Friday, October 12, 2012

Sparkles, Themes and Characters...OH MY!

This fall has been a little more challenging in terms of shopping for the girls. I can barely find anything I would possibly want them to wear. I go into stores and have to look for hours to find something that fits my criteria, and normally just walk out unhappy.

I would love to be able to buy my girls everything at Gap, Gymboree, The Children's Pace, ect, but the fact that I have to get 3 or 4 of the same thing, is a financial strain. I cannot afford to spend $20 dollars on ONE shirt/dress! It's just not possible and frankly even if I had JUST one child, I don't think I could do that. But, I am forced to shop other places like Target and WalMart and things are covered in crap not-so-appealing things I want my little girls sporting. And everything that I could consider them wearing, is over-priced in my mind for a 2 year old! SO what's a Momma to do?!

Here are my issues:

Everything has too much glitter that makes it look like a porn star would be wearing it. The shoes especially. Why can I not find a PLAIN pair of white sneakers, with a tie for my little girls that are not $45 dollars? I do not want something plastered in 14 different colors, glitter, rainbows, flowers and characters.

Girls SmartfitGirls' Toddler Lilly Track

Toddler Girl's Disney Princess Athletic Shoe - Pink

I do not want something that lights up either! No thank you!
Girls Power Chasers by SmartfitGirls' Toddler Dazzle Light-Up Runner



Girls Disney PrincessGirls' Toddler Princess Snowboot

Toddler Girl's Circo® Jayla Boot - Purple

This has to be the worlds ugliest shoe for a little girl:
Toddler Converse® One Star® Polka Dot Print Low Top - Black

The characters are out of control. I do not want my child wearing all Disney princesses, Dora or Elmo. No thank you!!!! NEVER! EVER! The possibilities if you WANT characters are endless at every store.



Here's the list of characters that Wal-Mart let's you choose from:

Dora
Toy Story
Cars
Disney Princesses
Disney Fairies
Hello Kitty
Sesame Street
Sponge Bob

Toddler Girl's Licensed Dora Canvas - Purple

And, then I know this is just my issue, but it is SO hard to find three of the same thing in a store. Even now, I will mostly let the outfits just be coordinating and not completely the same, but still many stores only have two of a certain size and that's it. Err! I know a store isn't going to cater to people with multiples, but even IN the Carter's store, I couldn't find three of the same size in an outfit I finally found that I liked. 

I just want plain, pretty things. Things that can go with other things without making it a big deal. I don't want my little girls in khaki pants, a purple shirt, a white sweater and then porn star Dora sparkle shoes. No!!!!! I want cute little white shoes with that outfit, and most of their outfits.

Or what about the fact that nothing has a TIE on a shoe anymore. I get that parent's are too lazy and apparently don't want to TIE a shoe, but please, I have four little girls and I WANT a tie, because my girls know how to undo Velcro and it's a little annoying putting on their shoes (x3) for the 5,739 time that day! Give me a darn TIE! Can I get an AMEN?

Not to mention, that most of the shoes are not the proper footwear for little ones just learning to walk and balance. Why are we putting such an importance on style and not on proper footwear to teach our kids to walk correctly and safely?

Thank goodness there are outlets and Carters. I have a few issues with Carters but they mostly have things that are MUCH better than Target and Walmart, and much more affordable when it comes to buying multiple items, plus with coupons. I think the sweet ladies at the outlets know me by heart now.

And don't get me started on Halloween costumes! My little, precious, sweet girls are not going to be walking around EVER in so many of the costumes that are advertised. I still haven't decided what they are being this year, one for the ridiculous prices they all are and second, the ugliness of so many of them. We shall see.

I just think I might have to start a children's line (for multiples) myself soon. Whatcha think?


13 comments:

  1. LOL! I agree with SO much of this, minus the whole Parker probably getting an Elmo shirt (very cute of course) b/c she just loves him SOOO much! I can't even imagine shopping of 3/4...woah!

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  2. Kohks has a lot of awesome clothes by Carter's, osh kosh, and their own brands that you can get dirt cheap with coupons. Then, if you shop when they are doing kohls cash, for every 50 you spend you get 10 dollars in kohls cash to use in the following weeks. They also have an anytime return policy so say you bought a clearance summer outfit today for the girls and come around next June it doesn't fit, you can still return it! Just food for thought.

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  3. You crack me up!!! I am the same way...I refuse to pay $20 for a shirt or dress and I am not a fan of the sparkles and characters either! LB does have an outfit with Minnie Mouse on it because she loves Minnie, but that is about it!

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  4. I never really wanted to buy used clothes for my toddler, but when my husband lost his job, we needed to cut costs tremendously. I stepped into a Once Upon a Child, and now I will likely never buy used items anymore! We've gotten Gap sweaters, Levis jeans, Oshkosh stuff, SO many brand name items! Most are $4 a piece, and one would ever know they were used! I would HIGHLY encourage you to go take a look, you might be surprised ;-)

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  5. Ha! Correction: buy *NEW* items anymore!

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  6. I can't relate on the girl side of the store but I often leave with so much frustration and barely any clothes when I shop for B. It's SO annoying.

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  7. I so agree with you! I hated the Disney theme character clothing and never did put my kids in them. I too loved Gymboree, Gap etc and wanted to dress my triplets in their clothing. I took a very part time sale position ( 10-15) hours a week first with Gymboree when the kids were small and then the Gap. It was great because I got a terrific discount plus I was able to take advantage of markdowns and could use my discount on top of that. The other thing you might consider is asking when the friends and family sale is. It it's a invite only sale and you get the store employee discount for the day. You might also look on eBay and put in triplet girls when searching. I made my own Halloween costumes for the kids and one of my favorites was "three blind mice". Good luck on the never ending clothing search!

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  8. I am so anti theme/cartoon that I take some grief for it. But I am not going to pay for the privilege to advertise someones tv show. I am lucky that its easier for me to be picky with just one. I like some sparkle but am also sickened by all the stripper clothes for little girls. I shop at Once Upon A Child too but that would be hard for matching multiples outfits. You could start sewing. You know, in all that free time you have :)

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  9. Try OshKosh! I find a lot of good quality and appropriate clothes there for my little girl.

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  10. I don't even have children yet & I agree with you completely!! Have you tried looking at Stride Rite for shoes? I know they can be pricey but I also know they are a fantastic brand of good quality shoes for kids & I know they have some plain looking shoes with out all that crap on them for little girls, check it out & good luck!! :)

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  11. Have you tried the store crazy 8? I was there with my mom today shopping for my little sister who is almost 4 months old and believe me when I say I was shocked at how cheap and cute everything is!

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  12. I don't have multiples but I feel your pain about the ties on shoes! We had these great tie shoes for my son - he loved them, we loved them and more importantly they fit! Both his daycare and preschool asked us to replace them with velcro or slip ons....and now his shoes fall off. Grr.

    I would love to see you venture into a little girls clothing line. So fun!

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  13. We have one daughter and I shopped the entire 16 months we were waiting for her referral from China! I had clothes ranging from 6-12 months all the way up to 5T! I only had to buy shoes! We never bought her girls shoes, always went for the boys because they were dark and didn't show as much wear. The same was true with clothes when she was about five. I bought her boys jeans at Target because the cheaper girl's jeans were sooo thin, she would rip the knees out the first time she wore them! Boys jeans fit her better too with the adjustable waist and NO FLARED hems which were always too long for her anyway.

    I think the biggest help lately is buying the sales in the off season. I've save a huge amount and I'm real good at projecting her size.

    She's now 10 and frankly, a tomboy too boot! She hasn't worn a dress since she was five, but she's already 5'2"!! She's wearing my clothes and shoes!! Since I am disabled and rarely get to leave my house, her being able to wear all my clothes has been helpful!!

    Target is the PERFECT place for their clearance section and buying ahead because they are most likely to have matching outfits in the sizes you need. I frequently bought Lilly tshirts in the boys dept. that were on clearance for $4.00!! I'd buy like 6 at a time!

    Tracee

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