A few of the aspects of the Montessori philosophy that really resonate with me are 1) giving children quality things and teaching them to take good care of them, and with that, 2) teaching them to dress themselves and providing them with attractive, comfortable (easy to wear) clothing made from natural materials, unembellished with cartoons or sayings.
These things are so important to me because I feel that we tend to give our children inexpensive things with the assumption they will ruin them, and this philosophy was definitely true for my parents. Not fault of their own, it’s just how society is (and was 30 years ago too), but I am now an adult who struggles to take care of her things, even though I really do try so hard. I hope for my children to learn to take better care of their things and to have nicer things.
Another reason I care deeply about this is because, while I was in school studying Advertising and Public Relations, I spent a good deal of time learning about how the human brain works, and how advertising takes advantage of this. I will save this all for another post though. Suffice to say, I keep marketing off my kids.
As for cutesy sayings? While most of them are benign, some of them are not. Too many involve attributes that I would rather not apply to my children (even if yes, they are sometimes very fitting). Things like “tiny tornado”, “super sassy”, “I get whatever I want” “I’m the boss at my house”. To me, these might be funny and cute but I don’t want my kids thinking these things are okay. These sayings are outward expressions of what we think of our children and our expectations for them. If we show them (and the world) that our sweet dear is “a princess and gets whatever [she] wants”, the our sweet dear will internalize it and act it out.
What about the durability? My kids go through clothes so fast!
It’s a struggle to find attractive, comfortable, well made clothing these days. Actually really hard. Most of what’s available in most retail locations across America is polyester, and poorly made. The problem with polyester is that it does not breath and is a form of plastic. This is cool, because they can actually recycle water bottles into polyester fabric. However, with some exceptions, polyester is not a good fabric for our children. Yes, it is great for athletic clothes, but most of the time soft natural fibers such as cotton, wool, bamboo, rayon and linen are better choices for children’s delicate skin.
Another problem with polyester is that it wears so quickly. Now again, there are well made garments that use polyester as a fiber, but they are using high quality polyester fabrics made to accentuate the characteristics of polyester. Inexpensive children’s clothes made of polyester (or part polyester) are cheaply made fabrics that pill and deteriorate quickly.
Before I realize what was happening, I was becoming so frustrated that after just one or two washes my children’s clothing was stained, frayed, pilling and even had thin spots. As I begun to pay attention I noticed it was always the polyester or blended fabrics. I realized I needed to do something. It just isn’t okay to have to keep buying clothes because they so quickly are ruined. For me it is not a sustainable choice.
I started searching for brands that still used natural fibers. That were well made, used natural fibers, totally cute, comfortable, and easy for my kids to wear. I looked for brands that had minimal (if any) sayings, and limited characters (or plenty of non character options).
I continue to search, and the market continues to grow, but our current favorite brands are:
Hanna Andersson
Gymboree/Janie and Jack
Gap Kids
Mini Boden
Tea Collection
I can’t afford a wardrobe of those brands!
Me neither. So I’ve taken my shopping adventure one step further, and starts buying used online. Listen, I hate going shopping at the mall with my kids. It’s fun going alone but it sure gets expensive fast. I DO love delivery day though. I also love kind of being a non-consumer. Not saying I’m never a consumer of children’s clothing, but it’s nice to contribute a little less. Also, did I mention I want to buy my kids clothes that are out of my budget? It’s really important to me that they have nice clothes that look attractive wash after wash.
Fortunately, it’s so easy to buy gently used kids clothes online. First, there are a billion Facebook groups. There is also eBay, which is an excellent choice. My personal favorite though is Kidizen. It’s just SO easy. It’s an app for your phone. You can have preset filters for each kid based on favorite brands, current size, condition of garments and price. When it’s time for checkout its so to set up PayPal or a credit card.
There is a messaging system to communicate with sellers, and great support for both sellers and buyers. Last Fall I bought my daughter a nice Gap Peacoat (not in my budget normally!) and it got lost in the mail. The Kidizen team handled everything and I was fully refunded (and the seller–another mom just like me– didn’t lose out either).
I again want to repeat, this isn’t an advertisement for Kidizen. But I know there are other moms just like me, who want to do things better, or differently, but it can be so hard and so expensive. I’ve found buying used online in general an amazing choice for my family, and while I’m by no means exclusive to Kidizen, it’s the easiest option I’ve found.
For us, it has been a wonderful thing. Like a swap meet that’s open 24/7. If you’re interested, hop over to Kidizen and get $5 off your first purchase.
Are there other options?
Always. Friends, neighbors, local thrift and consignment stores, as previously mentioned swap meets and consignment sales, local groups on Facebook, plus garage sales. It takes a bit more time and you’ve got to be picky at times, but there’s just a plethora of different ways to get your hands on quality, well made, gimmick free kids clothing.
In the end it’s a little more work on my front, but the reward of having attractive kids clothes, that my children enjoy wearing (hello comfortable!), launder well, don’t need replacing constantly? That’s well worth a little extra effort to me.
How about you? What are your thoughts on keeping your kids clothed? Do you have opinions on the clothes your kids wear? Let me know below in the comments, I’m curious to hear what clothes shopping looks like in your family!