Since we have recently moved from Hotlanta to a place with real fall (hello, New England), here’s a round up of what I’ve thrifted to help my kid keep from freezing on the playground.
My strategy was to keep the pants fairly neutral so I didn’t have to worry whether the tops clashed; and to skip the uber-girly stuff – I’m allergic to pink in high doses, and my kid doesn’t care yet (unless you’re talking about unicorns or T. Rex; then she has an opinion, which is “YES, ALWAYS”).
First up, tops:
Gap, Gap, Vince, Carter’s, Gap
That bunny hot air balloon shirt is much more of a coral color than the intense tomato it looks like here.
Sweatshirts
Worn with or without a shirt underneath, depending on the weather:
Jumpin’ Beans, H&M, Oshkosh
Check out the little sweatshirt V on the heart top and the t-shirt hem on the bow top:
My kid’s clothes are cooler than mine.
Next we have pants:
H&M, Garanimals, Nannette Girl, Oshkosh (the dirt is my child’s, not from the thrift store; laundry day!)
Both pairs of non-stretchy jeans have these genius adjustable elastic inside the waistband that means my skinny lil’ kid can wear pants the right length that don’t fall down to her ankles:
You move the button to whichever slit you need, and there’s one on either side to keep it even. PS See the polka dots on these? My kid is way better at patterned pants than I am.
Next up, dresses:
Gymboree, Old Navy, Carter’s
The one on the far right is obviously meant for summer, not fall, but our sweet neighbor nabbed it for us at the Goodwill a few months ago and I couldn’t leave it out! I love that orange embroidery.
Hoodies
The one on the left is like a fuzzy stuffed animal inside. The one on the right has a detachable hood, retails for $38, and was $6 in the boy’s section of the library consignment shop. Don’t be afraid to check both gender sections for your kid – you might find a gender-neutral classic or something marketed to a different gender from how your kid identifies but that your kid loves. Because how else am I supposed to find dinosaur shirts for my dino-loving daughter? (Still on the hunt for that one…)
Xhiliration; Polarn O. Pyret
Shoes & Underwear
Same for undies – the minion underwear was in the “boys” section but my kid loves them, so I bought 2 pair. Plus that extra elastic seems to fit better on her bum.
She’s currently wearing the shoes on the left (Saucony) and will grow into the ones on the right (Stride Rite). Between the two pairs there was only one pair of inserts, so I moved them to her current shoes and will put them back in the bigger ones when she grows.
These $2.50 rain boots have gotten some good use – both for puddle jumping and for playing pretend around the house.
Tops for end of winter/spring
In general I try to avoid buying clothes for my kid to grow into because I can’t predict in what season she will be in which size. But with cold weather that lasts into April here, I figured these next-size-up long-sleeved shirts will get some good use before she outgrows them:
Circo, Land’s End, Carter’s
Those of you with supernatural memories out there will recognize the floral ringer tee from my kid’s thrifted wardrobe a few seasons back. We got a ton of use out of it so when I saw it in the next size up I couldn’t refuse. Also, that coral-looking tee in the middle is significantly pinker in real life. In case you were wondering.
Still on my list: a proper winter coat and winter boots. The consignment shop at the library may come through. The consignment shop also sells kids’ figure and hockey skates – welcome to New England! – and I am waiting to see whether we skate enough to justify buying a pair since they’ll only be good for one season.
Do you thrift for any kids in your life? If so, what do you look for?
Love kid thrift shopping and liked looking at your finds as well. I have two girls ages 4 and 6. They are both skinny minnies so I am careful about buying pants because often they slide down to the ankles unless they are narrow cut. If I can find the legging type pants without them being worn out, I will buy them. Also buy jackets, tops, specialty shoes (such as winter boots or rainboots), snow bibs, and dresses at the thrift store. Pretty much their whole wardrobe except sneakers and bathing suits. It’s a great place to experiment with style too, like a fur vest, a denim jacket, or velvet blazer – it’s a great deal and if they decide it’s not for them, at least I didn’t spend a lot of money.
We do leggings as often as we can, too – these are my first non-stretch in awhile. My kid is definitely skinny!
I agree – if she doesn’t like it or it doesn’t work out, I spent $2 on it instead of $10.
Great choices! The best are the adjustable waist jeans. (Yep, genius.) My kid grew up wearing thrifted clothes and hand-me-downs. What’s the purpose in buying new when kids grow SO FAST? And because they grow so fast, second hand kids’ clothes are usually in great shape.
Truth! I think either people don’t donate the stuff that’s been stained/handed down beyond repair or the stores don’t put them out, so you end up with the lightly worn stuff.
Did thriftiness for your kid last into teenage years? Wondering if there’s a stigma for teenagers to wear all secondhand or if that’s a thing of the past.
She had a split personality I guess, as far as clothing goes anyway. For school she always wore secondhand. For the weekends she mostly wore (I’m afraid to say) fast fashion bought with Christmas and birthday money.