Since the day she was born, I have loved dressing my girl. I like classic styles, easy and comfortable with a little bit of color and pattern thrown in for fun. It’s how I dress myself and what I gravitate to when shopping for Audrey.
My baby is now four, and sometimes she has an opinion on what she’d like to wear, but mostly not. I know. It won’t last long. So for now, I’m running with it.
Her closet currently consists of lots of basics – tees, skirts, jeans, shorts and dresses – in mix and match colors/patterns. Stripes are a recurring theme (go figure) and I really like blue on her.
Here are a few things I consider while choosing clothes for my daughter:
1. She’s four. I like her to look like a little girl and tend towards classic styles. I’d love to dress her in sweet European designs with peter pan collars and cable knit sweaters (and sometimes I try), but her personality is bright and spunky and so dressing her in fun colors and prints makes sense.
2. We have a few splurge pieces in her wardrobe, but most are inexpensive, washable, and not too precious (see favorite sources below).
3. I’m learning to let her wear her special things on ordinary days. How many party dresses and fancy shoes has she worn once and then outgrown before having another special occasion to wear them to? Too many. So she might show up in her christmas dress to the park, but at least she’s wearing it.
4. As much as I appreciate a cutely dressed child, I don’t want it to be about the clothes. Clothes are fun and darling and make a girl feel pretty, but I really don’t want her to care too much about what she’s wearing. I haven’t totally figured out how to instill this – teaching her to care about how she presents herself, but not put too much emphasis on valuing appearances – a challenge for women of all ages.
5. Sometimes when she’s feeling particularly creative with her outfit (like the time she insisted on wearing a swimsuit over her jeans in the rain – see photo above), I can’t help but go with it. It’s sort of endearing to see a child in a too-small halloween costume in July or with mismatched socks and layered tutus.
I shop for most of Audrey’s clothes at these three stores: gap, target and old navy. I’ll fill in with pieces from j.crew factory, mini boden, and I like the tights from lands end. For special dresses and shoes, I adore Joyfolie. Almost all of my shopping (except for Target because I’m there every other day) happens online. The stores I frequent run online-only sales often, so wait a week or two, join their mailing list and you’ll save a bunch.
Here are some of my current favorites from my regular online stores:
Gap is always a go-to for Audrey and the boys. They sometimes have different items in the store than online, but I do okay just sticking with ordering. Audrey wears a 5t, so I can still shop in both toddler and girl sections. Right now everything at Gap is on sale for 30% off with code THANKS. Shop Gap here.
Old Navy is hit and miss for me – sometimes they get a little crazy with their graphics and logos, so I tend to stick with basics or subtle patterns. They run sales all the time and I like getting a good deal. Their current promotion is 20-30% off with code AMPM. Shop Old Navy here.
I am at Target a ridiculous amount of times per week, so I’m always grabbing a shirt here and a sweater there when they are on sale. Again, I go for basics and items that can be mixed and matched. Shop Target here.
Mini Boden has the cutest, best-made clothes. They are more expensive than I typically go for, but everything I’ve ordered, I’ve loved. Check their site for deals (and the cutest graphics ever). Shop MiniBoden here.
We have a jcrew factory store at our local outlet mall. Cute stuff, less expensive, not as good of quality as crewcuts but classic styles and fun accessories. They run promotions all the time, too, so check in often. Shop JCrew Factory here.
For special dresses and shoes, I just adore the cuteness at Joyfolie.
Everything is on sale TODAY for 40% off (!) with code BIG40. I’m thinking about that sweet triangle dress for Audrey’s christmas dress this year. Shop Joyfolie here.
So there you go … my favorite sources for dressing little ones. And now I want to order it all for my Audrey girl.
I love your style! I’d love to see one for your boys, with the different ages. I’m sure they have their own opinions, but it would still be fun to see!
You should try Zara. You would love their stuff. Although I loved it more when my little girl was in the smaller sizes. She’s 4 as well. They have sales at the end of each season.
I’m an old mom. I’ve never had a daughter and my son is 19 years old, so I have no real reason under the sun to read this post, but I gotta tell ya…this is one of the cutest blog posts I’ve ever seen! The way you have laid out the clothing is just plain fun! It makes me want to go grab the nearest little girl and dress her up!
Love your taste! What a pretty post. I always notice what Aubrey is wearing in your photos:) She is adorable.
What a fun post! I love to see your style on a little one and how you’ve chosen similar colors to mix and match. I’ve been trying to think in this direction as well when shopping. My daughter has an odd body shape due to an extra chromosome, Down syndrome, leggings and dresses z/ skirts work best and I love purchasing jeggings at Target so she has a pr of jeans that will work in winter. I also love having a denim jacket. They just are so versatile. Gonna take a peek at joyfolie!
I love this post! I love your classic style and would be happy to call Audrey’s wardrobe my own. :) Could you please do more posts like this? I’d love to see one for the boys or a Saturday Shopping post like what Courtney at A Thoughtful Place blog does but with clothes for your kids thrown in. It would be fun to see you do a post like this every season–would really help get some shopping done around here without doing all the legwork myself because I love everything you pick. I think that probably made me sound lazy. Haha! I’m just not a huge fan of shopping. ;)
So adorable! Any plans to do a similar post for boys clothes? (I have 2 boys,)
Love this post, Emily! I probably could have written it myself! lol!
Love Boden too and find most of their clothes last at least a season and usually two given the roomier fit, even for our 90% height 4 year old. Thank goodness for those 40% off sales.
I second the H&M recommendation for cute trendy & affordable, but their sizing is ridiculous.
Now tell me how you’ve skipped the disney princess clothes??? Must have something to do with having brothers….= )
Any tips for dressing little (baby) boys?
Miss the opportunity to choose and coordinate outfits… She does pretty well, but we have had a few crazy combos and the bathing suit over clothes a few times. I take pictures and enjoy her spunk!
Love Audrey’s wardrobe! My daughter is 3 and loves choosing her own outfits…. I love watching her creativity, but m
Oh yeah, I wandered into H&M kids yesterday and was pleasantly surprised at all the options at very reasonable prices.
Thanks for sharing. If there’s a Cotton on Kids in your neck of the woods, you should check it out. My days of dressing my darling is over…she’s 6 1/2. Not only does she has her own fashion sense, but we has to wear uniforms to school, so I step back on weekends when she gets to express herself.
Love the Gap for kids clothes. I also am a huge Janie and Jack fan but a lot of their items are too dressy for an everyday toddler look. You’re so lucky she is 4 and let’s you dress her. Starting at 22 months mine refused long sleeves and pants. Thankfully shorts and tee shirts work now for summer but I don’t even want to think about how she’ll be in the Fall.
Yes yes yes. I have a 2 year old and love so many of the same stores and styles, we do lots of mixing and matching. I’ve been doing less Target and Old Navy lately, and focusing instead on just having fewer pieces that will last the season. I will say, I splurged on a Mini Boden swim suit for Nell this year and I was disappointed in the quality. But their dresses and sweaters I love. I also love Tea Collection.
I agree that Old Navy is hit or miss, but we just scored some cute things for my 2 year old. She is very petite and pants don’t always work because she is thin. Have you ever tried Tea Collection? They have really nice and unique patterns. Lots of dresses and leggings which work for my daughter. Each collection’s pattern is inspired from different countries.
You’re so lucky that Audrey isn’t picky about what she wears. My daughter (also 4) has been quite opinionated since she was 2. My method to battle that has been to mostly limit my shopping to one store – the Carter’s outlet, with fillers from Old Navy and Target. I like the quality of Carters, and try to pick items that are complimentary. That way, she can choose whatever she wants and it will still (roughly) match.
That said, for the last month, she’s been on a “mini-me” craze, trying to match what I’m wearing. In the beginning, she wanted it to be exact. Now it’s a little mellower – it’s ok if we’re both wearing a t-shirt and shorts, no longer has to be the same colors.
I find myself thinking “this looks like something Audrey or Emily would wear” while shopping for me and my five year old girl. I just love your simple, classic style and it inspires me while shopping for us! I sometimes get leered into the it was such a good deal trap and end up with things that I don’t love but I have started making a more conscious decision to buy things that fit the style I am going for and not just because it’s cute and cheap. Thanks for always sharing such cute ideas! :) I ordered her a few pieces from GAP that were an amazing deal and so pretty a few weeks ago and I can’t wait for her to wear them for fall!
Adorable! I love dressing my girl, but at three years old, she already has a strong opinion on what she wears (unfortunately). She has a great wardrobe, but insists on wearing dresses and tutus (and even a particular nightgown). I love your point in #4 and struggle to instill this myself. The joys of raising a daughter :)
I pretty much shop in the same places for my daughter Kennedy who’ll be 4 in November. She however is extremely picky about what she wears, she always wants to wear dresses and cries when I make her wear pants. I actually stopped letting her choose at all what she was wearing, saying that once she stops making a fuss with what I pick, she can then start to choose again.
But I always try to remind her in the midst of her tears that clothes are not important, God doesn’t care if she’s wearing the blue dress or the pink dress. It is a struggle, but it’s one worth fighting for. Giving your daughter the tools and experience of knowing how to look presentable as a living sacrifice to Christ, while teaching her that truly what’s on the inside in our hearts is what counts.
I have three boys…Zach, Ethan, and Brady. This post almost made me want to try one more time for a little girl :). Super cute!!!