You Wear It Well
A lot of people ask us where we get clothes for Henry because, as you all have noticed, he’s one slick-dressed baby.
(And I know this surprises many of you, considering that I am one of his two parents and I don’t dress particularly well myself. In fact, at least three days a week I get the head shake from Kristen as we go to work.)
But regardless of how I look when I leave the house in the morning, I try and make Henry as adorable as possible. So where do we get those cute clothes?
Well, a few places. But before I get into that, I have to remind everyone how cheap I am. I hate paying full price for anything. I clip coupons. If something is only 10% off, I still think of it as not being on sale. I need to see at least 2 price stickers over the original before I think I’m getting a deal. So, while Henry is the most dapper boy on the block, I can count on one hand the number of articles of clothing we’ve bought him that are full price.
And, frankly, can you blame me? I mean, some of this stuff is ridiculously priced, especially when you consider he’ll likely be wearing it for 2 months, tops.
We went to the mall last weekend and stopped in at Oilily, a high-end shop that sells women’s and kids’ clothing. Luckily for us, most everything was on sale, and we bought Henry a fun pair of pajamas (they have detective moose on them). The original price for these pajamas, you ask? $56! For pajamas! For a baby! I think we ended up paying $12. The had a puffy red coat (much too large for Henry now, but would fit him fine next winter) that was originally $255! Who pays that much money for clothes for a 1-year-old? (Not many people, obviously, seeing as how much was on clearance.)
But there are several places (both online and in your standard brick-and-mortal shop) where we get Henry’s clothes.
1) Gymboree – I really like their pajamas, and their clothes are well made, but the best thing I can say about them is that their sizes match up more closely with Henry than anyone else’s. So when it says 3-6 months, we know that he’s got about another week before it goes into storage. Gymboree also has a good sales area, where we tend to go to stock up on future clothes (along with a couple of drawers of his current clothes, he has a drawer full of stuff for the next year). The worst thing about Gymboree is their penchant to having silly puns and phrases on their t-shirts. (An embroidered muddy dog with “Ruff day” above it? Really? That’s funny to you?)
2) H&M — One of the most difficult things to buy for Henry is socks. I don’t know if we’re just buying the wrong size or if his feet are larger than most, but most everything we have for him leaves the curve of the sock half-way between his heel and toe. But H&M (known mostly for their inexpensive clothes that people much cooler than I am wear) to the rescue, as their baby socks are the bee’s knees. They’re long enough to make sure he doesn’t pull them off and his foot fits right into them. Even if they cost $5 a pair (they don’t; I think they’re 3 for $4.50) they’d be worth it. We’ve also bought him plenty of very fun t-shirts and pants, and they’re all reasonably priced and well made.
3) eBay (I’m not going to link that, because I assume everyone has already checked this out before) — Log onto eBay and you’ll see about 500,000 listings for baby clothes. Filter it a little more (sex of the child, age, what type of clothing you’re looking for) and it becomes more manageable. Filter it even more (new vs. used) and you’ll come up with a really nice selection which is often times significantly less expensive than what you’ll find in stores and on their discounted rack. (Note: Kristen has for many years bought, sold, and worn vintage clothing. I even have a few sweaters myself that I am not the original owner of. This is fine with me. However, Henry is not wearing something that may have already been stained by another baby, unless we know said baby. What I’m saying is, no used clothes for the prince.) Why are some of these clothes so inexpensive, you ask? Well, many of them are last season’s or last year’s collection, and some people won’t be caught dead letting their little one wear a shirt from 2008. Me, I have no problem.
Kristen’s favorite line of clothes which she’s found plenty of fun stuff for Henry at very decent prices is Le Top. While some of them still go for $25-$30 for an outfit, she’s found plenty of fun things for a price that I don’t hyperventilate over. And I like Hanna Andersson‘s organic cotton pajamas.
4) Online retailers that are going out of business — There’s a company that I’ve mentioned before named Bugs and Blossoms that has had really good sales of late, mostly because they’re shutting down and want to get rid of their inventory. (Another, Baby Center, stopped selling things in February, and had all their things with really good discounts.) Our loyalty usually lies with Zutano clothes when we order online, mostly because the prints are fun, the clothes are well made, and Henry looks adorable in them. One thing to note: if you’re buying a jumper from Zutano (and why wouldn’t you? they’re terrific), buy a size up, becuase they tend to run small. For their 6-12 month size, they say it fits a baby 16-20 pounds. After a good feeding of applesauce, Henry’s close to that 20-pound mark, and the last time I checked, he’s barely 6 months old. So beware.
5) Gap and Old Navy — I don’t know why, but we don’t go to these places very often. My sister (the greatest aunt Henry will ever have) has given us a ton of things from Old Navy, and we got Henry’s bear outfit from the Gap, so they certainly have good stuff (and a well-stocked sale section). Maybe we’ll stop there tomorrow and pick up a pair or two of shorts for our trip to Florida.
6) Friends and family — Last, but certainly not least, nobody gets you better clothes than your friends and family, especially if yours (like ours) have good taste. Not only is the stuff usually cute, but it’s free, too!
So there you go. Happy shopping, people, and I’m sure your babies will someday be as nearly as cute as Henry. (What? You expect me to admit that any child is as cute as my son? Blasphemy!)
March 9th, 2009 at 11:01 am
I am bookmarking this page. Except I do have to point out a typo (or is it a typo??): “Brick-and-mortal shop.” Very super hero of you.