It’s barely reached 60 degrees here in New York. I’m choosing to ignore the chilly temperatures out there, and I’m going to think ahead to summer. Since having kids, my summer fashion has to be recycled every year. I don’t get to add too many new pieces, but sometimes I get a couple of things. However, since my Little Miss has grown quite a bit since last summer, I’m now focused on summer fashion for kids. Specifically one kid: Little Miss.
Summer fashion for kids
Even though Little Miss has her own style, I still want to make sure she has quality clothing that won’t fall apart after one washing. Sure, there are some things I’d love to see fall apart, because I have to be honest, my daughter has a very unique fashion sense. Orange has always been her favorite color, so as a kid, she wore a lot of boy’s shirts, because we couldn’t find anything in the girl’s department!
As she got older, the color orange became a bit more popular and started showing up all over the place. Her obsession with orange didn’t fade, and she developed new obsessions: mixing patterns, animal prints, and lots of sparkle. Yeah, I don’t know where she came from, either. I’m down for wearing stripes, just not with plaid. It just hurts my eyes, but she loves to set her own trends.
Perhaps she’s a visionary? I mean, she did love the orange, before the orange was popular! Who knows if she’s got the gift of fashion. I do know I want her in clothes with a little substance, because they need to take a beating while she’s wearing them, and when they’re going through the washing machine! I also want the clothes she wears to be age-appropriate.It’s amazing how very difficult it is to find high quality clothing that’s age appropriate for an eight year old!
Where do I go to get the summer fashion that’ll light up her eyes; not lighten up my wallet too much; be age appropriate; and hold up for more than one season? I’ve got options! It took me a long time to find the options, but I’ve got them and I’m sharing them with all of you!
Gymboree
Lots of color for the summer, it’s a must with my kids. Gymboree has a brand new line of mix and match styles! It’s the Hop ‘n’ Roll™ collection. If you’re kids aren’t into color, they can do black, white and brown. As for my kids, they’re into EVERY color, so red, purple, yellow and blue are must haves in their wardrobe. It’s the only way I can pick them out in a huge crowd! I’m just excited to save 50% off on the bright colors, super unique patterns and of course, the comfy clothes. Well, it’s not me that loves the comfort level, obviously. I can’t fit into the smaller sizes, but my kids are happy to have comfy clothes. Little Miss especially loves to feel comfortable all summer long.
Another thing I look for when shopping online is free shipping offers. Gymboree does free shipping when you spend $75 on the website. Now, I know what you’re thinking: $75 on kids’ clothing, crazy. However, if you’ve got a kid who just grew out of everything from last summer, $75 is going to be rather easy to spend. The upside about Gymboree is you’ll get a lot for the money, and the clothing holds up well! My daughter might be very girly, but she’s also a tomboy. Just because she’s wearing a dress, doesn’t mean she isn’t going to climb a tree, or want to play lacrosse with her dad.
As long as she has a pair of shorts on under a dress, she can do whatever she needs to do outside! There’s no stopping her. It means a lot more laundry for me to have to do, and of course, the absolute need to have clothing she is comfortable in, and that can take a good outdoor play session.
Another little bonus of buying the new Hop ‘n’ Roll collection? One percent of the proceeds from sales of the Hop ‘n’ Roll collection will be donated to KaBOOM!, which is a national non-profit creating great places to play for kids in underserved communities. Gymboree also has a few activities planned until May 31st to help KaBOOM! raise money to build better places to play for 10 thousand kids:
- Gymboree Play & Music partners are taking over the Gymboree Play Date page on Tumblr to showcase fun-filled playtime tips and ideas.
- PBS KIDS®: Gymboree is a proud sponsor of Jim Henson’s “Dinosaur Train,” on PBS KIDS, will support PBS KIDS’ “Explore the Outdoors” campaign via special in-store programming on Gymboree TV, giveaways on Gymboree’s Facebook page, and participation in local PBS member station “Explore the Outdoors” events.
- Pinterest Playdate Map: Partners and top bloggers will continue to contribute to Gymboree’s Pinterest Playdate Map.
Carter’s
When Little Miss was a baby, tons of her clothing came from Carter’s. I was so upset when she started to get older, because the thought of not being able to shop at Carter’s for her anymore was a big downer for me. Carter’s always has the age appropriate clothes I prefer she wears, and honestly, Little Miss adores the clothing we find at our local brick and mortar store.
Recently, they decided to make clothing for bigger kids, so that’s a bonus for our family. It means Little Miss still gets to have amazing quality goodies, which we find ON SALE after the season ends and I’ve got coupons! Yes, that’s my beautiful way of saying Carter’s can run a little high on the price, and yes, I love the quality of the clothing. However, paying as high a price during the “season” doesn’t work for me. I much prefer to wait for the season to end, head to the store to hit the sales racks with my coupons, and buy a size bigger for my daughter for the following year. It works well. Plus, with how my daughter grows, we can make dresses last a looooonnng time – get extra leggings and the dresses become long shirts she can wear with the leggings. LOVE IT.
FabKids
What I love about FabKids is how inexpensive the clothing is, but how amazing the quality is. Zippers are durable, and sewn into the clothing well. Every stitch is done with precision, and the fit is true to size. Oh, and of course, all the clothing is age appropriate. WHAT? Yes. I don’t have to worry about her belly showing; skirts being too short; dresses having holes cut out in the wrong places; and pants that say things across the backside of my eight year old!
Her favorite piece from FabKids to this day is her Fire Princess dress, and as she gets a little taller, we just keep throwing leggings under the dress and it wears more like a long shirt. She won’t give it up, and after a couple of years of it being worn often and laundered often, it’s still just as bright in color as it was the day I purchased it!
Every month the website sends me selections for my baby girl, and if I want to have things sent, I say sure. Send it to me. If not, we skip the month! I love the option of skipping months, because we can’t always afford to have new outfits! Plus, she has them for so long, thanks to the quality, she doesn’t really need something new every month!
Crazy 8
By now it’s been established age appropriate clothing is essential for little girls. Well, my little girl, anyway. Another amazing concept is finding great sales on the higher quality clothing I’m looking for. Crazy 8 does awesome sales. Buy 1, Get 1 for 88 cents is always a fun one. It’s also another one that does free shipping for orders $75+. When there’s a fantastic sale, Crazy 8 is another go-to for me. Their leggings seem to hold up really well, plus they aren’t as super tight on my daughter…. you know the leggings that hug a little too closely? Crazy 8 doesn’t really have those.
Janie and Jack
Now my friends…. Janie and Jack. If you’ve got no budget, you can shop in the regular area of the website. The clothing is outrageously beautiful, and are made like one of a kind pieces. It’s boutique quality, and if you head to the sale area, you can sometimes score unreal dresses, and other goodies. Let me tell you this, LOUD AND PROUD, if I was still working outside of my home and making the kind of money I used to make, my kids would be walking around in Janie and Jack all day.
However, sticking to the sale area works for my purchases for Little Miss. When I become a huge website, and this November Sunflower starts making a huge name for herself, and people come visit my site and use my links to make purchases, and brands I love want to work closely with me, I’ll be able to buy tons of Janie and Jack!!!
Right now, I share it with you, and tell you all, the quality is fantastic! If you’ve got the urge to match up your kids’ holiday outfits, you definitely want to become very familiar with Janie and Jack!
If you have a little girl, where do you find the most age appropriate, high quality clothing for her? Share below in the comments!!
