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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To want to know if you kit your kids out with a whole new 'wardrobe' each season?

136 replies

Nonalphamum · 28/08/2013 16:09

I don't, but DD's friend's mum was most surprised when I told her earlier today that I don't. She then went on to tell me that at the end of every season she totally re-stocks both her DCs wardrobes with new clothes for the coming season and gets rid of things from the previous one. She also buys them 3 or 4 pairs of shoes per season.

She was genuinely shocked when I said that I don't do this, and things get given to the charity shop/Ebayed when my kids have grown out of them and not after just 3 or 4 months' wear. She was even more shocked when I said that DD will be going back to school in September wearing - shock horror - the shoes I got her in June, as they still fit perfectly and look new.

OP posts:
missinglalaland · 29/08/2013 08:32

Of course not! We buy as needed and pass things down from the elder. We do tend to buy new socks, but that is it.

teacherwith2kids · 29/08/2013 08:41

Lijkk,

I tend to agree with you for older children - DD (10) grew 10 cm last year and I bought her ....umm....1 new pair of trousers and a pair of shorts (her shoes are another matter, sadly - with 4x dance shoes plus school shoes and a pair of trainers, fast foot growth gets expensive, especially as ballet shoes can't be bought with much growing room).

However, I did find when they were smaller that buying clothes in 'monstrously oversized' sizes to allow a year of growth wasn't so feasible - DS would have needed e.g. age 7-8 at 4 - because of the different body shapes as well as length of different sizes, and because when they're in that 'climb / jump / run / crawl on everything' stage then very bulky rolled up and oversized clothes got in their way a LOT. Obviously I never bought anything 'to fit at that moment' - that would be grown out of in a fortnight - but there were limits on how 'oversized' any item could be.

Theas18 · 29/08/2013 08:41

Umm nope!

I used to love pulling hand me downs from the loft though at regular intervals. Dd2 was exceptionally well kitted out as she had the bigger 2 kids hand me downs and those from dd1s mates as well!

Now the kids are bigger they get clothes when worn out or out grown only. They get a spend with BIL /sil sometimes.

Actually now it's a bit odd as the last 2-3 summer holiday photos are the same clothes- made more obvious as we travel hand luggage only so for 2 weeks they have only a few items anyway..

MiaowTheCat · 29/08/2013 08:55

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Mojavewonderer · 29/08/2013 08:56

Yeah because I have too! They grow and it just happens to mean they need new clothes every 4 months or so. I time the buying of new clothes to match the season if I can because I am not forking out on a bunch of summer clothes in August so I buy them in may/June and make them last until September/October and then buy next seasons clothes. I just give the old clothes away and we are not well off but I can get a whole wardrobe cheap-ish if I buy a few choice pieces and swap them around every now and again.

Morloth · 29/08/2013 10:03

Nope, my kids wear clothes until they don't fit anymore.

When they don't fit DS1, they go into a bag with the size written on it so if anyone needs that size before DS2 does I can hand them on.

They wear mostly hand me downs, hand me ups or hand me sideways clothes. I have a large family with lots of boys in it.

I found a t-shirt in a hand me down bag from my cousin for DS1 the other day that had my older brother's name tag still on it. He is 45 this year. Grin. Just a plain blue t-shirt for day to day wear.

Happily neither of my two care what they are wearing so that saves a lot of energy.

TheUglyFuckling · 29/08/2013 10:19

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HappyMummyOfOne · 29/08/2013 10:32

"The competetive Mumsnet 'Well, I dress my child in my late Great Auntie's tea towels, and they were second hand when she bought them. But it's character building' gets a little tiresome"

I know and it will be nearing Christmas soon and it will be the mantra of an orange and one present as anything over that is vulgar lark. If people dont shop, the economy would be in even worse shape and whats the point in going out to work if you cant spend on nice things?

Some people simply dont have/like second hand clothes or wont buy five sizes too big to allow for growth. Its not a crime.

FWIW, my sister hated never having nothing new and having to have clothes passed down to her. She never developed her own taste or had the nice feeling of picking a new outfit and always felt second best. The moment i started earning i saved up and a few weeks later took her on a spree for her own new wardrobe, was worth every penny.

Morloth · 29/08/2013 10:44

It isn't character building.

I am just cheap/tight.

Won't spend money unnecessarily.

TheUglyFuckling · 29/08/2013 10:46

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Bumblequeen · 29/08/2013 10:48

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TheUglyFuckling · 29/08/2013 10:49

This reply has been deleted

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forevergreek · 29/08/2013 10:57

Most of our children's clothes can be worn summer and winter. In summer say jeans and t shirt, in winter they would wear the same jeans and t shirt but with vest/ long sleeve top/ jumper/ tights under depending on how cold it is. Only a few pairs of shorts don't get worn.

Even a hot summers day in the uk may be warm but by evening it is cool enough they would wear a cardigan/ jumper if out most the time

Gubbins · 29/08/2013 11:37

That some people choose to have everything brand new isn't a moral issue for me, I just think they're a bit stupid. I buy my children plenty of new things (I was the youngest of four, so know the pain of only ever having hand-me-downs) but love that they also wear the sundress that my mother made for my eldest sister and has been passed on through every girl child in the intervening 50 years. My 8 year old's favourite clothes are mine and her aunts' old dresses and fair isle jumpers.

Gubbins · 29/08/2013 11:39

And note, I said choose. If someone has no access to hand-me-downs, nct sales etc, then of course they're going to have to only have new stuff.

missinglalaland · 29/08/2013 12:01

I assume we are talking about school uniforms here, right? My kids aren't particularly interested in having new grey skirts that look just like the old grey skirts. So we really can buy only as needed.

As for "civilian" clothes, we look at what no longer fits or is stained, pulled, etc. Then we replace as needed, handing down stuff that still looks good to the younger. About half the younger's wardrobe is hand-me-downs and so far, she doesn't mind.

Besides the money, for us, shopping for clothes is a chore. I know some people do find it pleasant, but we just don't.

valiumredhead · 29/08/2013 12:06

Kind of but that's because ds grows like a weed, not for fashion purposes.

mumofthemonsters808 · 29/08/2013 12:08

Guilty of this for both of mine. DD is 11 and I've done it since she was a baby. Everything is then sent to the charity shop.

Sirzy · 29/08/2013 12:11

Serious question - why?

Seems like a massive waste of money to me!

hettienne · 29/08/2013 12:15

I'd love to do it if I had the money, it's just honestly never occurred to me that people do!

grumpalumpgrumped · 29/08/2013 14:13

Ds2 had a whole new summer wardrobe but only due to my generous friend having a clear out. Ds1 seemed to miss the 18-2yrs bit as was tiny.

We layer t shirts so no winter/summer issues apart from shorts and ds1 has had the same ones for last 2 years.

As for shoes, they only have 1 pair each + school shoes for ds1. Both have wellies.

CharlotteBr0nteSaurus · 29/08/2013 14:18

dd1 (6) has new stuff as and when required. i do have an audit twice yearly, but usually there's only a few things getting added to the shopping list each time.

MIL is a bit of a shopaholic, so we get lots of stuff from her, although it's usually sale bargains so sometimes not the right season.

dd2 wears dd1's hand me downs, unless we've bought her something for a special occasion.

pigletmania · 29/08/2013 14:33

No what a waste if clothes still fit. I buy from h&m and they do s 2 year size, dd is 6 so i get the 6-8 clithes and dd is quite slim, so loads of wear. Dd will wear ladt years school shoes as they still fit

AmazingBouncingFerret · 29/08/2013 14:48

No. I get rid once they are too worn or no longer fit.

My nearly 4 year old DD is wearing size 18 months jeans cut into shorts! Grin

I'm not cheap and I don't go for the competitive money saving malarkey (the jeans cut into shorts happened because we were on holiday one year and the weather was hotter than expected and I hadn't packed enough shorts) I just think that as long as they still look ok and serve their purpose why bother getting rid and buying more?

Idespair · 29/08/2013 15:03

Unless you love clothes and clothes shopping and have enough money to do it, I doubt many people would replace the whole wardrobe. But those of you who like charity shop bargains should be very happy that there are people who like to get rid of last season's stuff as they provide lovely stock. Also benefitting the charity shop. So everyone's a winner!