Hand-Me-Downs Are Chic New Apparel

When my son was born several people gave me bags and boxes full of little boy clothes their children had outgrown. I was ecstatic. I didn’t have to buy him clothing for most of his first year.

I saved much of his clothes in old diaper boxes and kept filling them up, saving them for baby number two. Then, three years later, came the ultrasound that proved we we’d be needing pink items.

What to do with all those clothes?

I contemplated keeping them once again, in case we have a third baby but opted to get rid of them. By the time we might have another child my son will be 5 or 6 years old and I’d need a second house to keep all the clothing he’s outgrowing. It’s just not practical. But, neither is buying all new clothes for each kid . We donated the clothes to another family who had a newborn baby boy and she has already started passing them along as well now that her son has outgrown some of the clothes.

So, the girl news started spreading and we started getting offers of donations from friends’ children who’d outgrown their baby clothes. “Bring ‘em over,” I replied to each offer. The boxes came and I haven’t had to buy much for my daughter.

Apparently, this is a new trend.

I rarely buy new clothes for my kids. The rate at which they outgrow their clothes is so fast, they don’t have time to ruin the ones they have — giving other families the chance to use the leftovers.

Consignment is hot

Resale seems to be a growing trend as well and not just on sites like eBay and Craigslist. In Orlando, we have a shop, Once Upon a Child, that pays cash for kid’s clothes that are in good shape. So, you sell some clothes and you buy some clothes. I’ve purchased several gorgeous dresses here for as little as $3.50. They would retail for at least $20. I have a hard time paying $20 for an item of clothing that is only going to last three months. Once, I sold some clothes and bought a few “new” outfits and walked out with more money than when I went in. It actually felt like they were paying me to take the clothes.

“The New York Times” wrote a great article about this trend — and it’s not just for people who need to save money. Everyone is realizing that there are great quality products and clothes out there that are hardly used. Why buy new when you can have “nearly new” for a lot less cash.

Instead of boxing up all my daughters clothes as she steadily outgrows them, I’m going to try resale and earn a few bucks, or just use the money to trade up in size so that I can outfit her for longer without having to always buy new.

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