Baby Gear – Introduction
Baby Gear – Simplicity and Quality

Let’s get back to this series, shall we? I know it has been a couple weeks, so you might want to refresh on (or read if you have not) the introduction as well as simplicty and quality.

In case you did not realize this, babies tend to take a lot of clothes. A lot of clothes CAN equal a lot of hassle and cost, but never fear there are some precautions you can take to not go crazy or break the bank clothing your baby.

Used-

One of the biggest suggestion I can give in clothing babies (or really just about anyone for that matter) is buy used. I like the Duggars motto of “Buy used and save the difference”. The difference is HUGE! I can buy most baby clothing articles for $1 – $1.50 at Goodwill or other second hand stores.

Consignment shops tend to be a little more expensive, but also nicer. Shop around though, there is one consignment shop in town that sells very very nice boutique style clothing for very expensive (as far as used clothing goes). Also, know the sales. Consignment shops can have some crazy awesome sales.

Used is also more sustainable. It is a great example of reusing. Just think for every piece of clothing you get used, that is one less that needed to be manufactured for that purpose.

Gender Neutral Elements-

I like to dress my little girl as girly as possible and I dressed my boy extremely boyish, but there are SOME things you can go gender neutral on and reduce the amount of clothes you need to buy and store for your family.

• footie pajamas and gowns, especially for the first few months if you do not find out gender
• gender neutral baby legs to go with boy or girl clothing
• shirts that can look cute with either a skirt or boyish denim shorts
• Anything that can be dressed up to be very boyish or girlish with some additions
• a select few “houseclothes”/”comfy clothes”
• shoes – we have a few solid color unembellished robeez that could go for boy or girl as well as a few pair of moccinsons

Buy and Consign-

I do not do this, but my sister, Amy, is a pro so I will tell you a brief version of what she does. She buys cute clothes that she can then consign later for MORE then she paid for it. I remember one example where she bought a box of clothing for $75 off of craigslist, took what she wanted (which was quite a lot) then made that much selling the rest.

There are consignment sales where you can sign up to sell your clothing in exchange for working at the sale for a bit and a percentage of your profits. At a sale like this Amy said she made $160, which is more then she had spent for a year buying clothes. That was with keeping a lot of clothes in storage.

Versitility for Girls-

I really like to dress Natalia adorably, but I do

Most of Natalia’s outfits follow this pattern-

1. versitle shirt
2. really cute/great jumper or skirt
3. baby legs, tights, or underpants

as it gets colder

4. jacket or sweater

This allows to get a couple handfuls of really cute pieces, and extend their use through simplistic (sometimes also really adorable) additions. The “cute” piece is usually something she can wear over weather appropriate shirt and pant/tight/baby legs. This means the things I really invested my time and attention into (either buying or making) can be used by multiple babies and in multiple seasons.  Some of the jumpers are simplistic so I like to pair them with patterned babylegs.