Essential girls clothes?

chanie

My tips:

Work out how many clothes you feel comfortable with - for me, it's two weeks worth, as I tend to do most washing at the weekend.

Get family to buy clothes as gifts -if the clothes are unsuitable, I will exchange them.

Buy a size up - my children pretty much have enough clothes, so I take advantage of offers by buying a season ahead for them.

Coordinate - I make sure everything in their wardrobe matches with each other. Bottoms tend to be jeans, grey, khaki or beige and tops can be bright.

LilElvis

Cheap jeans and denim clothing is fine, but I've yet to find a cheap top (primark/supermarkets etc) which doesn't distort and look grotty after only one or two washes. Next are the worst!

I buy my 4 year old her basic long sleeved t's from Boden when they have their "buy 3 and get a 4th free" promotion at the beginning of the season. The pointelle ones are indestructible and still look good after months of washing and wearing. The only other time I buy from Boden is in the sale when I get stuff a year ahead .... and when they kindly email me a £10 loyalty voucher.

I've also found fantastic Boden bargains on eBay with the "snipped" labels. £30 dresses for £7 or £8, all still in the original shop bags.

I love sales and stock up when I see really good ones. Mamas and Papas (sadly only go up to age 6) had an amazing one a couple of weeks ago - I paid £136·88 for 23 items of clothing and 5 Xmas decorations and the original price would have been a whopping £514·30 (I just dug the receipt out of my purse:D). Jeans, denim skirts, cord skirts, fleeces, hoodies, cardies, party dresses, knitted dresses, leggings … so mainly practical stuff.

I have a Marks and Spencer credit card so get vouchers 4 times a year which are used to buy more clothes. Last summer I got my daughter's school uniform from M&S - 20% off and used my vouchers so 4 free skirts, pinafores and summer dresses plus her PE kit!

Shopping on a budget doesn't mean you can't buy labels! :T

redmel1621

I have found it so hard to buy for my daughter as the choice is so vast!! You also end up getting suckered in by the pretty dresses, they get very little wear (esp in this country lol)

I found buying for my boys so easy in comparison as I would just buy a few pairs of jeans, a few pairs of jogger and a load of t-shirts, with a couple of zip up jackets/hoodies.

With girls there are all these available but then leggings, skirts, dresses, vest type tops, cardi's, tights, I find it overwhelming if I'm honest. Especially trying to get outfits that 'match'.

I Have drawers full of clothes 90% of which are hand me downs from friends.. I would say 50% doesn't get worn so I also need to have a BIG sort out.

I think I am going to get leggings with skirts/dresses/tunic tops that can all be worn over the leggings. Maybe a pair or two of joggers/jeans and a few basic t-shirts.
I will get a couple of the basic zip up jackets from asda as they are only around £5 each and are brilliant for colder days to wear under coats or summer to wear in the evening as it gets chilly.

FatVonD

I've not read the whole thread so apologies if it's already been said but presumably your 4-year-old can be comfortably fitted out in your 6-year-olds hand-me-downs for the next 2 years so that's half the job sorted!

For your older girl, I agree Primark don't always get it quite right but Asda do some lovely stuff at the cheaper end, as do H&M if you don't mind paying a little bit more.

carmina_piranha

With next I find that the stuff that's cheaper to begin with will be the same quality as supermarket clothes and will twist and go out of shape, and be thinner and narrower. I have a chunky child so I notice the narrowness in cheap clothes!

Next's more expensive ranges when at full price tend to be better quality, as do M&S more expensive. I buy from both in the half price sales.

If build is a factor with your children I find that on the whole Sainsburys is more suited to the slimmer child.

pollyanna24

Ccarter wrote: »

Thanks for replying, that's why I wanted opinions to see what other people think are essential. Looking at their wardrobe they have too many clothes that are too small. So I don't want to waste money buying too many of the same thing. I think the 6 year old has a had a big growth spurt eeek

Sorry, I appreciate I may have sounded rude when I wrote my post.

I have two girls same ages as yours - 6 and 4. Obviously they have loads of clothes through various places, they do just seem to acquire them!

But weekends and holidays, I let them dress themselves. And it's mainly the same old leggings and tops that get dragged out.

I just tend to buy things when I see them and if I think they need them. Clothes from the older ones go into the younger one's drawer when they seem to be getting too small. Then, one day, I might be rooting through the older one's drawers and think, ooh she hasn't got many leggings, knickers, tshirts (insert you own word in here) and then I buy two (or so) of what I thought she needed.

So it's not a case of ever mass buying as such. If I see something nice, yes I buy it ( or generally two so they match!).

dizziblonde

I find particularly with girls' tops (although my kids are 2 and 3 - they're very very tall and the eldest could quite easily pass for age 5/6) I have to go up a size or two in certain brands (TESCO I HATE YOU FOR THIS!!!) as they're so skinny cut they just look blooming outgrown and ragamuffin like if I buy the "correct" age one - and it's not my kids being fat - it's definitely a cut issue and not something you have as a problem if you go from the boys' ranges).

I got a lot of nice leggings and top combination type outfits in Debenhams earlier this month reduced in the sale and they've washed really really nicely, even in my somewhat abusive brink of death washing machine. I'm really impressed with the quality of them.

I tend to have a LOT of pairs of quite cheap leggings (Aldi have some fleecy lined ones in at the moment which are nice and warm) and then I spend a little bit more on tops of a variety of styles, or dresses that they can wear over leggings as a tunic style thing. With the ability my two have to land on their backside in the largest muddy puddle on the planet I don't tend to expect leggings to last too long!

Mine have far too many clothes though at the moment - but the eldest is definitely hitting a growth spurt so things will be shuffled down again fairly soon - hence me having both her current and new size in at the moment and the wardrobe bursting at the seams. Plus I get bored washing and putting them in the same stuff day in day out as well if I'm honest.