Fact: I am a shop-a-holic. I love fashion. I’ve always loved fashion for myself, but when I had my son, I began a love affair with little people fashion. The truth is though, little people fashion can come at a very high price tag. I don’t like paying a high price tag for anything, especially clothes that my son is going to grow out of and ones that are going to be packed away in boxes before I know it. I’m sure there’s a lot of people out there like me who want to put their kids in the very best clothes, but don’t want to break the bank. Today I wanted to share some ideas with all you mothers who have sons on how you can dress your baby boy on a budget.
Tip 1. Save clothes if you know you want another baby down the line.
This one is really easy as long as you have a little bit of extra space in your house or garage. If you’re like me and know that you will probably have another child in the future, do yourself a favor and save some of your child’s favorite clothes. Once my son grows out of his clothes, I save my favorites and fold them in boxes that I store on top of our closet. When another baby enters our lives, I will have some neutral clothes saved and if that baby happens to be another boy, he will already have a pretty decent sized wardrobe.
Tip 2. Wait for sales.
All stores have sales off and on throughout the year. Wait for them. It is an especially big savings if you can shop for winter clothes after winter and summer clothes after summer has passed. Once the seasons change, stores get new clothing items and everything else gets marked down. Buy ahead of time in sizes up for the next year. Shopping off season always saves money.
Tip 3. Frequent thrift stores, consignment sales, and yard sales.
There’s so many hidden gems out there waiting to be found and it’s a fun adventure finding them. When you shop online, make sure you never purchase anything without first checking retailmenot.com. This is a simple to use site that let you plug in any online store and quickly pulls up any coupon codes that are currently active. It’s always a nice surprise when you can score free shipping or a 20% off code.
Tip 4. Check the girls section.
Yes, I just said that. It’s true! Because girl sections always seem to have more items than the small boy sections in stores, check out the girls sections, too. Fact: unisex items are almost AlWAYS put in the girl sections. My son has plenty of plain white shirts and striped leggings that are completely unisex but were stocked in the girls sections.
Tip 5. Boys can accessorize, too.
Please don’t go run out and buy your son a bunch of jewelry.. By accessorizing, I mean fun things like hats, beanies, and belts. Girls get to have all the fun with their big bows and headbands but boys want the extras, too. Target always has the cutest hats for under $10 and we’ve found brand new baseball caps for my son at Goodwill for $1 each.
Now that I’ve shared a few tips with you I thought I would step it up a notch and SHOW you some ways that you can realistically dress your son on a budget while keeping him cute, fashionable, and on trend!
^^ I hope you have all heard of Etsy. If you haven’t, please do yourself a favor and check it out. Etsy is packed full of amazing shop owners who create one of a kind, handmade items. There are TONS of shops that make amazing clothing for VERY reasonable prices. Lil Indian Papoose is one of those such shops. Packed full of affordable cute leggings and tops like the ones you see above.
^^Remember how I said you should check the girls sections in stores for unisex items? The star leggings you see above were found in the girls section of Old Navy and cost me a whopping $5. The cute red baseball cap? That gem was found at Gymboree on a serious mark down for around $5, too. I waited for it to go on sale and my wallet thanked me.
^^Target is my #1 go to for baby boy budget items. The entire ensemble you see above was ALL purchased at Target and cost me less than $20. Hat and shoes included. Target is getting pretty serious about their fashion and they have some really good stuff. The Shawn White for Target line is especially great. They carry a wide range of colored skinny jeans like the green ones above.
^^ If you wait for items you love to go on sale, you’re in for a treat. Some of my favorite online apparel shops hold sales a few times a year and I love to shop those. When one of my favorite shops was getting new items in, they discontinued their old items and put them on a serious markdown. I was able to snag this cute sweatshirt for a great deal!
^^ See this sweatshirt above? It was $5 at Target and that wasn’t even on sale. My son wants to wear it every single day. See, the amazing thing about little kids is that they don’t care if their clothes are designer. They just want to wear fun things that make them happy. And those cheap items just may turn out to be their favorites!
^^ If you have an H&M near you, run to it. So frequently they do 50% off their already clearanced items and you can walk out with bags full of clothes for practically nothing. H&M has an amazing boys selection of clothes for great prices like these trendy little jean short suspenders, perfect for the warm weather that is near!
I hope that this post has given you some good tips and some fun ideas of places you can shop and clothes you can buy your boys. The thing is, I’ve always thought shopping for boys was harder than shopping for girls. Stores just don’t have the same amount of clothing that the girls get and it can be very difficult. Especially if you’re shopping on a budget. But don’t lose hope. I can truthfully say that shopping for my son is one of my most favorite things to do. I’ll take the jean short suspenders and baseball caps over the bows and frills any day. Happy shopping and happy saving money!