Baby Clothes

I’m taking a break from the doom and gloom to discuss one of my favorite aspects of motherhood-dressing my daughter like a little doll!

Lily has grown from no clothes, to preemie, to newborn, to 1-3 months and now she’s wearing 3-6.  Most babies go straight into 1-3, saving their parents shopping time and money, but the constant growing makes us very happy and I’ve become a little bit of an expert on baby clothing as well as which brands fit Lily the best.  Plus, people are constantly buying us clothes.  Here’s what I’ve learned.

Carters: the most consistently sized brand on the market.  The fit is actually true to size, the clothes are generally okay looking, the night stretchies are the thickest and the warmest that I’ve found, and the clothes can go through the washer and dryer without too much shrinkage.  The prices are also really good, especially when you can find them on sale.  Carters is always a safe bet, but not the cutest, aesthetically speaking.

First Impressions: this is Macy’s store brand.  The clothes are adorable-really really cute matching outfits and fun night stretchies.  Some of the best gifts we’ve gotten have been First Impressions outfits.  Overall, it’s pretty inexpensive, especially when Macy’s has those great sales and then you can use a Star Rewards card on top of it (those red 20% off cards)-you can buy A LOT for a little.  Here’s the downside: it runs really small and forget about the dryer-shrinks up to almost nothing.  But it’s worth it, even if your kid only gets to wear the outfit 2 or 3 times.

Little Me: I’ve found it everywhere, from Buy Buy Baby to Nordstrom to Lord & Taylor.  The brand can be a little too cutesy for my taste and the fabrics aren’t consistent-sometimes very rough and sometimes super soft.  But, if you find the right outfit, it’s beautiful.  Little Me runs big…and I mean a full size big (their 1-3 still fits at 3-6), so while it’s annoying at first because you’re like, “what the hell, did my kid shrink?” the outfit fits for a really long time and you get a lot of use out of it.

Sara Kety: you probably don’t know this one, but I guarantee that you’ve seen her onesies.  She makes all the topical, fun onesies like Save The Date for My Bat Mitzvah, the little boy tuxedo onesies, Dr. McSweety…the list goes on and on.  These are amazing gifts because they are super fun and adorable and they are true to size.

Gymboree: my hands down favorite!  Everything they make is adorable, and, more importantly, the quality you get for the price you pay is pretty amazing.  Buy things when they’re on sale and use your Gymboree Bucks.  The size is pretty consistent and the fit is true to size.  This might sound strange, but I think Lily likes their clothes the best, too.  I watch her look at the clothes and she really thinks while she’s looking at them. They also wash and dry really well.

Baby Gap:  the clothes run long and thin, which is perfect for Lily because she is long and thin.  But if your child is a different body type, you’re not going to be as successful.  I only shop the sale rack because the clothes are too expensive and they don’t have a big selection until you’re a toddler.  However, their leggings fit Lily better than anyone else’s (again, this is because of the long and thin thing). It also really depends on what their aesthetic is for that season-my daughter does not look good in oatmeal, so she basically didn’t get anything from Baby Gap for a while because they didn’t make any other colors.

Crazy 8’s: maybe the least expensive store I’ve come across, but you can feel the difference in their fabrics.  The sleep stretchies weren’t thick enough, but I did buy a bunch of leggings and shirts.  The shirts will all need to be layered because they’re not thick enough, but they are really cute.  You get what you pay for.  I think they’re a subsidiary of Gymboree which would explain the adorable design aesthetic, but Gymboree is better, even though it costs more.  Don’t put Crazy 8’s clothes in the dryer!

OshKosh B’Gosh: we haven’t bought any OskKosh yet, but I was a diehard OshKosh kid and I can’t wait for the spring and summer so Lily can run around (she will! she will!) in those shorteralls (short-overalls combo).  They merged with Carter’s so you can get it anywhere, and everything I’ve seen has been super cute.

Ralph Lauren: we have a lot of Ralph Lauren stuff because I’m pretty preppy and because it makes great gifts.  It fits Lily pretty well because, like Baby Gap, it’s long and thin, just like Lily.  But, RL is cut REALLY narrow-we can’t button shirts up fully because they don’t close around her neck.  I’ve heard this complaint from other parents, too.  Never buy this full price! Use whatever store discount card you have, go to the outlet, or find it at Century 21.

Century 21: amazing, amazing finds! My mom comes home with bags of adorableness-Calvin Klein tracksuits, DKNY tracksuits, Little Me outfits, onesies, Ralph Lauren outfits…everything high end at low prices.  You have to be smart about it because you really could go hog wild, and there’s also a lot of crap to muck through.

Nordstrom: my mom and I went to the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale last summer as we do every summer, but this was the first time that we could buy baby clothes!  We got great deals on Benetton (which fits Lily perfectly, cut long and thin with the best proportions), Juicy (the hubby isn’t happy about this one-baby’s first Juicy tracksuit-squeal), a North Face fleece body suit (which Lily wears outside every time we leave the house), and a bunch of other things.  Nordstrom really runs the gamut between affordable and luxury (I’m never buying that $300 infant Burberry dress), but when you can get it on sale, it’s worth it because they only stock quality clothes that wash and dry well, that wear well, and that are true to size.

Children’s Place: I love their design aesthetic.  Everything is fashion at Children’s Place-seriously, hip clothes for kids. The quality is hit or miss-some fabrics are good, others are questionable, but they are always true to size.  Basically, be careful about what you throw in the dryer because it won’t always come out the same.  A lot of their clothes also have appliques, and I really like the three-dimensionality of everything.

Janie and Jack: BAH! Too expensive.  Only good for something she’s going to wear once, like a fancy party that we have to go to where the people are snooty, judge-y types.  Or a special birthday dress.

JCrew: BAH! I’m sorry, but my daughter doesn’t need a $100 cashmere sweater to constantly throw up on, thank you very much.

We have a lot of local children’s boutiques around here too, but I haven’t ventured to most of the them yet, mostly because they’re expensive, but also because it’s been very cold and I don’t want Lily to get sick.  I think I take out a lot of my monotonous boredom on planning Lily’s outfits and dressing her up as adorably as possible, as if, by sheer power of cuteness, she will make my day go by faster.

Any stores you love? Feel free to comment!