Children's clothes - how much do they REALLY need? When they're in uniform so much??

[whiskeytangofoxtrot]

Have 4 dc (incl same sex twins)
house is awash with clothes
Am trying to do a bit of that Kondo stuff and money is tight so we gratefully accept any hand me downs etc

But we may or may not go skiing at some point again in the future so need to hold on to those sorts of things....

For the boys: how many
Tops
Tshirts
Trousers/jeans/shorts

And for the girls skirts/jeans/dresses

do they need

When they are in uniform?

I seem to be washing most days anyway...fewer clothes would wear out quicker and I do need to hand me down....

Thoughts? Do you limit things???

[Sgtmajormummy]

If you're getting hand-me-downs I think all you need to buy is one nice outfit to the child's taste (speaking as someone who had nothing BUT second hand clothes from my sister 9 years older with completely different colouring and build, I suffered from lack of personalised things to wear).
The rest of the time they can hack about in tshirts and shorts, especially when it's hot. Sweatshirts and jeans when it's colder. School jacket is fine for the weekend IMO.
Second hand underpants or knickers are not right for me, so I buy them at the supermarket.
Having twins may be a problem for the "personalised" idea. Do they have their own colours for differentiation?

[LovelyFriend]

I've Kondoed and it is hard with children's clothes. I have 2 girls, 3 years apart. they always seem to have a mixture of clothes too big, just right and too small.

I am now very careful not to buy something until it is NEEDED. They still seem to have too many clothes but we are reducing the amount slowly as time progresses.

I keep one zip up bag of hand me downs for DD2 and nothing more - this means that I only keep the best of DD1's stuff for her.

[MrsPear]

Hi 2 boys age 2 and 5. The first thing is you have to be merticulaous about what is in there drawers! Make sure it is season appropriate and is the right size. I use suitcases to store the old stuff of ds1 and send the small stuff straight to my sil or charity shop. I dont bother with this eBay thing I really don't think it is worth the time or effort involved!
If you are going to do hand me downs you have to go for quality.
I buy around 3 pairs of trousers (usually joggers and jeans) and half a dozen t shirts and a hoodie. My mil knits jumpers for us. I never pass on underwear - pants or socks - or shoes.

[plipplops]

DDs (6 and 8) don't like shopping and we have a few lovely friends who give us great hand me downs. I've just Kondo'd my wardrobe and want to look at theirs next. I tend to order a bunch of dresses (usually in the Boden sale), then we have a trying on session at home and if they don't love anything they don't keep it. So they end up with maybe 2 nice dresses each? DD1 is pretty tidy so tends not to ruin stuff, and in term time would exist with two dresses with leggings (one for each day of the weekend) and that's it. DD2 is feral slightly less careful with her clothes so she trashes everything, and also seems to change outfits if I'm not watching so can get through 4 or 5 outfits in a weekend. Although since it's mostly hand me downs I try not to worry if she's ruining stuff (we always seem to be given more and if it's nice I'd rather she wore things than saved them and grew out of them).

They both have a snuggly fur lined card each and a decent thin knitted card and that's about it.

[Sgtmajormummy]

I agree with plipplops about having something cuddly to wear at the weekends or after school. My DD has an extra snuggly long pile dressing gown that buttons up to the top and she can't wait to change into it! "It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!"
DS just has normal fleeces.

[YeOldTrout]

3 full outfits for each season + 3 sets of nightmare.

[YeOldTrout]

oops... nightwear!

[CremeEggThief]

My 12 year old DS has a jacket, 3 pairs of jeans/trousers, a hoody, 2 jumpers, enough socks, pants and t-shirts for a week without having to wash, 2 pairs of pajamas, 2 pairs of swim shorts, 1 pair of tracksuit bottoms and trainers.

[NoMilkNoSugar]

DS had just gone on residential, I had to going shopping especially as he didn't have a weeks worth of clothing. From now on I plan to make sure he has five days worth of tops and trousers with a couple of hoodies to mix in.