Moms of Boys - Need recs for cute & inexpensive clothes for DS

[CharmedOne]

I need to stock up on fall and winter clothes for DS, but I haven't found anything lately in B&M stores that call to me. DS has been mainly wearing Carters since day one. I love them, but I want to add other clothing lines to his wardrobe.

I usually hit up the usual mall stores - Gap, Old Navy, Gymboree, The Children's Place. So far I'm not liking the selection currently out there. I find typical boys clothing so boring...well, at least what I can afford. DS is currently 15 months old. He still loves animals prints (not so much the sport stuff). It's so unfair that in any given store, there's a larger selection for girls!

Where else should I be looking? I'm on a tight budget. I would prefer to keep prices under $20 for a single item.

TIA!
Caroline

http://b2.lilypie.com/3k5Am7/.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif 15 months

[hudsonam]

Have you checked out Mini Boden. They are a little pricey, especially pants and sweatshirts/sweaters, but their jersey tops are SOOOO nice and really soft, and really cute. I know what you mean about wanting something different. If you go to naughtycodes.com and look for the site Boden USA, you'll see two codes - one for 10% off and free shipping, and one for 11% off and free shipping for new customers. Their customer service is great and they back to you really quickly. There is a shirt called the contrast stitch tee that comes out to around $14 with the discount, and a lot of the other jersey tops are approx $18-19 with the discount. Oh, and I get a lot from the Lands' End overstocks page. They have tons of pants - at least in the toddler section. HTH!

[CharmedOne]

Thanks! I'll check them both out. I get the Lands' End catalogs all the time. I never think to check the overstocks online.

Caroline

http://b2.lilypie.com/3k5Am7/.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif 15 months

[hudsonam]

ETA: Mini Boden has free returns too, which is really nice. :)

You can get pants and tops on LE's overstocks page for under $10 sometimes. As low as $5. Right now it looks like the pants are closer to $10 or $15, but they're such great quality and they have a great guarantee.

[holliam]

I may be odd but I don't consider Mini Boden to be cheap. I think of cheap as around $5-7 a shirt.

I got some really cute things for my toddler girl from JCPenney. I just looked at their infant boy stuff and they have some cute things there too. Just be sure to click on the shirts, etc. because there are a ton of patterns in each style.

Holli

[hudsonam]

I don't consider Mini Boden to be cheap either. Since she said less then $20 per item, I figured I'd suggest it. They were definitely splurge items for me. :)

[saschalicks]

We can't afford Mini Boden and buy Gymboree on sale. To fill in with staples like jeans and khakis I like Target. It's hit or miss but it is definitely how we got through the summer.

HTH

[Momof3Labs]

Do you like one-piece outfits, or shirt/pant separates? H&M has some inexpensive shirts. Oshkosh has always had cute one-pc outfits (I got them at the outlet, just watch your prices as the tagged prices are way high). If you like Hanna, it can actually be affordable if you wait for the deep sales at the outlets and such.

I splurge a little on tops at, say, Gymboree, and then get inexpensive pants (like at Target or TCP) to keep the "per-outfit" cost down, but that gives me cuter options.

Check eBay too - you can often get gently used items for a whole lot less there, especially on the not-so-elite brands.

[MichelleRC]

Mulberribush always has cute tees with animals on them and are under $20, especially on sale.

HTH!

[needscaffeine]

www.cwdkids.com has cute stuff for boys. Not necessarily inexpensive but they always have a sale section on their website. They may not start until 2T or so, though.

[Ksinglet]

I also was uninspired by the boy clothes selection when my boy was a baby and young toddler. So many stripes and dumb sports decals. Something I often did that helped was to buy cotton jammies in prints I liked and let my son wear the shirts as tshirts. I like the Peppertoes line (baby lulu boys line) Leaping lizards, flap doodles, garnet hill and one called something like Bullfrog and Butterflies (might be wrong on that name but it is similar). You can find these cheap at places like Marshall's, Ross, TJ Maxx and Nordstom Rack

Another brand I really like for everyday clothes is Charlie Rocket. It can be pricey but the clothes are well made and every time he wears any of his charlie rocket stuff I get asked about where we got the clothes.

Good luck finding something. I like being a mom to a boy but I have to admit that I sometimes long for pink frilly dresses.

[tigeratty]

I would ditto TJ Maxx, etc. I just found Flapdoodles and Lauren shirts there for $7.99.

The Okie Dokie at Penneys is hit or miss, but worth checking out. I got some stuff that lasted and some that didn't.

Try Kohl's. Their Sonoma brand is pretty basic but as a PP said, good for basic bottoms. As is Children's Place.

Try consignment shops like Children's Orchard or One Upon a Child. Or even a Goodwill in a ritzy neighborhood. (There is one near my mom's house in the burbs that I am dying to check out. Even had a feature in the paper about these women who put together designer outfits from Goodwill.)

Sign up for Lands End overstocks email. I recently got the coveted climber pants for $6.99 each. Happened to be our size.

In fact, sign up on the website of the B & M stores you like for sales.

Shari

[table4three]

>I splurge a little on tops at, say, Gymboree, and then get
>inexpensive pants (like at Target or TCP) to keep the
>"per-outfit" cost down, but that gives me cuter options.
>


That's exactly what I do. Granted, part of the reason is that I have trouble finding pants to fit him, but lately I've been doing tops that I splurge on paired with Old Navy or TCP jeans/pants. Also makes everything more mix and match which is helpful for us, since DS needs at least a change of clothes per day after eating/playing/whatever messy activity.

http://b2.lilypie.com/mkn7m5.png

[ChunkyNicksChunkyMom]

Target has some really cute rugby shirts right now for 7.99 I think, they have cream with either red, blue or brown wide stripes and they look and feel much more expensive than they really are.
Susan

#1 Nick 11-18-04
#2 Kate 04-26-06

[1964pandora]

As far as style for boys, you're pretty limited, especially if you're looking for CHEAP style for boys. Unfortunately, unique style doesn't usually go along with affordability when it comes to boy's clothing. IMO, the only store mentioned that is doing anything that isn't "so boring" IS Mini Boden, like Hudsonsam said. But like Hudsonam said, they're a bit pricey, but not so bad considering that the shirts hold up a whole lot better than more affordable shirts purchased elsewhere. With the discount code Hudsonam mentioned plus the free shipping, they're worth considering. We have three of the contrast stitch t shirts. The only other suggestion I can make for a company that is a little out of the ordinary is Naartjie. I think Naartjie is the only company that combines originality and affordability for boys. The problem there is that you have to like Naartjie style, and not everyone does.

[CharmedOne]

Thanks everyone! Yeah, $20 is really my max. Of course I would love to find items much, much lower than that!

The sad thing is that if I ever have a DD, she would be dressed so much cuter than DS. Oh the options out there! Personally I'm tired of sports, trucks and bug prints. DS always chooses the more babyish prints when I offer him choices.

Caroline

http://b2.lilypie.com/3k5Am7/.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif 15 months

[hanaum02]

We're similar. I usually get shirts on sale from Gymboree or Janie and Jack with the occassional Mini Boden splurge. But, for pants, you can beat Children's Place and Old Navy. Cute and cheap!

Michelle
Zach (Sept 2004)

[tigeratty]

I was just at Target, and addition to the rugby shirts, they had some cute plaid button downs (very soft) and some cute layered style long sleeve tshirt. These were I think $4.99 and 5.99. I got some of the tshirts for DS to wear to day care. They were sports themed, but in sort of a vintagey style.

My DS favorite thing in the world is a ball, and given a choice of clothes or pjs, he will always pick the one with the ball on it. Any kind of ball.

The osh kosh genuine kids at Target had some better looking colors this season as well.

[kboyle]

yeah, i'll admitt my kids are total Gap kids, but i get all their stuff on sale, i think in charlie's 3 years i've bought *maybe* 3 things for retail price. and when i say sale price, i don't mean $14.99, i'm looking for the $7 and under stuff. :)

for this fall i did splurge and get a 3 shirts & 1pr of pants for charlie & 2 shirts & 1 pair of pants for max from boden with the disc, and i'll be getting a few prs of entertaining elephants pants for the boys, but after that all the basics will be target.

like another poster, i like to find pj tops and wear those out too, they are fitted and normally come in solids or an all over basic print, i like the target ljs for that, but can never find them at my store :(

oh, and for summer stuff, we go target all the way. i think i spent about $120 for the boys at target and they each had about 4-5 prs of shorts & 6-7 shirts...can't beat that!

[smkinc]

If you hit Target right, they have some pretty cute stuff for boys.

Mary

[octmom]

Yep. I bought three of these for DS. They definitely look and feel like they would cost more than they did.

Jerilyn
DS, Sean 10/03
DD, Katie 3/06

"Baby makes days shorter, nights longer, home happier, and love stronger."

[Melanie]

I often forget about Kohl's, but their sales are quite good. I just got Dd a couple of outfits and they had their basic brand (sonoma?) separates 2 for 10 or 2 for 14. I think they also had this sale for infant boys.

Right now at TCP it seems to be mostly stuff with obnoxious screen-printing across it.

Have you checked out Naartjie? Their essentials are pretty basic and fit your price range.

This is a bit above the $20/item range, but babycenter sales can be good and if you use ebates.com you get even more back.

http://store.babycenter.com/MEDIA/ProductCatalog/67695_211830_hg.jpg
http://store.babycenter.com/brand/kumquat?stage=all
I really like this one. I'm contemplating getting it for Dd. I wish it'd been around when Ds was little and I could have WRITTEN your original post:
http://store.babycenter.com/MEDIA/ProductCatalog/67647_211818_hg.jpg

[overcome]

nak

check out ebay :)

[stefani]

I just got their catalog, and Flap Happy shirts and pants caught my eyes! Imagine, bright colors for toddlers! It is not inexpensive, but cute.

[duvie]

I also picked up some rugby shirts at Target, along with adjustable waist jeans and a half-zip sweater.

At Sears I got 2 pairs of Carter's PJs ($10 each)-- I actually plan on using the tops as shirts-- one is blue with a St. Bernard screen on it, the other is blue fleece with a shark on it. The PJ pants are wide legged ones-- cute, but currently too big on skinny DS.