School Clothes for the Fall

[Anonymous]

DD will be starting 3rd grade this fall at one of the big 3, with tuition taking such a huge portion of our income we have very little disposble income remaining for clothes, etc. I will likely purchase her fall/winter clothes at Target... will she totally be out of place in the school with non-named brand clothes? Should I spend more and just get a few nicer things?

[Anonymous]

I may be out of touch but can kids really tell the difference at age 8 and 9 between Target clothes and other clothes? You can find some great deals at Old Navy and the Childrens' Place. Also, try some nice consignments shops for a few "name brand clothes. If you have time, the outlets are a great source of affordable clothes. I go twice a year and have always gotten great deals even at the Gap and Gymboree.

[Anonymous]

I don't think it's a big deal. Does anyone notice? Sure. Some parents notice. Who cares? Hope your daughter enjoys her first year.

[Anonymous]

How big is your daughter? I used to work at Abercrombie and have had a hard time getting rid of my thousands of of dollars worth of Abercrombie clothes. They are all 0, 00 or xs and I have some abercrombie kids L and XL stuff. (I'm small). I've got sweaters, button-downs, kakhis, summer tops...

[Anonymous]

You can mix in some brand name clothes from Marshall's, Ross, T.J. Maxx for the same price as Target. I think it's good to teach your kids they are not at school for a fashion show.

[Anonymous]

Hasn't been an issue yet for my daughter at GDS and she's a bit older than your DC.

FWIW, H&M and Zara are other good sources of cheap basics. Their downtown stores (both in the old Woodies building at Metro Center) have kids' sections -- their G'town stores don't. I'm not sure about the mall stores.

[Anonymous]

My SIL swears by ebay and craigslist.

[Anonymous]

OP, I would start with Target, but wait for the sales. Buy the year ahead. I spend little on my kids' clothes. They go to a local private. I buy the end of season deeply discounted clothes the year ahead. I get sick of the poor styling from Target, especially for girls.
But I don't think that in 3rd grade anyone will notice.

[Anonymous]

Doesn't anyone think this is incredibly sick?

spending tens of thousands of dollars on tuition and THEN worrying that your kid will be viewed as a misfit b/c she's not wearing designer clothing?

What happens after 3rd grade (or whenever they become aware of name brand clothing)?

so much for priorities

[Anonymous]

ease up. every parent has to face it in a different way in each school. we all make different decisions on how to deal with it & how we will ask/model how we want our children to deal with it. a parent stretching to make the best educational decisions she thinks she can for her child, doesn't want her kid torn up right off the starting blocks for having all the "wrong clothes." sure, it is the last thing that should be important... but that's not always how it works in our imperfect world.

just because a zombie would know more than I do (& couldn't possibly care less than I do)about the right clothes, doesn't mean the environment I put my child in shares my views (or in my case, oblivion). happily, my kid's in a school where it doesn't much matter right now. but i don't fool myself that it won't very soon.

i thought most of the other posters were sympathetic, encouraging and honest in response to the OP's question.
i might hate that clothes can matter, i want kids to be proud of who they are, and respect others regardless of their clothing labels, but i'd be a damn fool to think that it doesn't matter in some places. i hope it really does not matter for OP's kid, and I hope it doesn't matter for anyone else's either.

[Anonymous]

It seems like having the "right clothes" is important to kids of every age and at every school. I still remember being embarrassed 30 years ago by my Lee jeans, because most other kids had Levi's. So what's wrong with a parent trying to balance her budget with her kid's happiness?

[Anonymous]

If you're really worried that the kids might be label-conscious, then one solution might be just to remove all the labels from your target clothes. I doubt most kids are designer-savvy enough to spot a Target jacket if it's missing the Target label.

[Anonymous]

I do the "coupon" thing a lot with gymboree - on their sale items. I generally buy most items 50% off - often 75% off when add up the various discounts. You need to watch the sale cycle, not buy all at once (but hey, kids grow!) and be savvy. Old navy / gap often have friends and families sales 2x a year at 30% off - and then take it off sales. Lands end decent sales - again to frequent customers. Agree - outlets are huge! With all that, I believe I save more than a typical target run. The quality is much higher (with exception of old navy). I'm not against target - just don't like the fit or how well it lasts with wear from kids. Fabric often seems thinner to me. Maybe I technically don't have to shop the sales this hard, but its a principle I want my kids to learn too. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

i thought most of the other posters were sympathetic, encouraging and honest in response to the OP's question.
i might hate that clothes can matter, i want kids to be proud of who they are, and respect others regardless of their clothing labels, but i'd be a damn fool to think that it doesn't matter in some places. i hope it really does not matter for OP's kid, and I hope it doesn't matter for anyone else's either.

And this is what you want to instill in your child? that to "fit in" designer clothes are important?

And then a PP suggested cutting the tags off?

What message are we sending to kids?

What a way to build a healthy self-image

I think you'd be a damn fool to want to subject your child to this pressure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

i thought most of the other posters were sympathetic, encouraging and honest in response to the OP's question.
i might hate that clothes can matter, i want kids to be proud of who they are, and respect others regardless of their clothing labels, but i'd be a damn fool to think that it doesn't matter in some places. i hope it really does not matter for OP's kid, and I hope it doesn't matter for anyone else's either.

And this is what you want to instill in your child? that to "fit in" designer clothes are important?
And then a PP suggested cutting the tags off?
What message are we sending to kids?
What a way to build a healthy self-image
I think you'd be a damn fool to want to subject your child to this pressure.

I think you're a damn fool if you think that kids will not care what clothes they wear. And that goes for every school in the country, public or private.