What does my 8yo dd REALLY need in terms of clothes?

[cristina47454]

She just went through a growth spurt, and everything she puts on is too small! I have a SIL that generally passes down stuff, but this time it's been all pjs and athletic shorts

She def needs summer shoes...flip flops, sandals (for dresses), sneakers, maybe a croc knock off?

SHe has a couple of pairs of capris that will still be ok...(the issue isn't her waist, it's the length)...

What is the minimum I can get away with? I guess for the summer itself she'll be okay...shorts and swimsuits, a couple of sundresses. It's from now until the end of the school year that is the problem! The weather has been weird, hot then cold, and they enforce a dress code (no tank tops, no shorts above the knee, nothing with spaghetti straps - which cancels out all of her summer dresses)

[frolick16]

this is a great question and I would love to hear an answer. I am wondering the same thing for my 6, 12, 16 year old...last year I spent money that was wasted as the kids always have their favorite/ repeat wear clothes. My dd, 6, ended up hating anything with a tight waist band (ie jeans) and only wears skirts with tights or softies (pseudo yoga pants), my middle had the tight jean fad that he has now relinquished...hoping to sell/trade the clothes for this year and am interested in getting the most bang for my buck/barter...

[gothnurse3]

I just recently downsized all the hand-me-downs to this configuration for each child:
10 short sleeve shirts
4 pair of shorts
1-2 pairs of jeans/pants
4 dresses for church
2 pair of PJ's
4 pair underwear
4 pair of white socks
1 pair tennis shoes
1 pair dress shoes
1 pair flip flops
1 pair teva knock offs
1 pair rain boots
2 swimsuits ( 1play and 1 nice)
1 coat
1 jacket
1 raincoat
1 sweater (cardigan...neutral for church)

But, I also keep a clear plastic box for each child in the laundry room with 4 sets of play clothes. These are already worn/stained/mended...they wear these everyday at home. The rest of their clothes are for going to school or leaving the house. Now that will be homeschooling next year I will try to have even less. They (just like me) have favorite outfits that they wear over and over and over. This also keeps me on my toes with laundry so that I rarely have a build up of clothes...cause they will run out if I don't do laundry every 2-3 days.

[freestylemama]

Goth nurse, why so few underware? Do you do laundry every day?

I can't imagine having fewer than 7 pair or socks and underware.

[chel]

my biggest concern was traveling. we would often have 3 day trips. about 6outfits is the min. here

and yes more panties. currently dd1 needs 6-9

[alicia622]

I think it depends on how frequently you do laundry. I am a weekly laundry person so I like to have at least 10 outfits for each season so I know we won't run out even if we have to change clothes during the day. DS is 4 and he plays hard so there is never the option of reusing an item of clothing between washing. If I did laundry more frequently, I would be comfortable with fewer clothes. I like to have clean PJ's daily but will on occasion reuse a pair- so 5-7 is fine.

[justmama]

why don't you layer things? short sleeve shirts under spaghetti strap summer dresses? We are in New England as well so I know what you mean about the weather. Right now my girls have jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, and dresses and capri's in their closets. Long-sleeves aren't necessary, just toss on a hoodie. They tend to wear capri leggings under dresses a lot. A tank dress can go at least 3 seasons(mine go all year) with leggings or jeans under and a t-shirt or long-sleeve shirt under. I'd say each of my girls has about 5 pairs of bottoms and maybe 7 tops and maybe 5 dresses?

[cristina47454]

I do the layer thing with long sleeves under short sleeves...never occurred to me to do short sleeves under spaghetti straps. Doh!

I just feel like they have NOTHING to wear, when in reality their drawers are stuffed to the gills. Since I essentially am starting from scratch for my newly size 10 8yo, I want to try being efficient about it. I think the first step is going to be trying EVERYTHING on, so I can see exactly what we are working with...

[Teenytoona]

Yeap try it all on.

I might suggest several pairs of jeans - my 8 yo girl (and 10 yo boy) go through them like, IDK, blowing out knees constantly!

Also with shoes, something sturdy if you do any hiking/outdoorsy stuff.

Somehow we end up with 80 billion shirts and 2 pairs of pants with both kids, so I focus on getting enough pants. But really in my mind, you can never have enough undies/socks. Esp if you aren't on top of the laundry.

This reminds me. I need to get into DSD's room and go through everything she has. She has too many shirts and no room for them.