babysparkler Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 I always seem to have way too many clothes for my kids as a result of church hand-me-downs... though it is great not having to shop for clothes, this seems to become overwhelming when we receive way too much. The laundry piles up (b/c I tell myself I can wait to do laundry since they still have clothes in their drawers). My question is: What does your kids' wardrobe look like? How many pairs of pants, shirts, etc. for the season? I would like to narrow ours down a bit and donate the rest of these hand-me-downs. Thanks!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasharowan Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 We're in the same boat. Due to hand-me-downs and Grandma shopping, we can go two weeks without doing laundry for the 3 little ones. My oldest has grown too much recently and only has 1 week of clothes. I don't have a solution for you though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patchfire Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 I make a list at the beginning of each set of seasons (spring/summer, fall/winter) and then go from there to see what we already have. For instance, for the summer, dd1 needed to have 8 shorts outfits (mostly jean shorts & t-shirts), 2 nicer outfits (capris, long shorts, or light pants, and a nicer shirt), 4 dresses, 3 swimsuits, a raincoat, 12 pairs underwear, 3 nightgowns, 4 pair pajamas. Ds, on the other hand, I had down for 10 shorts outfits, 3 outfits that were nicer/possible churchy outfits (boys can get away with a polo & long shorts for so long!!), 3 swim trucks, 2 swim shirts, a raincoat, 15 pairs of underwear, and 8 pairs of pajamas. He goes through clothes. :lol: On top of that, they each had down to have a pair of sneakers, sandals, and flip-flops. Next year, dd1 has informed me she need water shoes, too, to take to camp (it's on the lake). In general, I do a load of clothes-laundry and a load of household laundry (towels, diapers, cleaning rags, etc) each day, so I based the amounts on how long it would, on average, take everything to get washed, and then added a few days buffer. Dd2 has way too many clothes just from her sister's handmedowns (we lived in an apartment then and did laundry much less often), plus our impulse that "she should have something that is new just for her!" It's frustrating sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmacnchs Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 Same here...I just did a minor clean out. We get clothes from 4 different families (3 of which have 2 girls each) so when I was pulling out the next size and realized my daughter had over 50 dresses and over 30 shirts, I decided to downsize. They still has too many because my hubby is a hoarder at heart and will only let me get rid of so much and because we dont' know if we are going to have more, etc. But I will try to get rid of some more next year (give him time to forget :)) Right now, my dds have about 25 dresses a piece and about 20 shirts a piece. My ideal would be about 5 dresses and 10-15 shirts...so many?because they are young and messy...so few? because I wash 2x/week so what's the point of having more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Mount Washmore never gets smaller, I could easily go 6 weeks not doing laundry for 3 of my kids and have enough clean clothes for them. The oldest now is getting harder as we do not get hand-me-downs for him so he has much less than the rest. I am tired of the mountains of dirty clothes, then of clean ones to put away and mostly of finding them scattered all over thekids rooms when they are searching their drawers for a particular shirt etc, In my dd's room it can take 2 hours to refold and hang up all her clothes once she has emptied the drawers etc. No child should have so much clothing that it takes 2 hours to clean up AND half her wardrobe is still in the dirty laundry waiting for me to get to it. I need to downsize big time but don't know where to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 My sons each have: 3 pairs of shorts 2 pairs of nice jeans 1 pair of junk jeans 3 pair of pj pants 5-6 long sleeve shirts 5-6 short sleeve shirts 1 dress outfit (slacks/shirt & tie) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i.love.lucy Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 I do this with the change of seasons, which is TX is about twice a year. All their short sleeve shirts can stay out year round because of our climate, but for dd as soon as she starts to not like something because it's getting too short or whatever, she has strict instructions to move it to the "Goodwill" basket in the laundry room. We are in the midst of a cold snap here and had to dig for a few warmer things, but it will be back up to 90 degrees in a couple of days. DD: I will hope for 5-6 long sleeve shirts, and 5-6 decent short sleeve ones, 3 jeans or pants, 3 capris, 6 church outfits (could be skirt/shirt combos or dresses). She will need church shoes (not sure yet for winter), crocs, tennies and flip flops. She's just at an age where I can trust her more for what she likes and will wear. DS: same, 5-6 long and 5-6 short sleeve shirts, 3 jeans or other play pants, 3 shorts, 3-4 nicer pants or shirts for church. Crocs, tennies, cowboy boots, church shoes. I wish we got more hand me downs, but I pop in to Goodwill pretty often and can find some good stuff if I keep my eye out. Then I need to be wary of overbuying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babysparkler Posted September 24, 2009 Author Share Posted September 24, 2009 I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Mount Washmore never gets smaller, I could easily go 6 weeks not doing laundry for 3 of my kids and have enough clean clothes for them. The oldest now is getting harder as we do not get hand-me-downs for him so he has much less than the rest. I am tired of the mountains of dirty clothes, then of clean ones to put away and mostly of finding them scattered all over thekids rooms when they are searching their drawers for a particular shirt etc, In my dd's room it can take 2 hours to refold and hang up all her clothes once she has emptied the drawers etc. No child should have so much clothing that it takes 2 hours to clean up AND half her wardrobe is still in the dirty laundry waiting for me to get to it. I need to downsize big time but don't know where to start. That is exactly me... that is why I am so desperate to downsize! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SheWillFly Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 We don't have space for tons of extra clothes. It is my preference that the children have enough appropriate clothing to get through an entire week. (7) Things like dressier clothing I prefer two outfits that are seasonally appropriate per child. 7 pants/shorts (at least 2 pairs of yoga or sportier pants/shorts included and 1 "good" pair) 3-7 skirts/dresses (for the girls;) ) 7 t-shrits 7 long sleeve ts 3 sweatshirts 2 sweaters 2 collared shirts 2 dressier outfits for ballet, plays and holidays 1 seasonal jacket 2 pairs of shoes 10 socks 10 undies 3 pairs of PJs or nightgowns. I can't wait till this in between weather is done and we are fully into fall/winter clothing. Right now the closets and the bisn are overflowing with 4 seasons worth of clothes.:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 Honestly, I have no idea. A lot. I usually downsize when pants or shirts don't fit in the drawer. She's got a birthday coming up, and at least one grandparent is bound to buy her clothes, plus we're coming up on season change, so I need to get into the "winter" wardrobe (what in other climes is more of a fall/spring wardrobe) and see what she needs. For summer/year round clothes she has plenty, but she may need another zipper sweater and/or sweat shirt, as she has outgrown her favorites of both of those. Her coat should still fit. I do have to make almost all new SCA garb for her. She's outgrown most everything she wore to Estrella War last year (most of which I made when she was 3 or 4). Fortunately, her halloween costume will give me a head start, and the 6 pairs of fleece pants I made for her when she was 2 still fit; they're more capri-length fleece leggings, but they'll do the job. They also get worn as pajama pants at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheBrink Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 For my house, dd has: 5 pair of pants 10 tops 10 pair of socks 10 pair of undies 4 pair pajamas 2 dresses 2 hoodies 1 winter coat tennis shoes 2 pair casual shoes (both are appropriate for church) 1 pair snow boots. At her father's house, she has 3 pair of pants 6 shirts 6 pair undies 6 pair socks 2 pair pajamas tennis shoes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babysparkler Posted September 24, 2009 Author Share Posted September 24, 2009 I very much appreciate all of your responses! It is VERY helpful! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalknot Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 My question is: What does your kids' wardrobe look like? How many pairs of pants, shirts, etc. for the season? I would like to narrow ours down a bit and donate the rest of these hand-me-downs. Thanks!!! My kids have lots of clothes. Our life is too hectic to pare down to the bare minimums, because I can't guarantee that laundry will be done every week. I work out of state, and my job is flexible but not predictable. If I had a "normal" life, with a predictable week and set laundry day, I'd probably have an outfit for every day of the week PLUS one or two spares (for accidents, visitors, etc.) I live in Texas with unpredictable weather so I'd probably end up with 3-4 pairs of jeans, 3-4 pairs of athletic pants, 3-4 pairs of shorts, 10 tees, 3-4 long-sleeved tees in solid colors that could go under the other 10 tees in colder weather, 2-3 polos, 1-2 dress shirts. For girls I'd add in 3-4 skirts and 2-3 pairs of solid leggings or tights that could be worn under the skirts in colder weather. One heavy coat, one lightweight coat, one swimsuit. But as it stands, my kids have way more than this. It's actually been a benefit to me, though. When laundry piles up, we make a day of it and everyone chips in. The 3 year old sorts and folds, the 8 year old washes, and I hang everything to dry (ironing if necessary). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 My kids' wardrobes really annoy me! They have what seems like 8 million shirts and 2 pairs of pants. For some reason, all the grandmas (my mom, my mil and dh' step-mom), as well as all the aunts, only purchase shirts for my kids, so we have quite a few. My kids are roughly the same size, so they share shirts. I'd say in reality they have about 60 shirts between them, including Tshirts, dress shirts, polo-type shirts and sweaters. And they each have about 5 pairs of pants that fit. I have a hard time finding pants that they like and that actually fit. Both of them have weird sensory issues with clothing, and refuse to wear certain things. Actually, both of them would wear nothing but pajamas 24/7 if I'd let them. I'd like to get to a point where we had about 10 daily outfits each, so that I could do laundry every week to week and a half. Good luck with your purging! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 My problem is my own creation. Clothes are so darn cute! My kids have WAY too many summer outfits, but we do have 9 months of warm weather down here. For winter they have 7 pairs of pants and 10 or so long sleeve shirts for winter. They each have 10-12 pairs of socks and underwear for each day. I wash every Thursday, so it works out well unless I get sick that day, yikes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikeBookBread Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 (edited) I'm glad I'm not the only one with this issue... As I type, I'm downloading pix off of my camera to sell CLOTHES on eBay. Both grandmas love to buy clothes for the girls. I have a cousin that about quarterly sends us BOXES of her (very worn out, but serviceable) clothes that I have to sort through...half the stuff is 3 years too big, and we just don't have the capacity to store it. DH is getting on my back (a bit of a rant here) to get their wardrobes downsized. :boxing_smiley: I'm doing the best I can! But honestly, I like to pick some of their stuff too, you know, and between the gifts etc., we don't buy much (what a problem to have, huh?). My taste and my cousin's taste is VERY different (everything has a character on it :glare: and every time I open that box I know it's going to mean tears for my girls because I really don't want them walking billboards for Disney). My goal for each: 5 short sleeved or sleeveless shirts 5 long sleeved shirts 2 non-jean pants 1 pair jeans 3 shorts 2 skirts 5 dresses (they wear dresses constantly. I could forget the rest and they'd be happy, but what would we do when we were going hiking as a family? :lol:) Edited September 24, 2009 by BikeBookBread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babysparkler Posted September 24, 2009 Author Share Posted September 24, 2009 Actually, both of them would wear nothing but pajamas 24/7 if I'd let them. Mine too :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twilkin Posted May 9, 2010 Share Posted May 9, 2010 Occasionally we go through closets and thin them out before I let them acccept new clothes. It's inevitable though, clutter will happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted May 9, 2010 Share Posted May 9, 2010 5-7 play/junky outfits, 4-5 nice outfits to go to the store etc., and 7-8 church outfits are plenty. My 8 yr. old dd dug a pile out of her dresser and said "I have too many shirts. They won't fit in the drawers" :) It "helps" me keep things pared down that my kids have VERY limited dresser space, so I have to be choosy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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