I know I've mentioned before (but am now too lazy to look for and link to that mention, wherever it might be) how utterly useless I find most cold-weather children's clothing. Cotton, cotton, acrylic (gross), and . . . more cotton.
Where's the wool, people? The cozy, comfy, warm wool?
I don't knit, so I'm not making my own. Most stores don't carry it, even if I were willing to pay retail for clothing my kids grow out of within months*. Retail for the sort of clothes I need for them is like fifty bucks for one wooly sweater. That's not really an option for me.
And here's where I sing the praises of and bow down in gratitude for second-hand stores. The Salvation Army has been my, uh, salvation (sorry--it was irresistible) more than once for good winter clothes for Cubby and Charlie. The wooliest wool sweaters I've ever found have been there. Also the fleece-lined overalls, the heaviest fleece pajamas, and the best flannel shirts. For, at most, four bucks apiece.
Today we went to the slightly-fancier and therefore slightly more expensive consignment store dedicated to children's clothing. But even with their slightly higher prices, I got multiple mostly-wool sweaters, corduroys and flannel-lined overalls and jeans, flannel shirts and sweatshirts for about the cost of two good sweaters at retail value. The most expensive item was still less than ten dollars. And it's all really, really good-quality, useful stuff.
I'm glad someone is willing to shell out the cash to buy this stuff new, so that I have the option to buy it used. Because there is no way I could adequately clothe my children otherwise. I mean, without taking up knitting myself.
Perish the thought.
* I'm not kidding about the growing. Today I bought 12-month sized clothing for my five-month-old and size 5T for my not-quite-three-year-old. I never imagined I would only give birth to giants, but here I am, and here they are in their RIDICULOUSLY LARGE CLOTHING, GOOD LORD.
4 comments:
I bet Cubby is so active he actually wears out clothing thus reducing the hand me downs for Charlie. I always found the used clothing deals start drying up once they are past the pre school age. By then they are growing more slowly and the new clothing options seemed like a better deal to me by then.
I guess fleece is the new wool.
Even if you knew how to knit, I don't know when you would find time to do it.
I love that you have started shopping thrift type stores...it only makes sense. Beth
Knitting the clothes, in addition to being very time-consuming, would also probably be more expensive. Wool yarn is a lot more expensive than acrylic yarn. There are some major brands that make fairly inexpensive wool yarn (like Lion), but most of it is more expensive. For instance, I am currently making a sweater for my one-year old niece (who is wearing 2T clothing), and the yarn cost about $30. Using the absolute cheapest yarn you can find (which will be of the lowest possible quality), you could probably make it for $15. Generally, knitting is an expensive habit unless you like knitting with squeaky acrylic yarn (which I can't stand).
Wool sweaters are crazy expensive. I've lucked out with some hand-me-downs and am grateful that the ones I purchased have held up for kid #2. If you can't find any good warm pj's I discovered that Lands End has some great thick flannel pj's. Warmest I've been able to find so far.
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