Alicia...I don't have any children but I was thinking what a neat thing you've done by buying secondhand clothing for Bear...secondhand clothing is just as good as brand new clothing, and since children grow so quickly, it's neat that you got hand me downs for Bear to wear, and that you are buying secondhand clothing...I totally agree that things should be used and reused...why create waste when you can avoid it...I, myself, wear a combination of new and used clothing...the new clothing is bought on Boxing Day sales, and I only buy pants...the rest I wear either old or secondhand...rarely do I buy new clothing, except socks and underwear...

Iove it  - reusing is great but buying a thift swimsuit is gross so get one made with recycled materials! Thanks alicia- caroline www.ecoswim.com

My friends and I will hand me down clothing.  It works for our younger one who is 18 months but our daughter is 11 so I get creative.  Yes, we do like nice things but I'm the first to hit thrift stores, shop eBay, yardsales, etc.  I do this even for me.  You never know what kind of deals you will find at any of those places.  My favorite to do and we've done it with kids things is a swap.  Someone will host at their home and we will have a potluck and people will bring clothing, books, handbags, etc. and we just swap with eachother.  My friends used to call it "Shopping at Kats closet" and it was free!

I used to buy a lot of my kids clothes from Children's Orchard... a children's clothes reseller http://www.childrensorchard.com/

Now my daughter gets virtually all of her clothes from her older cousin.

My son is getting older (he's in 5th grade), so shopping for him tends to be a little more of a challenge as he now has very specific ideas about what he wants to wear, but he is able to fit into some of my husbands old clothes now!

Gretchen

www.veggiegrettie.com 

This is what we have done all my life.  My new thing now is to go to Goodwill and get old receiving blankets and then cut them up and make burp towels.  I guess you can call it up-cycling.  I got the template form a great-aunt and take two "matching" pieces and sew together, turn inside out and then top stitch with a matching thread zig-zag.  My sister is addicted to them.  Full price they are .99 and I have been getting them half off.  You can usually get 2-4 pieces out of one blanket.  You can't beat that price.  

The template looks like a big peanut if anyone is interested in making their own.  They are great too because they don't slip off your shoulder.

Second hand kids' clothes is where it's at! They grow so fast that buying full-price can get costly, and recycling clothing is SO much better for the environment anyway! I go to Grow Kid Grow in Silver Lake (http://www.growkidgrow.com/). It's a cozy little store (not much room but very well organized) and they're SUPER friendly and helpful!! Plus they have the most quirky, unique finds! It's the same idea where you can also sell your kid's clothes. My only complaint is that I can't buy clothes for myself there. ;)

For my 5 year old daughter River, I go to Once Upon a Child in Crest Hill or Naperville, IL.  For my 15 year old son Aubre', I go to Plato's Closet in the same two locations.  I love buying thrifty, especially when they have unique looling clothes and people say, "Wow that is so cute. Where did you get that from?"  My son gets a lot of Aeropostale from Plato's and gym shoes that look like they came straight out of the box.

I hardly EVER buy new clothes for my kids (a girl, 3 and boy, 1) Almost all of their clothes are hand me downs, especially my son's: my sister had a boy before I did and I get all of my nephew's clothes for my son! Which is awesome. My girl gets a lot of her clothing from an aunt who is constantly yard-saleing and on the lookout for good quality hand me downs. Makes much more sense to me seeing as how much kids grow and in such a short period of time--I couldn't afford to buy brand new if I wanted to!

I am petite and still wear kids clothes. The styles that dont look obviously childish. I have gotten may clothes from my sisters and cousins who grew much bigger than me. 

Once Upon a Child offers a great selection of used (and sometimes NEW!) clothes for babies/children. I never pay more than $5 for any single item of clothing.

I also never turn down hand-me-downs. Even if they're aren't my style, I like to find a home for them!

I keep everything to hand down to future siblings for my little ones, as well as neices and nephews. I try to be as organic as possible when it comes to clothing - Under the Nile, Giggle, The Little Pea have some really awesome, organic clothing. I tend to also buy from etsy at times. 

I buy from the shops all the time and they selll gently used or stylish clothes.  I also take my daughter outgrown clothes and make money too! I also buy cute larger sizes and keep it on hand! They also sell toys and clothes for mom and baby too! It's an win win situation.

My neighboorhood once a year does community wide yard sales and you can make money and find some really cute kids clothes real cheap$$$

Check out Ebay I type boys/girls lot and their size and get lot's of clothes! You can sell on ebay too! :)

I do all kinds of resale shopping,beggining garage sales in the season,resale stores and craigslist.My new favorite is Savers,I'm not sure if it's nationwide but it's couple of them in IL

Yes I agree second hand clothes can ve very cheap and stylis however once at a time you can also give your children some nice clothes for an special occasion and usually there are this stores that have seasonal sales. Try this page https://www.vivelafete.com/  it worked really well for me.

Hi,

When I had my son, Odin, I decided to try and use second hand etc. and I have hardly bought anything new. I also started making things out of old jumpers and now I have started a market stall and Etsy page where I upcycle old jumpers into baby and kids clothes, I love it. If you want a guide to making an all-in-one from an adult jumper, have a look on my blog under 'Make your Own'

minimagpie.com