Since I had a son a little more than a year ago, a surprising number of people have asked me how little boys should dress. My honest feeling is that it doesn’t matter that much how little tiny kids dress, but I’ve also been annoyed at the choices for little boys, so I thought I’d outline my thoughts on the matter briefly. (If only to have something to send people too.)
- It seems criminal to me to bring new baby clothes into the world. If you aren’t deluged by hand-me-downs from family and friends, your local thrift store is chock-a-block with lightly-worn cloths. Want something more specific? Craigslist and eBay are full of cheap stuff.
- Simple, solid-colored clothes will be a blessing when you’re trying to dress your child presentably after sleeping four hours the previous night.
- For babies, solid-colored onesies are great. White is often the only color you can buy inexpensively that doesn’t have something dumb on it, but white’s perfectly fine (and launderable as heck).
- Find a brand you really like? Search for it on eBay. We’ve loved Zutano clothes for our son, and while we’ve bought some on Amazon, mostly it’s come second-hand for two or three dollars a piece.
- Baby clothes with funny things written on them are not funny.
- In fact: baby clothes with anything written on them are pretty lame. Even your favorite indie rock band. Babies can’t read.
- Sweatpants are fine for any child who isn’t school age. They’re washable, comfortable and completely appropriate for babies.
- You really only need one or two sets of “nice clothes,” and that can mean solid-colored cotton pants and one polo shirt.
- Want a template for a little kid’s clothes? Check out a kid from Sesame Street in the 70s and 80s. No brands, no characters, no nonsense.
- Overalls are f’ing adorable.
When I’m at the thrift store, I go through the racks looking for almost anything that will fit my son within the next six months or so that also has no writing or branded characters on it. What I find, I usually buy. That’s most of his clothes, and he usually looks great.
Of course, he’s a great-looking kid. 😉