Back-to-school Fashion
According to the Today Show, a back-to-school wardrobe is a very important part of your child's school experience. So how much do they think you should spend? They do give lip service to cheaper brands, but here are the numbers from their featured 'cool' outfits for this year, with the total price tag for one outfit (be sure you're sitting down):
$238 - girl 'bohemian hipster'
$175 - boy 'bohemian hipster'
$243 - boy 'prepster'
$350.50 - girl 'prepster'
$228 - 'skater boy'
$146 - 80's flashback
I'm curious... those of you who are already parents, what do you typically spend on your child's clothing? And do you think shows like this serve to either make children want the expensive clothing, or make parents feel guilty if they can't afford to buy their children what they see on TV?
Categories:
pop-culture
That's insane. No wonder it "costs so much" to raise a child. Insert virtual rolling of eyes.
My kids are well dressed--in hand-me-downs and thrift store clothing. Not only to people by horribly expensive clothing new, but they get rid of it soon after, sometimes after just one season. Gotta keep up with the fashions!
While I'm a Goodwill devotee, I think it would be ok to buy a special new outfit occassionally for my child (if it be a girl, esp.) The grandparents and aunties may be more than happy to do this for me!
~Anna
Since we homeschool and don't watch TV, my children really aren't into "keeping up with the Joneses" to begin with. They have each come up with their own personal style and tend to be well-dressed and neat. We do shop at garage sales and thrift stores quite a bit, but we also buy new stuff "out of season" when you can get it at a fraction of the cost. Big sales like "going out of business" sales can also be a BIG budget stretcher if you know what to look for.
My, oh my. That's what I spend on clothing my family of six, including shoes, for 6 months! The kicker is that my boys' school is not quite sure if they're going to uniforms or not and said that they would let us know before school starts. I expressed my frustration at the fact that I'm not about to go out and buy 4 completely new wardrobes the week before school starts. But God's providence let me find brand new school uniforms (polo and khakis together on one hanger for $3.20 an outfit) and they can be returned until the end of September. Brand new socks and underwear are marked down to amazing prices when the packages have been opened at the retail store or what Targert sends to Goodwill. We buy our brandnew stride rites (my kids wear double wide shoes and can only get the right sizes in New Balance and Stride Rite) half off on Amazon. And the day I stopped into the thrift shop, someone had evidently dropped off an entire batch of uniforms in the sizes I need. We took the time to thank God for providing and erasing the doubts I had about what to do. If we don't need the uniforms, I can return the ones to KMart and the other khakis will do for school and church mixed and matched. My kids will have good quality clothes and shoes and new undies and socks for about $50 a kid.
Elizabeth
Those prices are ridiculous! No wonder most people "can't afford" to have more than 2 children!
That is crazy. My children dress in clothes that are homemade or from yard sales and things like that.