Tesco kids' clothes - false economy?

Poppy9

I have hordes of Next clothes from my DD that I really must Ebay. I tend to buy them 1/2 price in the sale and they was and wear fantastically. They keep their shape and colour and the sizing is consistent. Most M&S stuff also wears well. Underwear only comes from M&S or Next (always sale for both). They never wear out.

Gap is also good for sales i.e. T-shirts 99p. I don't think they was as well as Next though.

Bun

I have bought bundles of clothes from Ebay and they are nearly all George,Cherokee and Next, all of which are great.I have had some George things that I bought separately shrink a bit, but the worst is Mothercare. Their stuff shrinks something terrible (my SIL told me this but I was bought lots of their stuff when minibun was newborn). Their waistbands are also very small we found, which seeing as minibun was only 5lb 2oz was quite a feat!

Peakma

I generally buy 2nd hand designer(Gap,next ,monsoon etc) from carboot sales, then when they grow out of them, if they aren't too worn out, sell them on Ebay, for more than I paid in the first place!Bargain.I can't begin to imagine what some people must spend on clothing their children through child hood, it's just so unnessecary.I can't beleive the brand new shop prices, when I'm out and about bargain hunting.Some people must have more money than sense-or a ridiculously large debt.

Katinkka

My goodness, I absolutley hate next clothes and certainly wouldn't buy clothes from the supermarkets. I have done in the past and they just don't last. Next clothes are overpriced even in the sales because they look crap really quickly and I dont think they wash well at all. Not to mention the fact that every child everywhere ends up wearing the same clothes. Boots clothes used to be good but I stopped buying mini mode when I looked more carefully at the stitching and found lots of holes.

I get all my clothes from Monsoon, Gap and Debenhams. No I am not rich but I rarely pay much for the clothes. My oldest today is wearing all Gap. £5 for trousers, £1.99 tshirt and 6.99 for jumper. Second son, rocha trousers 5.99, monsoon top £4.50 and gap hoodie 4.99. Youngest wearing all in one suit from gap 1.99. So My kids all in good quality clothes that can not only be passed on but sold also on ebay after were finished. I buy all clothes in sales (at the end) and buy way ahead. I have clothes up to age 8 and my youngest is still 5 but its not like they go out of style is it. Buy when theyre cheap!

jellyhead

ah well, i disagree about next clothes washing well. never mind. i don't buy gap or rocha because every other baby in my town is wearing them. it might be different where you live but here a gappy child means a parent in burberry. he does have some gap dungarees but the label is tiny, you can't see that it's gap unless you're leaning in close. i don't like the next clothes with a massive NEXT emblazoned across the front either, it's a bit too 'adidas' for me. that's false economy isn't it, buying a bundle from ebay and not using the chav stuff lol!

westernpromise

frostyspice wrote:

Can anyone recommend clothes which might be a bit more expensive than the supermarket ones but which will last two boys?

I'd echo the recommendations for Baby Gap stuff. Gap do sales about every 6 weeks and they are proper sales - i.e. stuff is knocked down 75% or so, there's none of this "4.99 reduced to 4.49" rubbish. And they take Amex, so there's cashback to be had too...

If you befriend the staff, as my SO has done, you can usually find out when the next sale is due to start, and thus avoid buying things at full price that are just about to be discounted.

I would be surprised if our 2 year old has anything from there costing more than about 2 quid. And it lasts and lasts.

In my experience Asda is good for outerwear - parka-type coats for 7 pounds, for example. The quality of their other stuff seems OK but my issue with Asda is that a lot of it is realy horrible chav tat. My pet hate is kids' clothes with writing on them - "Here comes trouble", "Little Angel" and all that cack. Real traveller-site chic. There are some tasteful gems but you have to look.

What I'd like to find is somewhere that sells good quality toddler shoes at reasonable prices. It seems to be very hard to find shoes for much under 30 pounds, and if you are buying 3 pairs twice a year it starts to add up.

darbooka

Bear in mind that for 2 - 3 year olds, most of their clothes will be worn while they are in nursery or elsewhere where they'll be painting, climing, getting down and dirty etc. Next is OK for where your displaying your kid in a fashion show, but Tesco clothes are good value for comfy, casual playwear and wear-wear. Also, the fleece tops and jogging bottoms tend to last more than one season and are excellent value for the price.
However, I've recently become a convert to H&M's children's section. I don't care for their adult ranges, but their kids' clothes is amongst the most stunning I've found and the cost is extremely reasonable. There's always a few items on offer at big discount and the normal prices are very reasonable. Just yesterday I remarked to the OH that we needn't waste time shoppng anywhere else - for kids clothes, H&M has it all. (and for kids on the way they have a good maternity section too).

jellyhead

we're being quite snobby about it lol! i hate GAP in huge letters, others hate 'here comes trouble'. last week we walked past adams and my 9 year old spotted a baby t-shirt in the window saying 'yes i am cute, please don't stare!'. he wanted to buy it for the baby. i didn't like it (but bought it anyway, it was in the sale and he needed some new clothes) but he's never shown any interest in baby clothes before now and i thought it was sweet that he thought his baby brother was cute. maybe it's older siblings who choose the slogan clothes in asda?

my 9 year old loves asda clothes because they're covered in skulls and fire. everyone else i know finds them offensive. my mum buys asda clothes for all of her grandchildren but my sister hides them and won't let her children wear them! i'm evil, i bought him a spiderman t-shirt for his birthday and wrapped it for him to open so she couldn't hide it and stop him from wearing it.

Spendless

We don't have a Gap or H&M or Monsoon or Debenhams so can't comment. At the moment I'm trying to justify spending £45 on a red coat/dress and hat set for my 2 year old. It's on our market so I know I won't find it cheaper elsewhere. It's one of those dressess that you can only put really little girls in. Neice is 4 and won't wear a dress at all! I paid 1/2 price for 2 photo shoot sessions in Jan cos you had a year to take photos in, so this is what the nans are having for xmas, so I need to buy daughter something to wear for that. The largest size is likely to fit her both this winter and next. Mr Spendless has a photo of his gran taken in very similar outfit and it'd be lovely to have a keepsake of our daughter too. Can't make my mind up to do it or not.

jellyhead

i've got a photo session booked for next week, it's the last date for getting photos before xmas. i have no idea what my children will wear, the 9 year old suggests their hallowe'en outfits! it's at andree images, the session voucher costs £25 (i was given it as a baby gift) and it includes one framed print. venture do a similar thing i think.

how often will she wear the dress/coat set? is it something she will wear for parties? christmas day, etc? i've never spent anything like that amount on clothes but i only have boys. for a girl i suppose it's different :-) how much would you have spent on gifts for the grans, or are you buying gifts in addition to the photos? when i got married my friend spent £80 on a dress for her 4 year old, half of us were gobsmacked, the other half thought it perfectly normal. are there any weddings coming up that your daughter can wear this outfit to?