- Pretty much my favorite thing to do for Ruby is to shop for her clothes. LOVE it. She doesn't have an overabundance of toys but I am guilty of going overboard when it comes to her clothes (and books, good lord does that child have a lot of books). I've always disliked my own personal style so I feel like, at least for now, I can live vicariously through her wardrobe. I'll be sad the day that she's all like, "Ugh, mom, that's so ugly!"
- As far as sizing she's always been right on with her age. (at 12 month was was wearing 12m. etc.) I feel like she stays in one size for a long time too. I haven't had one of those moments where I put something on her that just fit and all of the sudden it magically doesn't. I have no doubt that she'll be in her 3T's for the rest of the year, although I have noticed that her dresses have gotten a bit shorter in the past few months. In shoes she is currently in an 8. I have no basis for comparison but when I tell people this sometimes they are shocked and think she has tiny feet ("My 18 m.o. is wearing a 10!"). I dunno, but I am willing her feet not to go above a size 10. Selection drops off greatly after that!
- 98% of her clothes are from the clearance rack, thrift stores, or hand-me-downs. It's very, very rare that I pay full price for something.
- I am not partial to any particular store but most of her stuff comes from Target, Old Navy, or GAP. When GAP has an additional 40% off on their clearance you can get stuff crazy, crazy cheap. Like cheaper than Target cheap. (These sales happen usually around the holidays)
she has a bigger closet than Heath and I
- I avoid buying sets. If the grandparents buy one (which happens often) I break up the pieces. I hate the term "match" and am pretty liberal with what I think works well together.
- I let her pick out her clothes by herself. I think it's important that she cultivate her own little style. Red pouffy tulle dress in the middle of June? Why not? Otherwise it's just sitting in the closet collecting dust. I only put the kibosh on her choice if it's weather inappropriate or she's dragging ass when it comes to making a decision. If I pick her clothes out I usually try to pick the clothes that she tends to avoid, like shorts and tops. She's way more into dresses right now.
- I limit, but don't completely avoid, p-i-n-k. I don't want her to be consumed completely by the pink monster but to be aware that it is just one of many colors in the rainbow. I also don't care if she wears boy clothes.
- Things I do avoid: pastels, logos, writing and characters (with few exceptions), those pants with the ruffles at the bottom, and camo print. I hate camo print with the ferocity of a thousand suns.
another reason to not spend a lot of $
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- As you can see she loves the purple rain boots. She probably wears them 50% of the time even though her shoe selection rivals probably any of you ladies out there. (my bad. cute shoes are hard to resist when they are under $5 and you get an employee discount) I didn't realize it would be so hard to find rain boots without overtly girly prints or characters, in bright colors, that weren't like $50 or more. These were $7 well spent. Thanks, Kmart!
- Heath and I are both very much hoping for a little girl for round 2. (Can you say Most Epic Girl Name EVER?) I did ditch all of Ruby's clothes up to 24 months but after that I will have an assload of hand-me-downs for the kid. Financially it will be quite handy to be able to reuse some of her clothes. Of course if SHE ends up being HE then, oh darn, looks like I have to go shopping. Actually, I know I'll have a hard time finding boys clothes that I like. I've already been Googling "punk kids clothing" and stuff like, perusing Pinterest and Etsy in an effort to avoid the Big 3 for Boys: Puppies, Cars, and Sports.
