It’s been my experience over the past 2.5 years that cute, non-puppy, non-cartoon character-laden, non-UGLY inexpensive boy clothes can be kind of hard to come by, so shopping’s difficult.
I’ve spent hours scouring the few stores that carry semi-decent, in-my-price-range boy clothes endlessly for Joshua’s outfits (at least the non-play clothes ones). Even if that means I’m scouring the same 3 racks of clothes.
In light of this, I have a confession to make that is absolutely INSANE.
Being a girl mom is hard. And New Girl isn’t even here yet.
Because shopping for girls is equally as hard as shopping for boys but for totally different reasons.
You see, I heard “It’s a girl!” at the ultrasound and visions of ruffles! and dresses! and tights! danced in my head. I thought “SHOPPING!!!” Most likely because I’m a girl.
And then I got home and started paying attention to my Zulily emails and Old Navy’s girl’s section online and putting stuff into and out of my online shopping carts. (And that’s pretty much the only two places I’ve “been” because, hello, Hell Week).
Want to know what I discovered?
THERE ARE TOO MANY CHOICES.
If there are 3 racks of little boy clothes, there are 30 racks for little girls. Do you know how hard it is to decide between the pink romper and the pink romper with little white flowers and the pink romper with little white and yellow flowers and the pink romper with the little white and yellow and blue flowers?
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BECAUSE IT’S HARD.
And it’s hard to even choose between two solid pieces, too. Because how many solid purple onesies does a girl need? (Multiple, if you ask me. I mean, let’s not talk about the fact that I buy long-sleeved black t-shirts nearly every time I see them on sale, mmkay?)
And then I think “If I put her in too many dresses, will she rebel one day and become a female body builder? Or will she develop some sort of princess complex?” Like, can I screw my child up by what I put on her? (Judging by Toddlers and Tiaras, maybe.) I mean, I certainly don’t want to ruin her by dressing her in a way that typecasts her for the rest of her life.
Then there’s the practical side of me that thinks about the cute things I bought for Joshua that he never wore because we never go anywhere. (I’m looking at you linen pants and embroidered linen shirt screaming Panama-Jack-meet-ADORABLE BABY BOY and still hanging in his closet.)
All of these layered, jean-skirt and leggings outfits make my ovaries all twitchy but they scream “PAIN IN THE ASSETS!”
Because there will be poopsplosions, y’all. Probably more than one. I know enough to know that much.
And spit-up. And knowing my track record, a lot of spit-up.
I’m neurotic. (That’s not new information, people. Move along.)
How do I dress girl babies?
And then you have a second girl so you have a TON of girl clothes but then the second girl becomes a 2 1/2 year old and will only wear the same 5 or so outfits. That. Is. It. So yeah, it doesn’t matter what sex you have. Do you have a resale shop near you? Get there stat. Also, Hanna Andersson on resale/ebay is awesome. Those clothes last and last and..
We do have resale shops, yes, but by the time I can get there, they are picked over and it seems like nothing fantastic is left. 🙁
Ha! And here I thought it would be easier.
Right? Me too.
::sigh::
I just took hand-me-downs. Then I didn’t have to make ALL the choices. I bought a few things I couldn’t resist but 99% of Caroline’s wardrobe is second hand – and I gave Goodwill 2x as much stuff as I kept. You need to find some moms of girls who are done having kids. I PROMISE they have TONS of stuff to get rid of, then you can fill in the missing spots with purple onesies.
Everyone who was having babies when I had Joshua had boys. One of my friends has girls, but her girls are older. Nearly everyone I know has boys.
Well, another thing about girl babies? People will constantly buy you stuff 🙂
LOL
As a baby? Onesies and BabyLegs at home. And then sub in some onesies and pants to go out. Or onesies and skirts that have shorts built in. Onesies. Really. Dresses just get pulled up and are not comfortable for anyone involved. Use with caution, and rarely.
As a toddler/kid? Just pick things that don’t make her look like a hooker. (I’d like to say that I’m kidding, but have you seen some of the things out there?!! Ridiculous.) In general, I always try to make my little girls look like…well…little girls. They wear skirts (with pants/shorts underneath because three year olds don’t know how to be ladylike) and jeans and pigtails and princess crowns. Some days they put costumes on top of their play clothes and wear slippers to the grocery store. It’s all groovy.
The truth is that she will be cute not matter what you do or do not buy her. And when she starts having an opinion (and that happens oh-so-quickly), she’ll most likely insist on picking her own outfits and refusing to wear your gorgeous choices. She’ll wear sunglasses on her face, goggles on her head, and a ballet tutu, and that will be just fine. It will be better than fine. It will be the better than any outfit you could have chosen.
Dude. As soon as some Baby Legs go on sale that are girly? New Girl will have about a bazillion pairs.
And got it on the hooker clothes. None of those. Especially not the ones that say “Juicy” or “Sweet” across the butt.
So funny, because I think buying girls’ clothes is hard but for the opposite reason. I think boys have a wider selection! Like you I hate character clothes, but I can never decide between the blue polo shirt and green polo shirt. What if I get the orange polo shirt, because my husband likes the Cleveland Browns? Oh, but what about dark khakis vs light khakis?
On the girl side, I went to Target last week and just stared. Why does everything have tiaras on it? Why does it all say Princess?
As you know I’m girly, and I have a weakness for little skirts with onesies that have some embellishments. However, I’m having a hard time finding clothes that don’t say something stupid on the front or have rinestones all over it like she is on Toddlers and Tiaras. That said, I haven’t really looked at my usual haunts yet {Carters, Gymboree, Crazy 8} so I’m hopeful. If not, I’ll be sewing a lot of dresses and skirts…
YES! Princesses! EVERYTHING has princesses on it! Or at least everything that’s supposed to be “cute” or “play clothes.” And I haven’t been to Carter’s or Crazy 8 yet either, so I’m holding out hope for those two places. Serious hope.
If not? We’ll have playdates at JoAnn and Hobby Lobby and then have sewing parties.
do you have a kohls? i buy almost all of isla’s stuff there and can assure you the only princess stuff she owns has been bought for her by her aunt and shoved into her drawers. it’s really easy to avoid. i have a heck of a time avoiding pink. so sometimes we buy boy stuff.
Mommy is having the Exact same problem. Although, she got stuck on bed rest so her shopping is grounded for the moment… 🙁
She got baby jeggings at the Children’s Place, though, and they are the CUTEST EVER.
This is why the internet was invented. So shopping doesn’t have to cease when one cannot leave the house!
as a boy mom, all I know is this: when I went to pick up eddie yesterday from daycare, the newish girl there had on a cute white onsie with a pink bow on the collar, white tights, and a little jean skirt and my face almost melted from the cute.
I asked if that was a pain…three layers before diaper…and my daycare lady said, “meh, not really. I’m used to it.” (almost all the kids at her house are girls and two of them are hers).
So DO IT. DO THE LAYERING OF CUTE!
I love how you’re enabling me here, you sly devil.
In my experience, give up on the idea of “outfits” at least until walking. Embrace dresses and onesies of every kind. realize everyone will want to get her clothes and no one will buy practical things. Create rules.
Elena already has a TON of clothes and no hand me downs. I created myself a rule that I could only buy it if it was on clearance and less than $10. Plus not more than $20 spent in clothes at one store in one week. It is so easy to buy.all.the.cute.things!
I know there will be a ton of Baby Legs and onesies until she’s walking. A ton. And the good news about girl clothes being so abundant is that the clearance racks are equally as abundant with girl clothes! WIN!
Unless you are doing pictures, dresses before they can walk are pointless except to look at. I’ve learned my lesson. Even crawling…they get stuck beneath their knees or end up around their waist. Leggings will be your best friend. And I guess leggings under dressess before walking is great. That being said, I have tons of cutesy pics with Abby wearing dresses. 😉
And those frilly things….they will all go in her mouth. Abby would grab her shirts and nom on bows and ruffles and sequins and stuff.
The best and easiest while she was young were sleepers. For reals. Easy Peasy…and there are so many cute ones.
For me personally, even at 2, I have yet to put Abby in a jean skirt. I heart Old Navy, but they make them so damn short. I guess if you put leggings under them you will be good.
Oh…but the good thing about dresses is that as Abby has grown, I can still use dresses, but as shirts. She’s tiny so though she’s grown in height, she hasn’t gained much around.
I could keep going on and on…but let’s just say I’ve learned some lessons. If baby number 2 is a girl (not pregnant yet) I’m changing things up 🙂
And again, SQUEEEEEE for a girly 🙂
So what you’re saying is, make sure everything’s sewn down really well?
And hooray for dresses as shirts!
My girl baby, born last April, lived in onesies & carters lounge pants/babylegs and one piece footie type ‘sleepers’ pretty much exclusively until she was walking. I have a major aversion to diapers sticking out of pant tops and cute little shirts riding up when being picked up – so onesies and one pieces it was. Now at 20 months, she is just now starting to wear long shirts (over sleeveless onesie undershirts) with leggings/jeggings/skinny jeans. I get most of her clothes at target, and I agree – there are WAY too many choices, so I just physically do not look at it all, I grab the first thing that I like and go – and I don’t look at all unless there is something specific that she needs.
hahaha isla rarely wears dresses. when she does, she wears leggings underneath. im hoping to avoid tights. hell, i’ll put random pants on under a dress. i also only buy clothes for her off the clearance rack. im thinking for christmas maybe i’ll splurge. but the girl? owns 6 christmas dresses and frankly, 2/3 might not even be worn.
Before Baby Girl was born, my mom said “She mostly just needs onesies, and one or two dresses for if she goes to a party.” (And my husband? Found the idea of a baby at a party so funny that a year and a half later, he still laughs about it.)
She’s mostly right. But you should also throw in a few outfits for when you want to say “Oh btw? I have the cutest girl baby in the world. You’re welcome.” I had a fall baby, so I liked those sets with the onesies, the jumper dress, and the leggings, but there’s also an article of clothing called a “scooter” which may be the cutest thing ever created.
Oh. And buy her a pair of black yoga pants. Because that’s what we do for people we love.