Decluttering clothes for children

bonnie_2 · 17 June 2008 at 10:10PM

What would you say are the bare bones amount of clothes for children at school.
I was thinking
1 coat
school shoes and trainers
knickers and socks 7 each
2 play outfits and one for best
1 coat
The cost of clothes is supposed to be rising so want to cut back to the very basics, they end up with so many they never wear them all.

juliapenguin · 17 June 2008 at 10:16PM

I think that sounds good. I never bought too much at any one time for my son (who's now enormous and sorts his own clothes!) and so was able to make sure he had clothes which were socially acceptable (kids can be sooooo nasty). Also, his clothes were worn out at about the same moment as they got too small, so I really had value for money.

Actually I never buy much for myself - I couldn't care less about being seen wearing the same stuff all the time - I'd rather have a few things I really like than piles and piles of stuff that I'm not mad about.

Anyway, good luck. I'm so glad I've not got little ones now that everything is so frighteningly expensive.

Julia xx

queen_of_string · 17 June 2008 at 10:29PM

Sounds good to me too. With boys a couple of pairs of shorts/trousers will never be noticed as appearing frequently and if you get fed up of seeing them in the same stuff, you can add a little variety with a cheap bright t shirt. You can also ask people to buy clothes as gifts, if your home is already overrun with toys.

betterlife · 17 June 2008 at 10:30PM

hi bonnie, i think it depends on there sex and age, ive got 2 boys 4 and 7 and a 2yr old girl (plus another boy due in about 6wks!) my boys are so much more mucky and go through knees from crawling whilst playing cars. school clothes mine have 2 trousers 3 tops (due to being white!) normally 1 jumper and 1 lot of pe kit. they take pe kits on monday and only bring home fridays for washing so pointless having more, and i never by school pe kit as none of them wear it. 1 coat does for school and home. wash uniform wednesdays , even if you just bought 1 lot of uniform i find it always dries really quick. clothes for home, look at car boots and ebay even charity shops, as long as its clean and good condition you can really get lots of bargains. and the thing is like the other person says children can be cruel and if you want your child to wear named clothes you can save a fortune buying second hand. my boys have loads of surf brands bought for a couple pounds each from ebay, nike etc sporys clothes and even trainers bought for bootys for 50p. all great for playing in and it doesnt matter so much when they wreck it.x

pigpen · 17 June 2008 at 10:44PM

Mine have way too many.

5 sets of uniform each.. the little ones have more.. and the girls have winter uniform and summer checked dresses

1 pair of school shoes (always clarks or startrite.. they have to walk on their feet all their life)
1 pair of trainers.. also a decent make & properly fitted.
In winter the 3 small girls have boots too

I buy 30 pairs of socks in one style per child.. then I know which socks belong to which child... DS1 has black ones with a 'W' on.. DS2 has black with a blue stripe and DS3 has grey.. DD1 has black with a silver heart, DD2 has white with a silver heart, DD3 has ribbed socks, DD4 has a glittery stripe through hers and DD5 has pink and white roll top ankle socks.. simple!!.. Pants are bought on a similar scale!

They have 1 winter coat and 1 summer coat each.. 16 coats!! lol I however don't have one at all!

They have at least 5 pairs of 'non-school' trousers.. or else what do they wear during holiday?
They have about 10 tshirts each
5 jumpers/cardigans
1 'occasion' outfit.. the boys have a suit and shirt, the girls have a 'party dress'

They have to have a few combinations of out of school clothes.. they cannot be wearing the same things over and over and over.. I would hate doing that so wouldn't dream of inflicting total lack of choice on thechildren.

Have you considered making some bits for them?? Buy the fabric and run up a few little garments.. shorts/skirts etc are simple enough and can be made from your old clothing or bits from the charity shop their is no need to even buy new fabric!

luxor4t · 18 June 2008 at 1:11PM

I have three kids, now all grown up - well, in theory!
I would suggest three outfits for everyday plus one for best if you usually line dry clothes. If you have a tumble dryer and are happy to use it, then 2 +1 is fine and you could cut back on the underwear a bit too.
I found the kids needed a few more clothes in winter as it was harder to dry things, even on the (cooling) radiators overnight.

SmileyS_2 · 8 August 2008 at 3:33PM

I had a HUGE declutter the other week but still feel we have too many clothes and things,I'm talking about 20 pairs of pjs each,8 pairs of jeans,15 pairs of underwear etc

Roughly how many do children actually need? Could they survive with say 3 pairs of pjs,3 pairs of jeans,5 t-shirts etc?How many pants?

I should mention they aren't babies they are between 7 and 13:beer:

Thanks once again
SS

moggylover · 8 August 2008 at 3:36PM

SmileyS wrote: »

I had a HUGE declutter the other week but still feel we have too many clothes and things,I'm talking about 20 pairs of pjs each,8 pairs of jeans,15 pairs of underwear etc

Roughly how many do children actually need? Could they survive with say 3 pairs of pjs,3 pairs of jeans,5 t-shirts etc?How many pants?

I should mention they aren't babies they are between 7 and 13:beer:

Thanks once again
SS

I don't think you really could get away with massively less - my big question is always why/how do they all end up in the wash within 24 hours?:rotfl:

Spendless · 8 August 2008 at 3:52PM

I work on the 5 of each rule for school uniform and I could probably manage a lot less, but I work on that just in case of emergencies like illness, or washer breaking (which have happened) and then I can at least get to w/end, without panicking. I use same principle for Peejays. I work on about 10 days worth of socks and knickers.

Another forum I use to lurk on (sadly no more) talked about this and suggested removing clothes from wardrobe down to say 15 of each and see how you got on, then remove down to 10 till you find your comfort level.

Magentasue · 8 August 2008 at 3:52PM

Doesn't it come down to what they actually wear and how much storage room you have or are willing to have? I used to get other people's cast-offs and have twice yearly clearouts (just before school in Sept and just before summer). I'd clear out whatever I didn't like or didn't fit and then ask them to choose which three pairs of pyjamas they wanted to keep.

Three sounds fine for things that aren't changed every day. Half a dozen pairs of socks, pants and so on. T shirts, shirts etc - half a dozen. We always worked on a coat/jacket plus one (the old one usually) for playing/the beach etc.

sarahf191979 · 8 August 2008 at 4:57PM

SmileyS wrote: »

I had a HUGE declutter the other week but still feel we have too many clothes and things,I'm talking about 20 pairs of pjs each,8 pairs of jeans,15 pairs of underwear etc

Roughly how many do children actually need? Could they survive with say 3 pairs of pjs,3 pairs of jeans,5 t-shirts etc?How many pants?

I should mention they aren't babies they are between 7 and 13:beer:

Thanks once again
SS

Thanks for starting this thread, my 2 ds 7 and 4 have far too many clothes, and I took 6 bags to the charity shop yesterday:eek: .

I have just got them all the new school uniform ready for September, but really need to cut down on the PJ's, socks, undies, t.shirts, trouser etc.. But feel if i get rid of too many I will be caught out short.....

So any advise

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Decluttering clothes for children

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