Dressing a Stylish Kid for Less

1. Buy special pieces. Its okay to spend a little more on one or two special pieces that you can mix and match with cheaper pieces.
2. Don’t preseason shop. Boutiques and stores display the next season’s clothes at full price. If you wait a month for the season, those items will usually be On Sale! In particular, Children’s Place and Gymboree change their collections often and try to rotate them through their stores every month or two, so they usually have a large amount of sale items.
3. Buy neutrals at discount stores. Solid tank tops, tee shirts, sweaters, skirts, and pants are sold at all prices. Unless there is something special (see Rule 1), there is no sense in paying top dollar for the same thing you can get at bargain basement prices!
4. Buy sweaters and tights. Sweaters and tights can extend a summer dress into fall and spring.
5. Mix & Match. Just because an outfit is sold together, doesn’t mean it has to stay together. Extend your child’s wardrobe by taking a special 2 piece outfit and mixing and matching it with inexpensive neutrals.
6. Buy a ½ to 1 size larger. Kids grow fast, and many retailers have taken that into consideration by making bottoms with the adjustable waistband. This will allow your child to wear clothes for longer. Clothes with adjustable waistbands are great for children who have little a little waist and a little more bottom. Don’t you wish adult clothes came like this??!!
7. Accessorize. You accessorize yourself, so why not accessorize your child! Changing the accessories can change an outfit. Accessories can be added to cost conscious neutrals to make the outfit a little more special and appear a little more expensive.
8. Don’t be afraid to overdress. Who says a little girl can’t play in a dress? The Amish do it all the time. Inexpensive sundresses to the park will bring style to any little girl. Not into dresses, then accessorize. Faux pearls can make a tee shirt and shorts look posh. Boys can accessorize too! Try a colored pair of sunglasses or a cool hat.
9. It’s okay to spend extra on items your kid will wear often. A lot of kids have 2 or more bathing suits. Last year, so did my daughter. Each were $15 or under. This year, I saw one online that was exceptionally cute. It was $35, which for me is too much for a bathing suit. However, it was so cute that I knew I would want her to wear it every time we went swimming. I spent the extra money, and it is the only bathing suit she got this year. It’s so cute that I will be handing it down to my niece, who is a year younger, for next summer!
10. Don’t buy anything you don’t LOVE. Just like it is a waste of money to buy something for yourself that you don’t love because you won’t wear it, the same goes for what you put your child in. If you don’t like the item, you are less likely to put them in it. It doesn’t matter if it is $2 or $200, if it doesn’t get worn, then it’s not worth buying.

Here is an example of special pieces. I bought this skirt and sweater at Gymboree, on sale of course! The skirt was originally $29 and I paid $9.99 and the sweater was originally $38 and I paid $14.99 for it. The skirt I got in season. It was from their spring collection which they displayed in February. I bought it on sale in April!



Here's the detail on the sweater...love it! I will also pair this with some dark jeans for her this fall and winter.



Here's an example of a solid tank bought at Wal-Mart mixed with the Gymboree skirt. The shoes I got at the Dollar store for $2!! They had VERY similar ones at Children's Place for $15. The only difference was the CP ones were open toe, which Kennedy can't wear to school anyway. I have gotten soooooo much use out of those $2 shoes. I bought them in both pink and purple.



And here's the same outfit with silver Target shoes.



For early fall or spring, I use a simple white long sleeve tee shirt from either Wal-Mart of Target, accessorized with a hot pink necklace.



For late fall, I would add an inexpensive sweater I bought from Wal-Mart (purchased on sale after Easter!). For winter, I would just add a pair of white or pink tights.



Accessorized differently.



This time with a necklace.



This dress was $6 from either Wal-Mart or Target, it's an example of a nice sundress she would wear to the park.



I found this sweater today at K-Mart. It was 30% off, so I got it for $7.00!!



Here's it paired with the dress (accessorized 2 different ways). My daughter can't wear spaghetti straps to school, so this sweater will definitely get a lot of use.





Lastly, here's my daughter in Wal-Mart or Target shorts and tank at the park. She accessorized herself!