Here are some of my tips on thrifting for your back to school wardrobe. I buy for the future. Up in the attic I have plastic tubs (thrifted from yard sales and Goodwill) full of clothing. Cerys has one for age 6, age 7 and age 8 (which actually has a few items up to age 10).
In the beginning of summer I went into her 6 tub and pulled out all of the age 6 summer clothing. I also put away her winter items at the same time that she can wear this fall and winter. Anything she has outgrown I give to friends, sell on eBay, give to a thrift store or sell to a consignment store. Almsot everything in this photo is thrifted. Included here is nearly everything she needs for this coming year. There are PJ's, dresses, trousers, skirts, shirts, sweaters and even shoes.
I tend to pick up higher quality brands. I think they are sometimes exceptionally cute and the quality better. A lot of these items are Gymboree, Old Navy, Next (UK brand I bought when I went to car boot sales last summer), Stride Rite shoes and Mimi Rose.
Here are some great places for your thrifted back to school clothing all year around-
-Thrift Stores: Try to hit their sales for even better savings. Goodwill (although their prices can be quite high) sales are like clockwork. Their next sale locally is on Sept 4th on Labor Day and most of their other sales are right after major holidays. Their clothing are usually 30% off. They used to have better sales but they have cut back on those drastically. ValueVillage (or Savers as I have learned through comments left here-thank you) also has a sale from time to time. On Sept 4 in our area, the store is 50% off. Show up early though to get the best selection. Try to buy a season ahead as well. In June I will be buying winter clothing. There is better availability and people have often just cleaned out their winter closets.
-Yard Sales: This is the best place ever to buy clothing for children. The prices are usually very affordable and the quality really good, especially for those first arrivals. I found a pair of new Keen shoes last Saturday (with tags) for $2.00 and a Vera Bradley Apple Green backpack for $5.00 that was also new. We were one of the first people at the sale. If you see a boat load of items that are in your child's age range see if you can haggle a price for the lot. Sometimes you will find those very cute boutique clothing but the prices are near consignment prices. I may buy something if it is especially cute but generally I'll just keep walking. Children's clothing is always available somewhere.
-Consignment Stores: Well the price just shot up once you cross the threshold of a consignment store but so has quality and the selection is better. I don't shop too often at these but I tend to check them from time to time if they are having a sale. I hit one store where nearly everything was 50% off. Then I stocked up on items that I have more difficulty finding elsewhere. If you have items to sell at a consignment store this could give you some store credits which are always helpful.
-Clothing Swap Party: Gather all your friends and neighbors at your house, serve some wine and snacks and throw yourself a clothing swap party. This works for both adult clothing and children's clothing. I must admit to never having been to one of these but have heard such good feedback about them through friends. I am hoping to have one at our school in early October in time for fall & winter clothing. Basically people bring bags of clothing and create a huge heap in the center of a room. People dive right in and start swapping. Others are more organized and divide the clothing into sizes to make it easier. At the end of the night, the rejected items are gathered together and dropped off at a clothing bank or thrift store.
-Bartering Groups: I have taken part in two on-line bartering groups. The first one is Natural Mama Barter and basically is a swapping group for anything that falls under natural living such as slings, Robeez shoes, books on natural parenting, WAHM related items and so on. The second one was Mama Bartering or something like that but it was a bit too much for me (traffic wise) and now I can't seem to find it at yahoo groups. I used to barter a lot of Keiran's organic clothing (baby stuff) as well as barter for items for him. I especially like Wahm made boys clothing.
-Freecycle: Freecycle as it's name suggest is a group for posting and searching for Free items. Many communities have Freecycle email list. If your does not, then you might consider starting your own. 7 of our chickens came from Freecycle among many other things. I have seen a lot of post for bags of children's clothing. I do not know what the condition or quality would be but hey, it's free and it is a form of building community. You can meet your neighbors through recycling.
-Ebay/Craig's List: More expensive than other choices but if you are looking for a specific brand or you want a huge lot of clothing, then there are many great items to bid on. I buy a certain brand that I just love. I can't buy it locally and it is really hard to find new. Luckily not many others buy it so I'm usually a lone bidder. I also buy Next clothing as well since not many people here are familiar with it. Value wise, the bigger the lot is, the less you'll have to pay on separate shipping. Of course a large lot of clothing can be expensive to ship. Craig's List is great to buy clothing on because you can pick it up locally. Often there will be pretty good photos of clothing so you have an idea of what you are buying before you make the effort to meet the person.
-Friends: Finding a close friend with a daughter/son a couple years old than yours is ideal. Well as long as they want to share with you of course. I love receiving clothing and I love to give clothing. In fact I gave away a couple bags of clothing to my friend H. (she is blog shy) Today in the mail I received 2 gift certificates for quarts of ice cream! I was so touched by her generosity not to mention it is for ice cream. How ideal is that? What a great friend.
I love the challenge of being able to fill Cerys's closet with items I can find second hand. It's a form of recycling, it supports our local communities, we avoid the chemicals used in new clothing, (that new smell is usually a mixture of chemicals such as formaldehyde and urea resins)and it's just plain fun to see what we can find out there in the thrift world. If you have teens who have to have cool & hip clothing try taking them to Buffalo Exchange which not only has really trendy clothing but it is all second hand as well.
So when you next go out thrifting, try to think ahead for next years wardrobe. When I am super organized I have a notepad with me with items I am looking for. This keeps me from over buying or buying something that they already have.
