What do all these pictures have in common?
All of their clothing was purchased from either a thrift store, consignment store, or yard sale.
Stephanie purchased the Talbot’s dress in the top picture for $5 at a local consignment store. I can only imagine what that would have cost new!
My friend Myra purchased her son’s cute romper for $1 at a yard sale!
The young man in the center of the last photo, his suit cost $8 at a local Goodwill!
Depending on what part of the country you live in, Easter clothing can be a big deal. When we lived in Cuba it meant wearing your nice Hawaiian shirt, but in Virginia people dress in Sunday best. It is hard to justify spending a lot of money on an outfit your child will probably only wear once and then outgrow.
Instead of breaking the bank visit your local thrift store or consignment shop. There are always tons of boys’ dress shirts, pants, and even suits at the thrift store, in almost perfect condition. Many people purchase brand new clothing for their children and before they can wear it more than once they outgrow it. These almost new items are either sold for pennies on the dollar at yard sales or thrift stores. Take advantage of these deep discounts and visit your local thrift store before your next “dressy” event.
Do you have a great thrift store or yard sale find? I’d love to hear how you dress your kids for less.
This post is linking to Frugal Friday.
There is a great church in a town nearby that once a month they have a free clothing sale. It is all the clothes the church members or the local thrift stores donate. It has really helped in getting clothes for the kids!
Those are some handsome/ pretty teens in that last photo. But it kills me that they are all getting so old!!
Great idea here, my wife would love it!
Love and Prayers,
Tim
I’m going to a big consignment sale tomorrow. I’m so excited!!!
Great looks. I also recycle the Easter baskets, filler and eggs too (plastic ones of course
). I found your blog through the BlogFrog Community. Can’t wait for the custom community pages next week! Keep up the great work and I look forward to seeing you around.
All the Best, Lori (theBlogFrog)
I just went to a Mom to Mom sale at my church last week. For about 40$ I got 6 shopping bags STUFFED FULL of clothes! All of which, is Carters, Gymboree or Gap
My favorite find was a Gymboree Easter dress with matching sweater for $4!!! It is the most beautiful dress and sweater I have ever seen and I am sure that new it was 70-80$ . On a more practical side, I also got 13 Carters onesies for $1. I love Mom to Mom sales!!!!
I made these dresses for my girls last Easter: http://www.smockityfrocks.com/2009/04/happy-easter.html
And… only wear once and then outgrow? Well, if you’re a mean mom like me, you’ll make them wear it every other Sunday. :0)
When my boys got to be teens it seemed there were often events for which they needed formal wear. Tux rentals are $100 and up for 24 hours. I got my boys tuxedos from ebay and thrift stores and even got one for my hubby. The boys were asked to escort girls to all sorts of events because it was known they owned tuxes and did not have to rent them. This exposed them to many situations were they learned about manners and decorum that I feel was a growing experience for them. Our oldest daughter had a retro black and white wedding and my husband ended up wearing his thrift store tux and the other guys and groom rented ones like his! My husband has gone to many job interviews in Thrift store suits. No one that he was wearing a$10 suit.
I discovered thrift store shopping a few months ago and was SHOCKED at the great clothes I could get for our entire family. So every week now, I go to our local Salvation Army that has half price clothes on Wednesdays and look for great deals. It is unbelievable what I have found. About Week 3 of doing it, I vowed NOT to buy retail the rest of 2010 to see if it is possible. And so far, I have not gone to the mall once. I’m so thankful that I am doing this now.
I just went to Goodwill and purchased myself a beautiful dress, shoes, shirt, and a book for $8 total…..wooohooo!
Friends of ours hold a great consignment sale twice a year. Go to hugsandkissesconsignment.com for more info if you live in the Fayetteville, NC area. I bought Easter dresses for 3 of my girls there this year. What a huge savings.
Ooh- I love a good thrift store! Do you have any favorites in the DC area? I love Unique, but I have to leave the 16-month-old at home. It is just too much store with a toddler! I bought K’s Easter dress on Ebay this year- $6 including shipping- got to love it.
For Christmas I was able to pick up a dress for my daugher for $6 and my son I was able to pick up black dress pants for a dollar! For Easter my daughter will borrow a dress from a friend who had outgrown the dress. For my son I will use the same outfit from Christmas. So Easter outfits will cost me nothing this year!!!
This just reminded me that my son needs a suit for Easter. I think I’ll go check out our local goodwill
I am 6 months pregnant and shopping the clearance racks for my baby’s clothing. I have gone into about 5 different consignment stores and have been appalled at the prices – I can get the same items for the same price or less on the clearance racks. Even the Hanna Anderson items at the consignment stores are overpriced considering I live 15 mins from the outlet store. I’ve found Circo and Walmart brand clothing at consignment stores that are priced higher than what one can get brand new. It’s irritating. I personally don’t think consignment stores are a good bargain but that’s just my opinion. I’d rather buy brand new if it costs the same or less than consignment.
See these kind of bargains are awesome. Will have to look out for opportunities like this.
Hand me downs. We have a neighbor who is regularly given hand me down clothes for her daughter. But they’re usually too large for her and my friend can’t stand the clutter, so she passes them on to me. My daughter has several gorgeous Easter dresses to choose from this year!
ALL the churches in my area have spring and fall consignment sales. I know this isnt clothing but last night I got to shop a pre sale because i consigned for this particular sale and I got a toddler quilt and sham from POTTERY BARN for $10! It even matches my daughters nursery colors so all I will do is remove the bumper pad, have my mother in law make a toddler pillow for the sham and be done!
Oh and a funny story about the suits from Goodwill, my dad doesn’t have a lot of money and was in need of a new suit for a funeral. He was looking at stores where the suits were $150 or more, he had no idea that Goodwill had suits until i told him and I think he bought 3
I just went to the thrift store and got 3 new mens dress shirts and a Aeropostle sweater for my son and all 4 items still had the original price tag on them. I paid $12 for all 4 things, original price tags value was over $200! A little time with my sewing machine and those dress shirts fit my family perfectly. Don’t overlook something just because it isn’t the correct size, a lot of things can be altered easily!
Thrift stores? Never heard of them.
LOL…
I very rarely do thrift shops. The hand full of times I went last year I didn’t find anything.
I do do consignment shops for the young kids. However, you need to know your prices or you will end up paying just as much as a retail store. I did recently get some great deals on clothes for my 3 year old at a consignment shop—$1 a piece–I bought 22 items!! The owner was trying to clear out fall/winter items to make room for spring/summer. I bought clothes the next size up for my daughter. She has a great start for next year already : )
OH, yeah! I was just in a bx and saw some Easter outfits yesterday, but I told myself that I’d check out the thrift stores first.
I’m finding the same thing at my THRIFT store. I came across a Children’s Place girls long sleeve tshirt that was clearly not new the other day that had an 8.99 price tag!!! I bought a similar shirt new for my duaghter at cp on sale for Christmas present that was 4.99. The thrift store pricers around my area haven’t got a clue. They price onesies for .89!! yeah right. I’ll buy some new ones and stain them myself for pennies less. I used to be huge into thrift but now that my kids are in the T sizes it seems the bargains have dried up for used. and I love Mom-to-Mom sales but they are total chaos and you have to get in line at 6:30am on Saturdays around here. now that my husband is working Saturdays (salary, not overtime) I can’t get a sitter that early, and by the time I make it at 9:00, everything is pretty much gone even tho the sale lasts til noon. I have been tentatively stepping out to the ebay world. I hope it can replace my good thrift/rerun finds. I hate to pay full price.
Here in Atlantic Canada, we have an amazing chain of thrift stores called Frenchy’s. There is no stigma at all – everyone shops there. The place is like no other I’ve seen – they’ve even written a book about how to shop the Frenchy’s method. My girlfriends and I do a trip once a year or so that includes a selection of Frenchy’s stores around the Nova Scotia. We enjoy a dinner out, share a couple rooms at a B&B and shop for our families. It’s a great way to spend important girl time together (something that is getting harder and harder to do), and come home with garbage bags of clothing for next to nothing.
Was just at Value Village (looking for cardigans) and it was a bit better than consignment stores but not by too much. I hate to complain but oh well
Good luck!
This is a great idea – buying ahead when they are trying to clear out a season, will keep that in mind.
Where to begin!
Thrifting is a treasure hunt!
Last week, I spent $15 at a church-basement thrift store. I bought a blazer jacket for me, a cashmere sweater for DD, a black skirt for DD, a game, 2 books, and 3 casual t-shirts for DD. (I also bought a dress that doesn’t fit, but I’ll just donate that back.)
As for formal clothes, my teens went to a 2-day debate tournament. I had 2 teens to dress formally for 2 days. So 4 outfits needed. And one of my daughters is a picky fashionista. She wanted her outfits to look formal, but not traditional. I ended up buying several items that didn’t suit her taste, but I just donated those back.
Here’s what actually worked out:
Outfit #1: black skinny jeans (Kohl’s, around $20), a black tunic (thrifted $1.00), Liz Claiborne scarf (thrifted, $0.50).
Outfit #2: Ralph Lauren basic black dress (thrifted , $2) cashmere sweater (thrifted , $2) .
Outfit #3: Oxford shirt (bought new, $45), black JJill skort (thrifted, $2)
Outfit #4: (repeat) Ralph Lauren basic black dress (thrifted , $2), paired with a botanical print silk scarf (thrifted, $1)
The thrifted Ralph Lauren outfit looked every bit as classy as the outfit with items bought at retail. And just as appropriate as everyone else’s.
The Oxford shirt and black pants were already in DD’s wardrobe. So were their shoes.
Now, if I could only find an inexpensive source for pantyhose!
Overall though, my best thrifting tip is to BUY AHEAD. If, for example, you have a sudden funeral to attend on Friday, your chances of finding everything you need at the thrift store this week are slim. However, if each family member keeps a basic formal outfit, (I suggest black, navy, or gray), you can react to last-minute needs. And you can dress it up for other events — baptisms, holiday parties, company dinners …. In reality, thrifting is so inexpensive that I have about 4 formal outfits, so that I don’t show up in the same dress at every event.
Wow! Awesome deals! I agree with you, buying ahead is best. It is hard to find everything you need for an occasion in one trip to the thrift store or yard sale.
you are funny!
i need to get on the thrift store circuit! i have little patience though!
I got my son a very nice easter outfit from Goodwill this year! A plaid button down shirt (Children’s Place) for $1.99 and a pair of khaki pants (again Children’s Place) 99 cents. Its dress casual but our church is very laid back and we only go there and to the inlaws to eat ham and potato salad on Easter. I love that he will wear both pieces of this outfit again and again throughout the spring and summer.
Great post! I loved the pics.