I think I may be dressing my children like the village idiot

[MillyMollyMoo]

They have taken to circling what they want out of the Boden catalogue which is fine for the eldest but by the time DD3 get them they are min of 4 years out of date, a bit scruffy and frankly she looks like worzel gummage with her wild hair.
I always used to buy the best I could afford for the eldest thinking I'd get 3 lots of use out of it but that stratedgy isn't working anymore.
So who sells nice girly, smart clothes that aren't too expensive ?

Primark, M&Co., M & S, Peacock, Asda, Matalan.
You get value for money with them, I reckon.
I'm not sure what you call smart or girly, but obviously a lot of people are happy with the items they get in those places.

h and m is good too and can do some boden like stuff. tbh i would go for the 4th hand boden even if it is scruffy until your daughter worries about it. ime boden stuff doesn't really date anyway.

Gap is good for up to about 6, then I find it harder to get what I'm looking for. But the jeans are a good fit and wash very well.

You can sometimes strike Boden-esque-style gold if you look really hard in the supermarkets and Matalan but most of it doesn't wear that well. Monsoon is great if you manage to hit the 50% sale on the first day. Debenhams is ok, but I find it over-priced.

H&M. DD is Girl At H&M this year. It's a one-stop shop.

Going even cheaper, I was pleasantly surprised by Asda's girl clothes last time I went (about a year ago). Not as much glittery pink as you get in other supermarkets - nice bold reds, lovely floral prints. This may have changed now though...

John Lewis has some lovely girls clothes. Not cheap, but not Boden prices either.

Asda can be v.good. DD has a leggings/tunic combo, two lino-print fabrics and lined. Twas £6. And a reversible hoodie which is the spit of my White Stuff one at a tenth of the price. You do have to search the good stuff out though.

You see I find with the discounts JL and Boden are very similar price wise and I'm not very keen on what we've had from there.
Asda I shall check out and H&M thanks for the suggestions.

Zara and H&M - cute, on trend, not exorbitant.

If Zara child is anything like Zara adult we wouldn't get a leg in their clothes

I agree with Botbot. Just bought dd the following for £60 which I think is pretty good going ...

hat and gloves - multi striped and fleece lined
1 pair hello kitty socks - pink
1 pair thick knee high socks - cerisey purple with fair isle pattern
2 pairs woolly tights - light grey/cerise
2 pairs thicker leggings - dark grey/black
3 long sleeved tops - white/grey with white dots/cerise & pink striped
1 woolly dress - cerisey purple with fair isle pattern
1 longish wooly cardigan - light grey

they all mix and match and together with what she already has this will see her through for a while.

meant to say from H&M

as much as i usually dislike next for kids clothes due to the work next in huge letters across some of it, they have some nice girls stuff in atm

'word' not work, oops

www.pumpkinpatch.co.uk have some nice things if you look.

Next, h and M and Zara.

Dd is dressed in H&M, Boden (sale only though), Next and M&S. I do occasionally buy from Primark / supermarket but it just does not wash well so it looks exhausted after just a few washes.
My favourite is H&M - great stuff and nice prices.

Agree H&M best for funky clothes at a good price. I have lovely things there and often buy as presents because you can get a complete outfit for the price of a single dress/top from other stores.

For funky clothes at a higher price, you could also look at Polarn O. Pyret (v good quality ime), Pumpkin Patch (can vary as they went through a real pastel, boring stage but they can have very interesting things too and good sales), some of the M&S especially their "limited" range or whatever it's called for kids, they don't stock it in my local store but my mil gets lovely stuff in her large city store (Glasgow).

There was a recent thread about funky kids clothes with lots of links to online places too...