Monday, February 8, 2010

The Truth About Baby Clothing Brands

Avin has hit another growth spurt and once again he's outgrown a ton of his clothes. As I sort through his mountains of laundry I am tossing aside the things that don't fit. As I sort I see that there are some 3-6 month things that he has just now outgrown, some 6-9 things he has outgrown, and some 12 month items that I'm just counting the days on...how can this be??? I'll tell you how this can be---different brands size differently! Baby clothing sizes have confused me since he was born. I wasted so much money because I thought that if an article of clothing was labeled 3 months then that meant that he should be able to begin wearing it at 3 months. Geez...imagine my surprise when I had a whole drawer full of clothes that he wore once because "3 months" really translates into "he's going to outgrow this by three months!". So now as I finally have grasped the secrets of baby clothing I am going to impart my mommy wisdom onto you, my beloved reader. :)

Sizing: The cheaper the brand the smaller the size runs. Baby Gap and Carters both seem to run pretty big. Garanimals and Child of Mine(by Wal-Mart both run very small. Children's Place seems to run pretty true to size as does Old Navy.

Quality: For the most part you get what you pay for. Store brands are a good value in the early months when they outgrow things in the blink of an eye. Once they get a little older and actually wear the same outfit more than once you want to start thinking durability. Baby Gap, Carters, and Children's Place are top of the list in quality.

Pricing:
I confess that I am a cheap momma! My son wears mostly name brand clothing and I typically refuse to pay more than $2 per article of clothing. My standard price is 50 cents! How do I do this? I shop yard sales, Goodwill, resale shops, and end of season clearance sales! If you take the time to shop these areas you can find new or like new name brand baby clothing at deep deep discounts! My all time best find was a BRAND NEW Baby Gap Reversible Down Filled Vest for $2! Comment and tell me what your best bargain find was!

Now, if we could just get some seriously cute boy clothing into the stores I would be a blissful momma. I get so bummed out when I go into a store and see 8 racks of girl's clothes to one rack of boys. Hello! Don't retailers know that Momma's of little boys want them to look handsome too?

2 comments:

Mary Beth said...

I am a thrift store queen! I also know the cheap brands are, well they can be cute, but you get what you pay for. I find the best deals at the Thrift Store on name brands! And refuse to pay more than a few dollars per item too. This week, vans slip ons for my 4 yo, like brand new for $3 and his winter coat, a Gap down coat, excellent condition, $4!

We also got all our winter gear there, like new snow boots for both boys, $3 each and really nice ski pants for $4 and $5!

Anonymous said...

You know me....the king of Thrift store shopping here....I've bought big men's clothes for 10 cents to $2. Plus my aunt went to a yard sale and bought India a huge rubermaid container full of clothes for $5 and she got to keep the container!