Welcome to another installment of Thrifty Threads, AKA Most Stylish Compact-y Outfit, where readers model their favorite secondhand clothes. Or in this case, where readers' children model their secondhand clothes.A Compact-y outfit is used or recycled, from Goodwill, a thrift store or consignment shop, ebay, craigslist, a yard sale, or anywhere else you might find secondhand clothing.
Today's model is Simone, whose mom Cate blogs at Budget Confessions. Simone is 7 months old, and also goes by the nickname Tidbit. Cate's blog is about living better with less, and it follows her commitment to a healthy life for her family. She posts budget goals, menu plans, and lots of great recipes, among other things. One thing I'm really excited about is that she's learning how to make Indian food, which is also a goal of mine, so I'll be following along. She and I share a love of crockpot meals as well. Cate describes herself on her blog as "just a woman trying to balance marriage, motherhood, and simple living - all on a budget." It sounds like something we can all relate to these days, although in my case I don't have an adorable red-haired girl in the mix.
Cate says they bought this red Children's Place sweater at a local children's consignment shop for $8. Simone has been wearing it since October, and it's so big (notice the rolled-up sleeves) that she should get several more months' wear out of it. It's so cute! We all know how fast children grow out of their clothes, so a lot of the inventory at the consignment shops, or even the Goodwill is like new. Last weekend I found some cute onesies, a sweater, and baby overalls at a yard sale for fifty cents each that looked like they'd never been worn. I'm going to give them to my friend as an extra gift, separate from the baby shower. I've heard that people get lots of "special" clothes, but they always need onesies and everyday stuff that can be put in the washer.
Thanks Cate, and Simone, who now has the distinction of being the first child model for Thrifty Threads. It looks like she's taking after her mom, at least in the area of her lovely red hair. Readers, please send photos of you or your kids wearing secondhand clothes to barton.angela@gmail.com. It's so inspiring to see the fabulous finds people are getting for a lot less money.
Do you shop secondhand, for yourself or your kids? My mom never bought secondhand clothing for us, but I loved to shop at the thrift stores in high school and college. It was so much fun to put together an outfit that everyone couldn't buy at the mall. Please leave your tips and advice for secondhand shopping in the Comments section, and I'm sure Cate will accept compliments on behalf of her daughter. Click here to check out previous installments of Thrifty Threads.
9 comments:
Adorable! It seems like such a brilliant idea to dress babies and kids in second-hand clothes, because they are constantly growing. Very cute outfit :)
What a little darling!
When my kids were little they almost exclusively wore secondhand clothes, and they were very well dressed. The thing about children's clothing is that a lot of it gets very little wear... especially the really nice stuff. I mean if someone spends $60 for a Hanna Andersson toddler dress they are likely to care for it very well. Then when their child outgrows it, I can buy it for $5-10. That way I don't have a cardiac arrest when my child spills chocolate milk down the front;)
Thank you to you and to Simone's mom for sharing that lovely picture. Simone is truely adorable! I too shared, swapped and bought second hand clothing for my two children. We were on a really tight budget at the time, so we were thrifty out of necessity. Today we do it out of concern for the planet. We began buying new clothes for our children when they entered school. I was not well dressed as a child, and was teased and felt deeply humiliated at the time. Circumstances made that I did not feel comfortable speaking about the teasing to the people raising me, and this is a burden I bore alone. There was NO WAY my children were not to wear what was hip at the time once.
Thanks for posting! Always nice to have total strangers tell you how cute your kid is. :-)
A true mini eco-frugalista - looking amazing and joyous without spending a lot of money or contributing to consumerism.
Simone has a sound and happy future with a financial-savvy mom like Cate. I love Budget Confessions.
I obtain all my clothes through thrift shops or swaps. Just go with an open-mind and have fun. Try and buy only what you need or love. Donate to contribute to the cycle. - Catherine
Aww.. what a cutie pie!! Love the sweater!! I buy used when I can, but also buy new. But now i've been trying more and more to buy gently used when I can! :)
My kids wear a lot of second hand clothes - either from friends/family or goodwill. I generally only buy new stuff on clearance.
And there is so much nice stuff out there that has had very little wear and is still hip.
Almost the only things I buy new are school uniforms, as these wear out fast.
I raised my daughter on hand me downs and often returned the favor. We should be getting clothes within a week that will be hand me down. It only makes sense to do so.
Thank you all for your comments.
Jane's comment made me realize another reason why children's clothes are such a good candidate for buying used- not only are they often barely worn, but how "hip" do kid's clothes need to be? I don't think the styles change that much, it seems like a cute dress is always a cute dress.
Thanks again to Cate and Simone! So cute!
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