A little birdie told me about an article coming up in next week's Dollar Stretcher. Since it's time to start thinking about back to school clothes and cooler weather things for the smaller ones (really, it is!), this article is right on time.

It doesn't take a change of season for kids to need clothes, though. If you're looking, you can find some really good bargains right now, but where to look and what attitude to take is the gist of the article, so I won't give that away.

Instead, I'll ask you the questions it brought to my mind: Where do you shop for children's clothes? How fast do your kids outgrow them? Do they wear them out before they grow out of them?

Inquiring minds want to know.  

Oh, yes... the name of the article is (will be?) amazingly enough, "Children's Clothing" by Daphne Dykeman. Watch for it.

I depend a lot on hand me downs- but buy from Old Navy for t-shirts, Kohl's for higher quality, and Sears and JC Penney's for good quality and modest jr. depts- bought two swimsuits at Sears last week at the Land's End area, I didn't realize they had that!

This year we'll be buying uniforms from a uniform store and black dress shoes at Sears,  My favorite thrift store has a uniform section where I can find some navy and white sweaters, etc.   

I think it's hard to keep everything rotated and seasonal, I seem to be running out of energy to do this sometimes.  It's more time-consuming than you would think- I know dh never gives it a thought!  I try to keep 4-5 outfits per kid rotating, they get pretty heavy wear, but last well-some of the hand-me-downs wear out, but we have lots coming in!

On the other hand, shopping with the kids last week was very fun- we've been frugal a long time, and the kids enjoyed buying a few things, and it was essentially cash.  We also went to the crepe store and split a few crepes- Nutella, strawberry and veg Santa Fe-delicious!  

Tracy 

 Wow, we were having a discussion on clothing allowances in another thread. The new article is right on target with some things many of us are indeed working on.

Where do you shop for children's clothes?

• Thrift store
• Old Navy
• Sears
• Target
• Wal-mart
  

How fast do your kids outgrow them?

• 16 year old- never now, she seems to have stopped growing or at least hasn't grown so much that it shows in over a year
• 12 year old- every two, sometimes three years
• 3 year old- she jumps a size every year

Do they wear them out before they grow out of them?

• 16 year old- she tosses her jeans and pants out when they are too worn. She buys a lot of shirts so she passes those on when she is tired of seeing them.
• 12 year old- he wears everything out before he outgrows them.
• 3 year old- she is hard on clothes and wears out her daily wear clothes before she outgrows it.

I shop at the thrift store, Old Navy, and Wal Mart for my kids clothes. I think my 18 year old has stopped growing because his clothes are wearing out and I'm replacing them with the same size new things.  My 13 year old is still growing but some things last a couple of years, jeans unfortunalty are NOT one of those things - not a pretty sight to see a 13 year old boy in pants that could pass for capris!!! LOL. So I'm replacing his jeans every year. The 13 year old is also hard on shoes so they usually wear out before he out grows them.  18 year old has worn the same size shoes for 2 years so he wears them out first.

I shop for dd at thrift stores and the clearance racks at "regular" stores. We've also been very lucky to inherit from my friend's daughter all her hand-me-downs. I'm embarrassed to say that dd has too many clothes! She'll start kindergarten in the fall and will be required to wear a school uniform (white tops and khaki bottoms). I've been looking for uniform items for the last couple years and we already have enough for her first couple years of school.

DD has been using only one size a year (4 years old = 4T clothes, etc.). She has only worn out one pair of pants in five and a half years. It was a pair of jeans from Old Navy that she wore all the time. She blew the knees out after over a year of play.

The key for me is to keep the clothes organized and to know that everything in her closet and dresser actually fits. When she outgrows something it goes in the plastic tub and then my niece gets everything.

I have 5 boys:

First I see what we really need and discard old, worn, stained clothing.  The youngest clothes go to a box for a friend.

Younger ones 7,5,2 wear hand me downs and anything new comes from:

Sears: jeans can be replace when they fade for a new pair (Shopko too)/ jackets

Shoes: famouse footwear for the 3 oldest, (we have a rewards card, we buy all our shoes there)

Bargains shirts at TJ maxx

undies/socks at Walmart

This year I will try Old Navy for long sleeve shirts

 I lost this thread! Guess I was looking in the wrong folder.. anyway, when my kids were little, I did a lot of garage sale shopping for them. I could usually find clothes in good enough condition to pass off as new for very little. Other than that, I shopped first the thrift store, then discount outlets. It seemed like I'd have to replace a few in the middle of the school year for my son because was hard on clothes, but also because he grew like a weed. My daughter was easier to keep in clothes. My oldest daughter grew up with thrift store clothes because I was in a desperate situation most of the time when she was young and I hadn't learned to shop year around and pick only the best. As soon as she had money of her own, she bought her own clothes! :)

In my previous post I forgot to say that I get a LOT of hand me downs for my 13yr old son.  Not only does he get his older brothers stuff but I have a good friend whose son in a couple years older than mine and she passes all his outgrown things to me.  I in turn pass them along to a friend whose son is younger than mine. 

Shellia

My first stop is the thrift stores (I have many around me), then the church consignment sales and last Plato's closet for the 12 year old. I buy socks, undies, and bathing suits at Walmart or Target. Occasionally, I will pick something new up for one of them if it is on super clearance. I rarely worry about how fast they are growing out of clothes since I can get them so cheaply. DD6 is still wearing mostly 5 - 6s and DD12 is wearing a 0 or 1 for curvy girls (she has her curves already). My biggest issue is shoes. I get them wherever I can find a good deal. DD12 generally just steals mine since we wear the same size.

 Both of them wear stuff out easily. They are very hard on clothes. The little one wears uniforms so I am always looking for uniform components. I also pick up most Girl Scout stuff I see.

 In case you missed it, the article is here: Children's Clothing