Have you ever bought boys clothes for your DD?

[SoCalMommy]

I occasionally will check out the boys section for my DD. I like pink and girlie things, but I have to admit that it's refreshing to find different colors and graphics....who says girls can't like space, etc.?!

Have you ever shopped in the boys section for your DD (or vice versa) and if so what did you get? Last year I couldn't find brown shorts in her section, but got the cutest ones in the boys....

[WatchingThemGrow]

I've bought gender neutral clothing for her, for sure! Most of it has been HA stuff though, that can be passed down - solid shorts in orange, red, carefree jeans, solid tee shirts, raincoats, socks, survivor jackets, snow bibs, rain boots, training underwear, etc.

Shirts don't really fly on DD though. She knew pretty early on that she liked shirts with cute designs on them (like Gymboree) and "boy" stuff didn't get worn much unless there was some way to cuten it up. But...we did get a good amount of use out of the stuff now that it has been through 3 DC.

eta: all pj's are gender neutral, unless we find something super-cheap. She loves her striped LJ's!

[TwinFoxes]

Yes. I buy lots of cute PJs. And I've bought several sweaters, mostly from the Gap. And it's actually hard to find girls' clothes with Mickey Mouse outside of WDW. It all has Minnie, who is fine, but one DD loves Mickey. (clearly I don't have a problem with characters on clothing, DDs like them and I'm sure I'll look back fondly on Mickey and Thomas when they get to HS!) I've never bought pants for them, DDs are very slim and I doubt they'd fit boys' pants.

[Neatfreak]

Sure I have. Usually shorts, because the tan-coloured ones on the boys' side of Old Navy or wherever are a few inches longer than the ones on girls' side of the shop. I also suspect that a few of the orange jackets and winter parkas that my daughters have owned were probably envisioned for little boys, but hey, they weren't really that keen on the pink ones with embroidered butterflies.

[BabyBearsMom]

Yup. My DD loves Elmo and its hard to find girl Elmo t shirts so I buy them in the boys dept

[wellyes]

I have, although the older she gets, the harder it is .
The biggest thing for me is rash gaurds... there are a ton for boys, and not so many for girls, so I that is the one boy item I buy every year for DD.

[Melaine]

Yes. Jeans a couple times, tees many times, rashguards, pjs definitely.

The girls love their scooby doo and buzz toy story pjs, and I have realized how nice it is that dark "boy" colors don't really stain the way pale pink does! And then we have the option of handing down to DS which is cool.

[crl]

Well she wears her brother's hand me downs for sure. And I remember buying a buys rash guard for her because they were out of her size in girls, plus the boy's had longer sleeves. Even when shopping the girls stuff, I buy blue, red and green. My tastes run pretty plain so there aren't tons of graphics on her clothes, mostly plain or stripped Ts with plain bottoms. everyone looks at me like I have two heads, but I really liked shopping for ds better, easier to match and didn't have to avoid PINK princess sparkles that just aren't my style.

Catherine

[waitingforgrace]

Certainly, mainly pajamas, tshirts, sweatshirts and rashguards. I've also bought socks when we needed a neutral like beige or gray. I don't mind pink but don't understand why everything has to be sparkly and have love all over it. I recently bought DD1 a pair of Elmo pjs from Walmart that were "boys" because the only girl version was pepto bismol pink and had the word love all over it. The ones i bought are white and red and very gender neutral, much cuter than the girl version. I've done the same with tshirts at old navy.

[lizzywednesday]

I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with shopping in the "boys" department for DD's things.

Her very early (newborn & a bunch of 0-3) clothes were hand-me-downs from my nephew and I loved those tiny little sleepers with puppy-dog or rhinoceros or giraffe feet. I've also GIVEN stuff like it as gifts to DC of both sexes.

Recently, we've shopped the "boys" section for:


Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" flip-panel tee shirt (Target)
R2D2 sneakers (StrideRite Outlet; DD picked them)
yellow vinyl rain slicker w/dinosaur-print lining (OshKosh GK at Target)
brown "all-terrain" closed-toe mesh double-velcro "sandals" (Stride Rite Outlet)
green Lizard Converse OneStar shoes (Target)
dinosaur cotton jammies (TCP)


I buy what I like, so if I like what's in the "boys" department more than what's in the "girls" department, that's what I get. It's my money; I'll spend it how I like.

Having worn men's jeans through most of college (and post-college) because women's stores were stingy with carrying long inseams (34" and longer) at the time, I see no reason why I can't cross the "barrier" into the other side of the store with any kid.

And, you know what? If I had a DS who liked princesses and glitter as much as my DD likes dinosaurs and the Beatles (really; she sings with me when I sing their songs to her), I'd totally buy a thing or three in the "girls" section for him.

ETA: DH and I were shopping at ON once when DD was itty-bitty and picking out what WE liked. The stock-kid said "oh, those are boys' tees..." and I smiled and said "so?" She didn't say anything else. A similar thing happened last fall at one of the OshKosh outlets we visit - "these are boys' overalls" and I answered "so? I bought her the same ones last year and she looks adorable in them." People have their own ideas; I don't necessarily share them. (Before I forget, I do not mean to disparage anyone who dresses a certain way for religious reasons. Many of my friends from college are frum Jews and we've had many a discussion on what's OK and what's not from their perspective as adherents to their religious views.)

[SoCalMommy]

Especially now a days, why are some companies so stereotyped when it comes to graphics?! Elmo, Mickey Mouse, even dogs are for "boys". Nothing against Minnie Mouse, but come on. As a female, it irks me.

I have no problem with buying in the boys section, but I can't believe no one at these companies has ever thought of this, especially if they were parents of girls. It's just like shopping for running shoes for me. I like pink and purple but I don't want them on MY shoes all the time. it can be hard as a grown woman to find other colors!

neat freak- never thought about boy shorts being longer. Love that!

Lizzywednesday- I completely agree and good for you to being willing to shop in the girls section if you had a son who was into those colors, graphics, etc! I think that is wonderful. :)

[doberbrat]

nearly all of dd1's shorts come from the boys dept b/c apparently, boys shorts are short pants.... girls shorts are more longer underware!

and lets face it, my girls LOVE Pink. But once in a while, I like them to look like something other than a giant bottle of Pepto!

[edurnemk]

DD will be getting a lot of hand-me-downs from DS. Anything that's not extremely boyish, she'll be wearing. And I don't see having any problem with buying specifically for her from the boys section, it's easier to find more "neutral" things in the boys section, IMO.

[oneplustwo]

Sure, all the time. DD is 10 years and a tomboy through and through. She loves a lot of the boys' tops from Zara, and I like them too. They fit her really well, truly seem gender neutral to me, and DD loves the colors (grays, blues, browns, greens, etc.) and styles. I also get her stuff from the boys' department at Lands' End.

[twowhat?]

Yep! Pajamas, pants, etc.

Though IME you can only get away with this for so long. Now when the girls see a boys' t-shirt this is what happens:

"I don't want to wear that."
"Why not? I thought you like trains."
"It's a boy shirt."
"How do you know it's a boys' shirt??"
"It looks like what Tyler wears."

LOL! So, DD1 will wear a "boys' shirt" every now and then if she likes the graphic but DD2 absolutely refuses to wear any t-shirt that has that tell-tale rib-knit neck.

[citymama]

Oh sure, but more when they're younger and have fewer opinions ;) on this kind of thing, and mostly gender neutral rather than uber boyish stuff. Lots of our baby stuff was from the "boy" sections. I don't usually buy jeans in boy styles past baby stages because the styles are so baggy, but both kids have had tshirts, pjs, overalls, Halloween costumes/dress up items, socks and even shoes that are g.n. I've always loved cute Gap and Hanna Pjs in gender neutral colors. I also love the "boy" colors for Hanna best baby jackets and onesies/soft landing pants sets.

[lizzywednesday]

...

Lizzywednesday- I completely agree and good for you to being willing to shop in the girls section if you had a son who was into those colors, graphics, etc! I think that is wonderful. :)

Maybe I feel this way because both of my brothers had baby dolls as kids, which have only solidified their roles as my go-to babysitters when I need help up north.

Or maybe I feel this way because I'm friends with a lot of theatre and music people, who often have fungible senses of gender identity. My life in high school, college and beyond would have been much poorer without those friendships.

Or maybe it's because I call my brother Joe a "pretty pretty princess" ... because, well, he is.

Whatever the reason, I'm really focused on raising a happy, confident kid, so I'm really working to put my ideals into practice.

citymama & twowhat? - thanks for the reminders, though, for when kids start to explore their own senses of self and express them in certain ways. Our nieces and nephew have hit that phase and, judging by their selection of DD's birthday and Christmas presents, they really feel like "pink is for girls and blue is for boys" and never the twain shall meet. (The nieces & nephew are almost 10, 6.5 and almost 6, so it's spot-on with associating certain things with wanting to fit in with other kids. I never had this problem - one of my first requests toy-wise was "a race car, like Brendan's" - so maybe my brain's wired differently, I dunno.)