boys' clothes and shoes in Australia (Sydney)

[HighFibreDiet]

Firstly, thanks so much for everyone who offered advice and help on my older posts about moving to Australia. Our visa application is in and we aim to travel at the end of December. It's a 457 visa for four years.

We are renting out our house in the UK, furnished, so we won't be bringing many possessions with us. We will pack our basic items to bring on the plane and probably pay for a few boxes of clothes, toys and books to be shipped over.

The expat forums seem to be full of people bemoaning lack of choice in clothing, and the high prices if you want anything of good quality. I have three boys aged 2, 6, and 8. What items in particular would you recommend I bring over? I have quite a few boxes of hand-me-downs for the younger boys but is it worth me stocking up on a few years' worth of clothes and shoes for the eldest - or is he just going to spend all his time in beach wear anyway (which I assume is in plentiful supply)?

(I have noted earlier comments about warm clothes for the winter - all the boys have hoodies in any case.)

Thanks again

Firstly - I am so envious of you heading off to Sydney. We were out there on a 457 visa for 4 years but have been back in UK for 3 years now.

I do agree with other people's views on kids clothing but think it will be hard to shop in advance. You will find clothes there. I used to buy the kids' shoes in a store called Shoes & Sox which is in many of the Westfield shopping centres which are all over Sydney. It has all different makes of kids shoes (Clarks included)and not that different in price from the UK. The kids will spend a lot of time in shorts & t-shirt - great for reducing your washing! The big dept stores - Myer and David Jones do ok kids clothes or Pumpkin Patch or Target - good for cheaper wear similar to supermarket type clothes here.
Do you know where in Sydney you will be?

Hi mono3, thanks for your reply. From what you say, it sounds like I shouldn't bother too much with stocking up. I'll be happy if they just end up in t-shirts and shorts all the time!

With regards to the area, we have friends in the Eastern Suburbs but are quite keen on the North Shore ourselves. I've already had some responses here about the pros and cons of different areas. We are waiting until we get to Sydney before we try to get a long-term rental property. It seems like properties go pretty quickly and it will be hard to apply for one before we are actually there.

Mono3, I forgot to ask nosy questions like where were you living, how did you find it, and why did you come back (if you had the option of staying)? It's always good to hear other people's stories, especially if positive.

I arrived on January 1st and my dd didn't have any sandals and we found it really hard to get some, as the sales had started by the time we got here. There were plenty of Crocs but no sandals for miles around.

I buy all my dd's school shoes from the UK still. They both have really narrow feet and although there are Clarks shoes here, they are not the same at all, and I find the quality quite poor.

I would recommend stocking up at least a little bit - my mum sends things through for DS (2.5yrs) from Asda, Sainsbury & Tesco & they just seem better quality somehow, nicer designs, sizing seems to fit better to my son, & when I see the price tags I am so shocked as the equivalent here would be at least twice as much. Maybe it is just psychosomatic because they are gifts, I don't know! DS has had comments on his clothes, esp M&S jumpers!

If you don't mind pre-loved goods there are secondhand markets across Sydney which have recently started doing boys-only markets. At these you can get the more premium range brands (that you'd buy at dept stores here) at cheaper prices & also foreign brands.

Agree about shoes - here they are either grim cheap things or leap up to Clarks which are incredibly expensive .

And stock up yourself too, esp if you use catalogues or online shopping as those are not yet up to the same standard as in the UK & if you are a busy mum it is difficult to go trawling through the shops as you must be aware!

I would suggest shoes too! My dd goes through trainers at a rate of knots, and she isn't really that hard on them!

I have had to return the past 2 pairs, as the seems just fall apart in no time. Clarkes here (Sth Australia) are very expensive & are not the same quality as UK (as checked against dd1's (now 7) old pairs that are still going for dd2, 2!)

Clothes here honestly make me weap! I can't afford Pumpkin patch etc (not that dd2 pjs from there are much good, already bobbling & are practically see through!) so they barely last! Again, dd2 is wearing dd1's hand me downs, over 5yrs old from Tesco, Asda etc & are still going strong (albeit for stains) but nothing I have bought dd1 here can go to dd2.

This is my bugbear here. I love Australia, but the clothes/shoes are crap! Unless you can afford high end, I can't!

Hello. I'm an Aussie (from the west) and you are right - your boys will wear shorts and tees a lot. However it can get cool and wet in Sydney.

It is hard to find nice boys clothing at a reasonable price.My little boy has a few nice items bought from online stores and I buy Boden stuff on sale from the U.K. You'll find reasonable clothing in Target stores here, but it really is just casual things.

If you have family back in the U.K I suppose they could send things over (I think it'll help with the cost of postage, which is the most prohibitive thing when buying from O.S.)

My kids live in crocs over the summer.Perfect for the sand at the beach.

I hope you'll love Sydney.It is a lovely sunny city.

Hi HighFibreDiet. Well advice from others seems to contradict my advice so you can ignore mine! To be honest i did enjoy buying clothes in Uk when we returned on holiday and having something different for us all when in Aus but never really struggled when there. I do remember that the Clarks shoes there were all one width fitting though and not different as you can purchase in UK.

We were in Drummoyne in the Inner West (just along from Balmain) which was lovely. 10 min ferry ride into city and easy access to most places. I guess only downside was not as close to the beach as the areas you are considering. We loved where we lived though as right on a bay and could see the water from our house. Pre-school and school was great and lots to do locally for kids.

We loved Sydney but my husband got offered a promotion back in UK so that was it. It did take us some time to adjust to life back here. We returned in the January, probably not the best time to make that move as there was snow for the next few weeks. A real shock for the kids!

I am sure you will have a great time there. It is a lovely city.

Thanks all. I think I will stock up on shoes at the very least. Ds1 has very wide feet and I find it hard enough to get shoes to fit him in the UK. If they are all one-width in Australia it will be even worse. They do love Crocs though so those will be great for the summer months.

For myself, I'm not particularly good at hot weather clothes anyway so I was thinking of going to one of those services in Debenhams or John Lewis etc. to get a 'capsule wardrobe' to take over. The only problem is that we are already in the autumn season so it might be hard to get summery things.

Moving back to the UK in January is always hard! I remember coming back from Cuba one January (pre kids) and feeling completely freezing all the time. It will be much easier moving from the UK winter to Sydney summer - I shall try not to complain if I find it too hot!

Thanks and I'm sure I will have more questions to follow.

Also thanks to elvisgirl for the info about markets. I do like buying secondhand clothes for ethical and environmental reasons as well as the cost, and if it means we get more choice I'm sure the boys will be happy. I shall look out for the boy-specific markets when we arrive.

There are lots of 'Op shops' in Australia too..pre loved clothes for good prices!

Gap and Zara are apparently about to open in Sydney (in the big new city Westfield I guess). With boys, shoes aren't that much different tbh - girls are a different kettle of fish! I really don't find it more difficult to dress boys here - there are lots of nice shops (Quicksilver, Billabong etc.) selling funky surfie t-shirts, hoodies and shorts which is what your kids will wear most.

Boden delivers for a flat 12 pounds postage. I've stopped turning up my nose at kids clothes in Target as their basics are reasonable quality and cheap. If you want something nice there is always DJs or Meyer (Meyer is also great for teenage and pre-teen boys). Cotton on kids also sells good basics; I basically dress my 11 and 17 year old boys from Meyer and Cotton On with jeans from Just Jeans.

If your boys have decent Winter jackets bring them. It does get cold here but not for long enough to justify buying expensive coats! A decent rain jacket will get more use - you get a surprising amount of rain in Sydney.

Hello again SunnyD. I will make a note of all your shop suggestions so I don't have to do too much hunting around when we are over here. We have ski jackets for the winter, which we wear as raincoats as well, but I was wondering if they would be too warm. Will ship them over in any case.