How much summer clothing do you buy your dc?

[TedOnTheBed]

Went through all the kids summer stuff from last year and lots has been outgrown and needs replacing. I have 3 dc but don’t hand down between them as girl, boy, girl and I feel it’s very unfair if youngest dd was dressed in oldest dd’s cast off while dd1 and ds have all new. My question is how much is enough? I am trying to cut down a bit so thinking 14 outfits plus beach wear for holidays but wondering what the average is.

What u have sounds absolutely fine certainly not a low amount. I imagine still way more than average. Maybe you like me and buy way too much usually lol. I have:

12-15 dresses
12-15 T shirts
8-10 pairs of shorts
12-15 leggings (cropped or thin material)
Flip flops
Swim shoes
2 x pairs of sandals
3 x swimwear
light rain jacket
2 x light jackets (like denim jacket)
6 x sunglasses (3 new I bought 1 she bought 1 and got 1 in a set as a gift)
Sun hat (still to buy)
1-2 cardigans

My youngest has even more as she does get all the hand me downs and some new stuff. I honestly wouldn't worry about getting the hand me downs to ur youngest. I actually looked through their holiday stuff and my youngest has the most amazing beautiful outfits and made me think I need some better ones for her big sister 🙈

U don't need 14 night time outfits surely 8-10 and some can be worn twice. Vinted is great for some extras too if u want some nice stuff but don't want to break the bank!

Ok with youngest being 10 I understand they don't want the cast offs. I get away with that easily just now as youngest is 2!

Wow, that is a lot, but it is up to you what you like to spend your money on.

I would sell or pass on the clothes afterwards though, to make it a bit more environmentally friendly!

My Dd had a growth spurt bit ago and had to get all new summer clothes in one go, which normally I wouldn’t do, I would pick up bits here and there.

I bought her 8 t shirts, two pairs of shorts, one summer dress, one play suit, one lightweight jumper, one hoodie and one pair of sandals (already had trainers).

That does sound a lot to me. My DD has never had a school uniform and that is more than she would have.
I would only have 3 or 4 of a combination of playsuit/jumpsuit/dresses as these aren't worn as much. T shirts are useful all year but no more than 10. Shorts 4 pairs as they can usually be reworn, I have never bought pale coloured shorts. Surely 1 pair of sandals is enough unless one pair are walking type sandals and she wants some others.

Dd has
6 denim shorts
2 best shorts
4 plain cycling shorts
8 Black leggings for pre school
2 skirts

10 t shirts
3 dresses
2 cardi
About 6 jumpers.

Ds

10 shorts
12 t shirts
5 hoody
3 lightweight trousers
2 shirts
4 tracksuits
6 jeans ( only because i was given 4 pairs)

But they had out grown everything. And neither at school (2 and 4) so no uniform yet.
I wash daily. But only iron once a week. They dont have seperate play clothes unless it becomes marked thats used solely for garden.

Teen.
Probably about 14 shorts and t shrits, 6 tracksuits. But he wears shorts all year round.

Primary age.

4 leggings
2 jeans
4 shorts
8 t shirts
4 hoody
1 tracksuit

Doesnt like skirts or dresses. And in uniform most of week

I pack 6 bikinis with matching cover ups, 14 evening outfits and 7 day time outfits for trips out the hotel.

This whole thread is blowing my mind.

Me too. I think I must live in a different planet.

14 evening outfits? That's insane! If you are only wearing them in the evening then surely they last more than one evening.

DS has
7 pairs of shorts
8 T-shirts
5 jumpers
One proper shirt.
It's not enough to go with my washing cycle and I will get him a few more T-shirts and another part of shorts.
One pair of swimming trunks (required for lessons) and one rash vest plus shorts.
Three caps.
5 pairs of jeans
three tracksuit trousers.

I have no idea what DD(10)has. In general she requisitions half of DS's T-shirts and shorts because they're longer than girls shorts. On top of that she has the same as DS but girl clothes. Plus
She has one summer dress
4 cropped leggings
Straw hat
jacket.
Plus three sets of club sports kit.

I would aim for about a third to half of what you have. Otherwise things are outgrown long before they are worn out (or even worn much at all).

I used to save clothes for 5-6 years between my DDs.
DD2 didn't like going shopping anyway (too noisy) so loved me just producing clothes.
DD2 did get some new clothes but the lack of 'new' was balanced by 'more'.

OP I personally think you are buying too many clothes in general and you should try keeping/passing down at least some clothes such as short and jackets, even if you don't pass on t-shirts.

Usually a pack of 3 shorts and pack of 3 T-shirts. New swimsuit and new sandals. And we hand down as much as possible

Exactly the same here.

Haven't counted but I think DD has maybe 5 pairs of shorts but might have outgrown some of them since last summer, and 8-10 t-shirts (worn all year round). DS has a lot more shorts and t-shirts (but again, some will have been outgrown since last year) but I still buy bundles of clothes second hand for him so he has more clothes in general than DD who is in a size of clothes that can't find so easily second hand now (small children's clothes are much easier to find in good priced bundles) and also has opinions (i.e. only wants to wear black)

Really don't see why you won't hand down at least some of the clothes, the ones that are better quality/stayed in better condition.

I don't do 'outfits' as they need different numbers of tops and bottoms surely? DS 16 has two pairs of shorts, one jeans, two joggers (not much wear in summer), and 12 t-shirts (worn day and night year round). He had four pairs of shorts and two jeans when younger.

I buy a lot second hand so don't see the issue with hand me downs.

Too much here! I will say though don't feel bad if your second daughter has hand me downs. I have 2 dds and dd2 loves wearing her sisters old clothes and dd1 loves remembering old clothes through her sister wearing them. I do buy dd2 new aswell but anything really nice or basics like single colour shorts in good condition I keep gor dd2 as why wouldn't I?

If you can afford it OP and aren't concerned about the environmental impact (flying twice in one summer suggests this is the case) then just buy what you want. What do you do with clothes after your DC have grown out of them? Hopefully you give them away or sell them as they can't get worn much.

I haven't got a bottomless pit of money and I do care about the environment. I don't buy summer and winter wardrobes for my children. I just replace things as they get worn out or grown out of. Mostly use hand-me-downs from friends and family and charity shops with a few brand new things.

In terms of what they have for the summer it probably amounts to 2 or 3 pairs of shorts each, a couple of swimming costumes/swim shorts each, maybe 6 t-shirts/short-sleeved tops each, a pair of sandals/beach shoes each, a light raincoat... plus whatever jeans, leggings, hoodies, jumpers etc. they have.

What you have sounds excessive and wasteful to me, but if you're comfortable with it...

To give an idea of how the other half live:

2 normal shorts
2 cycling shorts
3 dresses
5 t-shirts
1 pair summer shoes

Am about to get some more as DD(9) doesn't wear uniform to school, so that isn't a huge range! We wash frequently.

We can comfortably afford whatever DD needs, but I really don't want to buy lots of clothes she can only wear for a year or two.

Added it up as I’ve just done a shop for the eldest -
10 t shirts
5 shorts
3 swim trunks
dozen cropped socks
More hoodies than I can count (family always seem to buy)
short sleeve shirt
polo shirt
He is 12 so no sandals but has chosen sliders for beach. Said he will wear trainers and jeans for evening
plus umpteen football kits most of which seem small but he won’t let go

younger brother is same

Oh and 3 rash vests and a couple of caps

You don’t say…

7 almost 8 year old DD has:

3x Dresses (the ones from h+m with different patterns, she uses them with long sleeve tops under in the winter though)
4x tshirt but can wear some of the spare white tshirts she has for PE at school if needed
3x shorts

She wears them in different combinations, so she might put a tshirt under a dress or shorts with a tshirt then a different combo the next day.

I don't buy new every time either, I replace as needed.

Do you buy organic OP? I found switching to organic clothing for DS helped me to move from quantity to quality, but In find the clothes also wear much better, so can withstand more frequent washing.

For summer, we have (approximately):

7x T-shirts
2x polo shirts

5x pairs shorts
2x pairs chinos
1x smart shirt
1x zip up cotton jacket
2x thin jumpers

I have boys. They have a few pairs of shorts each. This year ds2 has quite a few as he has ds1s hand me downs and also his own from last year still fit. He has about 8 pairs of shorts I think. Ds1 only has 3 or 4 pairs of shorts.
They have about 10 t-shirts each, probably a few more for ds2 as he has hand me downs again. Mainly bought in multipacks from next etc.
1 hat each, 1 pair of sunglasses. DS2 has some summer shoes, haven't bought any for ds1 yet. They also have 1 pair of swimming trunks each that are used for swimming lessons and also paddling pool etc. And a pair of sliders/crocs each but these are mainly for swimming lessons. That's about it! Jumpers they wear all year round.
They are 4 and 3 and ds2 needs a new outfit every day because he's a messy eater. Ds1 can re wear shorts a few days in a row now.
So yes, I think you probably have too much. Even as an adult I have less than 10 summer top, 2 dresses, 1 pair of pale jeans and a pair of summery trousers. 1 pair of sandals, 1 pair of flip flops, 1 pair of white trainers I wear from April - September. It's not hot enough to buy more really!