shorts on him. He was screaming and crying for me to take them off and getting very frustrated when he couldn't undo them to take them off. He kept saying how he looked like a baby and he would not wear them! I don't know what I'm going to do with that one! And he threw all his character underwear in the trash today. I bought him new regular white ones (because of the great price) yesterday and told him to put those away. I watch him take out all the character ones to the trash, he says he will only wear the the plain no character ones because his brother does.

 

[brymolmom]

I'm a big proponent of school uniforms for ALL schools...not that it would ever happen.

That being said, dd is going into 1st grade. She does care about what she wears, but not about name brands at all. Sometimes she just wants to wear a dress, sometimes her capri-outfits (her favorite was purchased at Walmart) - but it has bright colors and the set matches - which is really what she wants.

Just tread carefully on this topic - a word of warning. After seeing my sister's older teen kids - I want to start my kids NOW caring more about looking nice (clean clothes, go together in some way) and less about name brands. In a few years, if they only want specific brands - that could end up costing a lot more than size 5-6 clothes are going to cost now. Just be sure you're willing to follow it up down the road. I am NOT, at least not until they are old enough to contribute their own hard-earned money toward it.

I get DD a HUGE mixture of clothing....some hand me downs, some garage sales, some walmart and target, some sales at childrens place. She has a small handful of 'nicer'/more fashionable outfits and then she has some jeans plus a lot of shirts that can be paired with them, etc.

One thing I find difficult about Kindergarten is that since she has gym 3 days a week and needs sneakers and has art one other day so I don't want her to wear her 'nicer' things AND they try to go out on the playground on nice days in fall/spring...So I have a very difficult time finding good days for her to even wear many of her skirts or dresses.

 

[HelenePA]

I

Just tread carefully on this topic - a word of warning. After seeing my sister's older teen kids - I want to start my kids NOW caring more about looking nice (clean clothes, go together in some way) and less about name brands. In a few years, if they only want specific brands - that could end up costing a lot more than size 5-6 clothes are going to cost now. Just be sure you're willing to follow it up down the road. I am NOT, at least not until they are old enough to contribute their own hard-earned money toward it.
.

I wear mostly name brands and it really doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. With sales coupons buying off season I can get stuff just as cheap at gap or outlets (god I love outlet stores) as I can at walmart, kmart, target (nearest one is almost 2hours away ) I live in the middle of 3 major outlet malls.. I pay retail price for nothing

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

I did my 90 hours observation with a kindergarten last semester, this semester I am student teaching with the same kindergarten teacher. Those kids were dressed nicer than me!!!!! lol!

Trying to think, not much disney store stuff One little girl was really into Hannah Montana so she had some shirts with that.

I noticed Children's Place, Old Navy, Gap, Osh Kosh, Carters (we have an Osh Kosh and Carter's Outlet in town).

It seems like even kindergartners are trying to "dress a little older" I guess.

Jeans and skirt, jumpers....(I don't know when I was little it was stretch pants haha).

The big thing here is Uggs when winter rolls around, my eyes would bug out when one little girl would come in with a different pair everyday. I could only afford 1 pair and this will be my 3rd winter with them (they still look great! )

Good Luck!

 

[hmcfall711]

As a kindergarten teacher we ALWAYS tell our parents jeans and t-shirt and always tennis shoes. Think play clothes.

You will always have some that wear "nicer" ie. more expensive clothes, but the fact is by the simple nature of kindergarten we tend to get messy. There are times when they get marker, paint, food, dirt, etc. etc. on them.

I don't see why you would pay $30 for a t-shirt just to get it messy and stained. Some do but it is a waste.

If other student says something about what your child is wearing and she is worried about it, tell the teacher. Every school has an anti-bullying policy and that would qualify as bullying if it happend regularly.

Also, unfortunately sometimes the teacher is the first person to tell them that you should not measure a person by what they wear or own. Some little ones come to me already judging others (for any number of reason) because that is what has been modeled for them at home. It gives us a chance to sit down and talk about seeing people for who they are and NOT what they wear or own.

 

[flipflopmom]

I'm a K teacher. Lots of t-shirts with designs everywhere, (butterflies, sparkles, WILD!) skorts are great at their age, I don't have to worry about their panties shining when we're in the floor or on the playground. LOTS OF PINK! Thankfully, my girls are still looking like little girls!

 

[VanessasMom]

My dd is going into K this year too. She will be at the same school she went to Pre-K. The kids there don't seem to care what each other is wearing. It is a very small school--95 kids from pre-k up to 6th grade. They are more like a family.

That being said, my dd doesn't know anything about brands. I buy her clothes without her and she is happy to have what I get her. I like her to be dressed cute though. I buy most of her clothes at The Children's Place because we have an outlet and I can get stuff for $3-$7/piece on sale. I also buy her 2 or 3 playdresses from hanna andersson when they have their $19 dress sale. She LOVES those and uses them for years--first as a dress, then as a top. If I could afford it, I'd buy all hanna andersson clothes for her because they are so soft and durable. Then, I fill in with Gymboree and Nautica when the outlets have sales. I usually buy her clothes the year before on clearance. Great deals at great stores.

 

[clutter]

I'm going to be kind of the odd one out.

First, are these the same girls that were in pre-school, or will this be a different set of girls?

If this is a different group, there may not be as many of them as there were in pre-school, so this may be a non-event. Really.

The biggest offense to the fashionistas is wearing the wrong stuff. You can sometimes get away with not wearing the right stuff, as long as it's not the wrong stuff. Think anything from TCP or Target.

So your dd could probably get away with wearing something fairly generic for the first few days until you figure out what's going on.

However, count your blessings because not being friends with the fashionistas is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[monorailsilver]

For my kids when they were in Kindy I did alot of shopping at The Childrens Place outlet (there is one 10 min from me). I also shopped Target, Walmart, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Kohls, etc....

So far I have had 2 kids go thru Kindy & one will be starting in 2 years. I have had no issues with them wearing the above clothes.

I am thankful I didn't buy very expensive clothes since it was a given that they'd come home full of pencil, marker, paint, glue, food, etc....

I have just started shopping at Justice for my soon to be 3rd grade dd but I will only buy if on sale there. But she will still wear TCP, Target, Walmart as do most of her friends.

My ds is going in to 1st grade & mainly he will still wear TCP since they are cheap & he is well a boy who wipes on his shirt.

Heck even my dd is a slob too & comes home with marker on her brand new clothes.

 

[ktlm]

Honestly my kids dont care what they wear

You are so lucky! My 3 1/2 year old (strong and stubborn personality and apparently going on 13) is extremely picky about what she wears and has been since she was old enough to voice an opinion. If she doesn't think it is "pretty", she will not wear it. Also, she wants to pick out what she is wearing for the day and will not just wear what you tell her to wear without a huge fight unless she happens to agree with your opinion. I learned the easiest way to avoid a fight is to pull out 3 outfits in the morning and tell her to pick one- that way I get a say in it but still avoid a fight. Starting sometime last winter she decided she only wears dresses (don't ask me where she got that- I never wear dresses- Disney princess syndrome maybe?). We have a closet full of last years winter pants barely worn and this years spring and summer pants and shorts outfits that she absolutely would not put on. Luckily skorts and a shirt qualify as a "dress" to her. She could care less about brands and I hope that doesn't change. It doesn't help me much pricewise because we have problems fitting her in clothes and Gymboree is about the only brand she can wear (and thanks to this thread hopefully crazy8). I worry a little about her not fitting in at preschool this fall because she won't wear jeans and t-shirts. She has hated jeans since she was a baby.

 

[horseshowmom]

I haven't read through this whole thread, but wanted to mention something I saw this morning that amazed me!

My daughter graduated with her B.S. in May, and the company we got her graduation invitations from sent me an email about class rings. I clicked on the site and saw that among other things they had Kindergarten class rings (priced from $100 to $300! ).

I really do think I've heard it all now.

 

[erinmomof2]

I'm going to be kind of the odd one out.

First, are these the same girls that were in pre-school, or will this be a different set of girls?

If this is a different group, there may not be as many of them as there were in pre-school, so this may be a non-event. Really.

The biggest offense to the fashionistas is wearing the wrong stuff. You can sometimes get away with not wearing the right stuff, as long as it's not the wrong stuff. Think anything from TCP or Target.

So your dd could probably get away with wearing something fairly generic for the first few days until you figure out what's going on.

However, count your blessings because not being friends with the fashionistas is not necessarily a bad thing.

Her class will be almost all new kids, the girls who seemed to cause the most problems will not be in her school this year. Most of DD's clothes are from Target, Disney Store, Children's Place, Kohls, and Old Navy. I've been trying new stores this year. My DD for the most part helps pick out her clothes, she seems to enjoy shopping with me and she knows we buy on sale. She doesn't know the difference in brands, and doesn't care where it's from.

I am glad that she isn't friends with the fashionistas, I don't want her to be that way. But I don't want her pointedly left out either. She did have friends, mostly boys and a couple of other girls. I just think it's sad that some 5 year old kids care so much about clothes.

 

[Pirate1+Princess4]

Well, I have to outfit 4 girls the same age. They were in K last year.

Yes, there were the girls that were always complete, put-together outfits, but I'm guessing mom had a lot to do with that. Mostly they wore graphic tees, skorts, dresses.

With 4 girls, we have varying degrees of interest in fashion. I do most of my shopping at a consignment sale, Children's Place monster sale, and I used to do well at Kohls clearance. We have the rare Gymbo (or other high end brand) piece. I'm finding less I find appropriate at Kohl's as we move into the 7-14 sizes. Oh, and nobody would notice that my girls never wore a HSM or Hannah Montana tshirt. They admire the cheerleading kitty and the bold flowers.

I would say that for my kids' school, K and 1st (I also volunteered in DS's 1st grade class) didn't seem so much about the clothes. I'm sure it will be as they get older. The kids would get excited if a friend had the same shirt. I was always happy when they came home to tell me that someone else had the same stuff- that means I'm not the only one shopping at Children's Place.

But if it's important at your kids' school, then brands mentioned above are great. Hit clearance and sales (like Gymbucks). I've popped into Justice, but we aren't quite there yet. Will be this year sometime. I think they merchandise a lot like Children's Place. Catch a good sale, get on their email list, and take advantage of those bounceback offers like Gymbucks.

 

[mjkacmom]

My oldest wore only dresses, because she wanted to. However, dd8 and dd6 are quite the fashion bugs, because they have a 13 year old sister. Babydoll tops, layers, skinny jeans, Uggs (fake!)... I just took dd6 sneaker shopping with her 6 year old cousin, who's the oldest and only girl in her family. DC picked out sparkly pink velcro sneakers. Dd6 picked out a pair of brown, pink, and white plaid converse tied sneakers. I shop at Old Navy a lot, and some Justice.

 

[RMulieri]

My DD is starting K this year and I never thought about the clothing brands before I remember my DD coming home from preschool and begging for a Hannah Montana shirt ..but that was about it.Now I have something else to worry about

 

[2cutekidz]

DD is going into second grade this year, and she is just now caring about/wanting to pick it out herself whats she wears. In Kindergarten she wore Gymboree, Children's Place, Kohls - outfits, dresses. 1st grade she only wanted jeans and tees (or skirts, so she could sit in a chair duiring "circle" time) she rejected any pants other than jeans or leggings. She was picky, but I was abe to shop for her, but this year she has a list of things she wants to buy. On her list are things from Jusice (tees, tops, SCARFS - she LOVES scarfs -, leggings) a few things from Childrens Place and Kohls too. She doesn't like jeans from Gymboree - they have "things" on the legs and her jeans have to be plain!! Old Navy is on her list too.

FYI - Old Navy's kids jeans are on sale until the 20th for $10!! I plan on stocking up!

 

[brymolmom]

I wear mostly name brands and it really doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. With sales coupons buying off season I can get stuff just as cheap at gap or outlets (god I love outlet stores) as I can at walmart, kmart, target (nearest one is almost 2hours away ) I live in the middle of 3 major outlet malls.. I pay retail price for nothing

I agree...to a point. I am guessing that you're out of your teens/early 20's? If not - then I would say you're unique. While we adults might think this way many, MANY teens do not. They do not want what is on the clearance rack or what is 'last year's' shirt to save for next year when you can get it for way less. They want what the style is and what 'everyone' has NOW....which means you might find a decent sale but are usually paying a lot more.

That is why starting early is important. If we as parents and they as young children don't put as much stock in the label on the shirt...then they MIGHT not be as inclined to snub their noses at a basic, generic white tee-shirt rather than the Abercrombie one that costs $10 - $20 more.

Like I said, I'm not out to limit my kids to Walmart only....They do have a few nicer outfits and I do find a lot of basics in the off season. I just think they need to have the generics mixed in so they're used to them being mixed in there now. If they want to spend $80 on a pair of jeans when they're 16...no problem, but they better be willing to contribute half or wait for it as a birthday present.

 

[tinkmom2]

Both my girls are pretty small for their age. Claire is going into k3 and can still fit into a 24 months in some things even though she is going to be 4 in Oct. I shop at Target. They have really inexpensive tops. ($3-4) I also recently put some clothes on lawaway at Kmart for her so she will be set pretty much the whole year. I also shop clearance racks. The only one I am having trouble with is my oldest. She is getting picked on by other classmates regarding her dress. It happened to me and it breaks my heart it's happening to her too.