What would your 'child's(toddler) capsule wardrobe' be for autumn/winter?

[Somethingwicked]

I just googled 'child's capsule wardrobe' and found nothing. Surely this cannot be right...

I am aspiring to be more organised than I have been now that I have 3 pre school children to clothe. My boy has been wearing girl's clothes with no pink in (hand me downs from sister) so far and as he nearly one I think he deserves better!

I need a list to sort him out for a busy winter of outdoor romping and a not very warm house.

Suggestions please!

on a massive budget, I forgot to say, so I guess all ebay, charity sales etc.

Most of my sons clothes come from sainsburys.

Not sure about a capsule wardrobe but I would say:

trousers 5 pairs
jogging bottoms
thermal vests/tops (got mine in M&S sale)
t-shirts - I have about 10 which is too many!
sweatshirts/hoodies at least 5
fleeces 2
good quality waterproof coat & dungarees or all in one (I never skimp on this!)
winter coat

wellies
sturdy shoes

pj's 3 sets
socks 6pairs
hat/gloves/scarf

when its cold I layer them up, thermal vest,t-shirt, thin sweatshirt then fleece. Saw us through a boiler breakdown in the snow last year!

If you want it capsule I guess you need to make sure you don't buy too many patterned things. Although my son doesn't care whether things go together when he dresses himself!

supermarkets can do really cheap clothes - fairly good quality IME. EG Asda does the 'school' t shirt packs 2 for £2.50 and can get blue, red, yellow and white polo shirts or white crew neck t shirts 2 for £1.50. The value trackies are about £2 a pair. I usually buy t shirts in packs and get a few pairs or tracksuit bottoms that match and brightly colored jumpers. Hooded jumpers I got from supermarket were £4 each.

I personally don't find charity shops that cheap in comparison now as supermarket and high street prices have become very competitive. Wellies are also brilliant for preventing (slowing down ) the worn look at trouser bottoms from muddy puddles!!!

Not much to add, but very interested as we are also being very squeezed both budget and space wise, and looking to buy the minimum dor the dd's.

Ok great, am list compiling now...

Jumbs-

I have twins and a toddler, so trying to go for maximum usefulness as I have so many things to buy at once, so your list looks just right for me. A question though, if you have a really great waterproof, I was thinking Hippychick ones looked perfect, a fleece, vest and even a sleeveless jumper too, do you actually need a winter coat?

I seem to remember spending most of last winter taking off my older daughter's (non waterproof) winter coat under shop doorways and putting a thick jumper and her raincoat on instead.

Also, a child can't live in wellies can they? Would I be better off getting lined ankle boots as well, or do I really need to get a pair of shoes?

We do go to the very occasional smart event, eg weddings, but not much, and we are definitely a shoes off indoors family.

lady in radiator-

I'm not thinking 'capsule' as in all going perfectly for maximum style and cool, but more having just enough of just the right clothes not to get caught short by running out or by weather etc.

I recently heard the expression 'there is no such thing as bad weather only the wrong clothes' and that is more what I was thinking about!

And would I be depriving my daughters of girliness and myself of that 'I love making my daughters look all flowery and lacy' feeling if I didn't get them any dresses or skirts? I just looked on ebay and it seems to be awash with skirts for toddler girls, but they don't seem all that practical or warm to me.

I have just done this very thing - although haven't bought it yet.

I've gone for cords, dungarees and jeans (about 5 pairs in total)

I then have lots of white long sleeve bodysuits (DS is 18 months) from John Lewis which were handmedowns from DS1. I then put polo shirts or t shirts over the top.

John Lewis also sell long sleeve vests which would work for older toddler. These mean you can layer them up and get plenty of wear out of all the short sleeved t shirts.

A couple of zippy hoodie things and a warm coat.

just having debate with OH about coat as realised DS has outgrown his winter coat. A fleece and waterproof probably adequate but I will probably get a cheapish coat for nursery wear as things get v. grubby there!

I usually try to buy ahead, so at the end of summer invest in next yrs swimwear etc and at end of winter next yrs coat etc.

That is what I would like to start doing (buying ahead) but as I am not on that loop yet it would mean buying double the clothes now, which would be a bit much this year I fear.

I would advise against buying ahead for little ones. My ds1 grew at such extraordinary rates that he went from age 3 to age 5 in a couple of months. I have 3 lovely age 4 tops from monsoon that never got worn as they were out of season.

I do make an exception for nearly new sales though.

Do you mean nct sales?

Yes - they tend to have some good quality stuff there (Boden, Monsoon, J Conran) so I tend to just scoop up what there is for the next year up.

you did spur me into spending a small fortune on John Lewis online last night though

Bang goes my resolution to only shop at Sainsburys!

Sainsbury's does great coats.

One tip I learned was - buy more sweaters, fleeces and sweatshirts than you think you need, and fewer vests and tees. They keep them on in winter, so the dinner/drool/paint/milk goes down the outer layer not the inner layer, and needs changing more often!

My minimum for small girl would be:

7 long sleeved tops, variety of prints/colours
4 trousers/cords/jeans (plainer the better, we tend to get a mix of skinny/bootcut/baggy cords and a coloured cord)
1 skirt of the robust/warm variety
a few pairs of tights/leggings
A long sleeved everyday dress
1 warm hoody
1 cardi
1 raincoat
1 winter coat
wellies
short boots
thermals

The hoody+raincoat can substitute for the winter coat on wash days.

Then her summer shorts get worn with tights and short sleeved tees get layered over long sleeved ones.

This is the basic stuff we shop for then generally end up with much much more.

We always buy more shoes/boots and warm hoodys/jackets as we are outdoors a lot. We have also found M&S thermals a godsend as they are snug and layer under clothes nicely and saves her 'normal' stuff from being washed excessively yet never seen. I think we pay around £8 for a pack of 2xvests and 2xlong johns.

5 pairs of cords,
5 t shirts,
5 hooded fleeces,
some sturdy leather boots (if he's walking),
1 pair of slipper socks,
5 pairs of navy blue or black tights (to go under the cords and stop sock removal),
5 popper vests, two warm hats,
2 pairs of mittens,
1 warm jacket
one snow suit,
3 babygrows.

if you have boys and girls buy more clothes in unisex styles / colours eg red and blue

esp things like good jackets/ coats , waterproofs, wellies, gloves/hats/scarves

lined trousers that roll up and down last longer

if you have outdoor children then these are the best thing you will ever buy. they are very warm - you can just pop them on over their indoor clothes and throw them out into the garden

oh good ideas on here

personally I would argue agaisnt those puddlesuits - I do waterproof jacket + dungarees (Aldi / Lidl - keep your eyes open abd buy all sizes when you see them) as they are each useful seperate;lty

I don't find the all in one waterproof suits that great either. I've bought several of these jackets which the ds's have been wearing this week but fine over several layers in winter too with muddy puddles waterproof trousers. I have proper winter coats too, but I suspect you could get away with substantial hoody+bodywarmer.
One thing I would say after a few years of this is buy nice jumpers & coats rather than l/s tops as quite frankly you see a lot more of them for months at a time! Esp if you are handing down (I have 3 boys all born same time of year, so I have stopped buying cheap supermarket stuff for eldest now). 2nd/3rd the M&S thermals, although got some great ones on ebay too.
Am watching with avid interest what you buy a girl, last winter dd wasn't walking.

actually it depends what they do all day - dd's nursery was roasting so she mostly wore a longsleeved tshirt over a vest, then put on a coat to go outside
all the lovely hoodies / cardies / jumeprs barely got worn

the easiest way to dress little girls in winter is long-sleeved dresses - knickers/nappy, vest, tights, dress, go.

The current fad for tunics with leggings, which mean you need socks too, or pinafores which need both a vest and a tee underneath, are way overrated in my book.

I shoudl have said that the Togz suits we have are very robust and fleece lined, they are not just thin waterproof. They have a lifetime guarantee - ours developed a problem after we had had them for a year. i phoned them and was send replacemnts by return of post. i had no receipt or other details. i was VERY impressed by their customer service

they are really for playing outside though, not for travelling in buggies / car seats. ours wear them to wash the car, play water games, dance in the rain etc

... i realise this probably has nothing to do with the original post ...........

thanks for starting this.

I am starting to panic about the need for MORE clothes.

i think dd (7) has mostly stayed the same-ish size (or i bought big enough last year) but ds (2) is a good 2 sizes bigger than last year.

i think i got OTT on how many of everything so this is really helpful!

do you think 5 trousers is enough then? what about leaky nappy incidents/multiple changes in one day by random incidents? drying takes longer in the winter.....

Great idea about layering long sleeve vests with t-shirts! i always mean to then forget.

Good point about nurseries MrsBadger. DS's is always so hot that he only needs a long sleeved t-shirt and a vest, even on the coldest days. He only wears jumpers at home.

If anyone is looking for long-sleeved vests with poppers between the legs aged 2-3, then Tesco is the only place I could find them last year.