Ideally, I would outfit my kids entirely in Gymboree and Hanna Andersson. My mother-in-law is the clothes buyer for our kids though, and she finds some fabulous stuff at (what she likes to call) “The Second-Hand clothes from the Rich Kids” store. The prices are comparable to Old Navy and it’s GOOD stuff, especially for ages 2 and under. It gets a little harder to find kid’s clothing in larger sizes, especially for the boys. I wait until the super-sales at the places I like to shop, and sometimes I get great deals!

And Amelia, it does pay off to go garage saling several Saturdays in a row. We probably did it 5 consecutive weekends, and we spent about $35 altogether for a closetful of fall/winter clothes, plus 4 pairs of shoes and two coats. (I also saw a ton of great baby stuff that I didn’t need, like nice strollers, toys, etc… I was tempted to get them just ’cause of the great prices.)

Living in the NW all my life and then moving to SA a few years ago from the Seattle area has really changed my perception. Image is huge on the West Coast! Seattle has more millionaires per capita than any other city in the US, so being surrounded by lots of wealth and people who really care about image influenced how I lived and spent money.

With that said, my 1st child was born in the Seattle area so my opinion of clothing him was important while living there, however I was very fortunate because most of his wardrobe for the first 3 years of his life were supplied through gifts and my sister (worked as a fashion stylist in NYC for many children apparel companies until earlier this year). My sister provided clothing from Baby Gap, The Children’s Place, Flora and Henri, Best & Co., K.Kauffman….a variety from mid-priced to luxury children apparel. I do love Baby Gap, Janie & Jack, Pumpkin Patch, and Tea Collection, but I RARELY shop at those stores. When I do make purchases there, I buy only when there’s a good sale on top of current sale-priced clothing. When that happens, I am buying clothing at Target prices because the clothing are out-of-season, so I stock up for my kids to wear the following year.

Being 32 and a little more wiser and practical with how I spend my money, I don’t really care now about outfitting my kids head-to-toe with certain brand anymore. Most of the time I’m shopping at Old Navy, Target, TJ Maxx, or Marshalls for them. I also really like the selection at Kid to Kid, a children’s resale shop here in San Antonio. I’ve found great stuff for my son and daughter there at unbeatable prices!! I had a playdate with a friend and her daughter this morning and commented on how cute I thought her daughter’s outfit was, which my friend in return told me was a Wal-Mart purchase. From this point on, I will include Wal-Mart in my list of stores to shop at for my kids.