Thursday, July 28, 2005

One size does not fit all.

Spent a girls' day at the mall yesterday with Mom, Sister-in-law, and her four girls, and boy was I tired by the end of the day. Sister-in-law (from now on abbreviated SIL) wanted me to pick out school clothes for the 2nd grader. Last year in 1st grade, her little girl was picked on a lot, and apparently some of it stemmed from her clothes, so SIL wanted to make sure that 2nd grader has cool clothes this year. SIL thinks I am more fashion savvy than she is; I don't know about that, but I'll take the compliment.

I guess since I've been around college students for so long, I had forgotten that little kids can be so mean to each other.

Anyway, the shopping trip was pretty successful except for one area--pants. 2nd grader is a little bit chunky around the middle--not fat, but not a skinny kid. It seems, though, that little girls' pants are made for miniature super models. If the pants fit around the waist, they are much too long. We did find some really cute pants that had drawstrings around the hem that could be gathered up so that they don't drag the ground, and they looked great on 2nd grader, but they cost over $30. Why on earth do little girl pants cost so much? I cannot fathom paying that much for clothes for kids, especially when they will only be able to wear them for one year or less before growing out of them. It's ridiculous. Makes me very glad that I don't have kids of my own that I have to shop for.

Have any of you experienced this type of problem when shopping for little kids? Is there a company that makes reasonably priced, fashionable clothes that fit girls of different shapes and sizes? SIL and I would be greatful for such a place.

5 comments:

Tony Arnold said...

My wife shops almost exclusively at 2nd hand and consignment shops. Buys almost brand new clothes and a fraction of the price. Kids grow out of them so fast, they can't have been worn too much. She has bought stuff that retails for $80-$100 for $5-$20. I have to admit, our materialistic, throw-away society works great for frugile scavengers.

Tony

JMG said...

I shop consignment as well sometimes. The problem I run into, though, it that the consignment shops contain the same limited sizing as the retail shops. People who do manage to find that perfect fit when they have body flaws tend to hang onto those clothes until they're worn out.

Clarissa said...

I don't remember about the pricing, but I do remember running into this exact problem and finding good options at Old Navy Online. Online shopping was much easier for me at that point than actually hitting the stores.

Bar L. said...

I understand your dillema completely! Last year I took x-bf's daughter clothes shopping. She was 10 at the time and all the clothes were too sexy...that's right...too sexy. Low cut pants, little tiny shirts. Of course she loved them but we finally found a few things that were cute and looked appropriate on a 10 yr. old.

It was a sad statement to me. We tell our girls to be moral and pure but the world screams out to them to use their sexuality.

Sorry...didn't mean to change the subject.

Good luck finding some a good solution :)

jettybetty said...

Hey,
That's what I thought you were going to say--you couldn't find anything but houchy clothes for an 8 year old!

You must a pretty cool--Auntie JMG, the fashion queen!

We have had lots of success with Old Navy online with hard to find sizes, too. They tend to be pretty trendy things, not expensive and will cover up most of the needed places.

Now, if I can just get over being upset that someone picked on your first grade niece.

JB