Second hand clothes for kids

[GJohnson39]

I am really enjoying this thread!

I'm going to date myself a bit here (DD's are now in HS and college). When they were little, my mom would send them matching Oilily ($$$$$$$$ and sooo ugly!) outfits - I would shop clearance racks at the mall and at the Goodwill when I dropped off donations (which included certain Oilily matching outfits).

Today, both girls LOVE to shop thrift, consignment and vintage clothing stores. We are required to add stops to famous shops/flea markets in NYC, LA, Boston and Chicago when we travel to these cities. And they are always complimented on their outfits.

I find no stigma at all in shopping smart, but you do have to have your finger on the pulse of trends in cut, style, colors and prints to shop well at second hand stores.

Not only did they wear "used clothing", but I decorated both their rooms in very high end pottery barn/paris chic styles with "used" furniture bought at estate sales and consignment shops - and very inexpensively, I might add.

[fungirl2727]

I go to goodwill by my house and I find tons of nice stuff with tags on them. I get myself a lot off clothes from goodwill and they all look expensive and nice. I really don't get used for my kids because I get such good deals at justice and gap.

[Kim1013]

I get all of my DD's clothes from garage sales. I rarely buy anything clothing wise from a store except for shoes, socks and underwear. I've never had to buy my DS clothes b/c my sister has two boys that are 3 years older than DS and I get all of her hand-me-downs. At Target, they were having a 75% off shoe clearance so I bought DS 5 pairs of shoes so whenever he outgrows a pair of his shoes, I just go to his closet and get the next size up.
(BTW, my DD is 4 and absolutely loves going to garage sales. She loves looking at all of the clothes that I buy her).

[jkljkl]

I am really enjoying this thread!

I'm going to date myself a bit here (DD's are now in HS and college). When they were little, my mom would send them matching Oilily ($$$$$$$$ and sooo ugly!) outfits -
.

I don't care much for Oililly either. Never appealed to me. I'd rather buy from Osh Kosh or Carter's.

[jennsvs]

I get all of my DD's clothes from garage sales. I rarely buy anything clothing wise from a store except for shoes, socks and underwear. I've never had to buy my DS clothes b/c my sister has two boys that are 3 years older than DS and I get all of her hand-me-downs. At Target, they were having a 75% off shoe clearance so I bought DS 5 pairs of shoes so whenever he outgrows a pair of his shoes, I just go to his closet and get the next size up.
(BTW, my DD is 4 and absolutely loves going to garage sales. She loves looking at all of the clothes that I buy her).

I also buy the Target clearance shoes in many sizes. My son's feet seem to be the only thing that is growing. Since school started in August, he has been through 3 sizes of shoes. WTF?!?!

All of my son's clothing is either clearance clothing or something that is on sale and really cheap. I sometimes buy new things at Goodwill. I will buy used clothing as long as it falls within my son's comfort level. He has severe sensory issues. Certain tags or even softness/stiffness of the clothing cause him to freak out. Speaking of Goodwill. My mom just got a brand new, with tags winter coat for under $10. The tag price was $450. It was an awesome find. Although who in the world would buy a nice expensive coat like that, then give it away?

[Gertie2u]

I think a lot depends on your attitude and how you handle the whole thing. Certainly, there are deals to be had on new clothing if you look for them. I just got my daughter 3 pairs of jeans she loves brand new at Old Navy for $3 each. I think if you can sprinkle a few new things in, and you make sure to buy your daughter a few things she really loves even if you have to buy new, the second hand things won't matter as much.

To long to write out my whole young life story here, but I will say hand-me-downs can be awful if they are done in a bad way. Suffice to say my mother had a very, very bad experience with my father, her frist husband. In my case, had my grandmother not occasionally made me new clothing or bought me a few items, I would not ever have had anything but second hand. Grandma used to call me her Second Hand Rose because of an old show tune by that name, but I liked it because it was such a proud song. I hated being the only one in my family who rarely got anything new, though. To be fair, mom rarely got anything new for herself, but my younger half-sibs got all the latest fancy styles hot off the racks.

I originally wouldn't let second hand clothing touch my children, but then they'd beg me to wear items given to them by an older cousin who often sent bags of barely worn items from very expensive shops. In the end, I made it a sort of game. Here's how much you can spend, here's what your cousin sent, and we can look at the shops or check out the thrift shops and used clothing stores. Whatever way you prefer to spend the allotted cash. I do always try to buy a few really special outfits for special occasions. I've never wanted my kids to feel they weren't worth the money and effort for new the way I did.

[jkljkl]

I would not have minded 2nd hand clothing when I was a kid, except some of the stuff was ugly.

[Smee]

Pfft, if secondhand was good enough for me, it was good enough for my kids. They never really had a choice (about where the clothes came from) and therefore it was just a fact of life for them. When Girl started having her own money to spend, she was certainly welcome to be as much of a diva as she wanted on her own dime. Strolling malls, looking for overpriced, poorly made, foo-foo mall stuff, rock on if you can afford it. Boy had preferences for brands and textures, but did not care where they came from. He was just as ok with a $5 pair of Levi's from Goodwill as a $40 pair of Levi's from FancyPants Department Store.

The only thing I hated about wearing my sisters' hand-me-downs as a kid was that my sisters were tall and I was a pitiful short little tiny thing, and everything was tooooo long. My mama was an excellent seamstress and could sew anything, but with my too-long hand-me-downs, she was all, "roll 'em up!" I was never very concerned with fashion, but come on! Riding a bicycle with bell bottoms that have been rolled about 836894 times was an ordeal that usually ended with me sitting on the ground in some remote location with the bike firmly attached to my leg as I tried desperately to pick the cuff of my pants out of the chain before it got dark out. My punks don't know how good they had it!

[jkljkl]

My mother dressed me in beige and I hated that color. Its not a color that a pre-teen girl wants to wear. Even today, I don't see clothing for young girls in that color.