School Clothes? Done... I Hope!

Well, it's done. I've spent two days of exhaustive searching, clicking and negotiating. I'm happy to report that I'm finally finished. At least I hope I'm finished. Once the clothes get here, they have to fit right or they go back and we try again. Thankfully most of the places I ordered from have good return policies. Here's how it went. . .

At Hanes.com, I found all of Melanie's t-shirts. The prices were great and she liked the style.

At Land's End, I purchased pants for James and Westley. They have very narrow taste. They hate jeans and snaps and zippers. They don't like sweat pants. Their pants always rip holes in the knees. I found the perfect solution at Land's End. The Open Bottom Climber Pants fit the bill. They have reinforced knees, elastic waste with a clip closure to adjust the size a bit. They aren't denim but the fabric is durable in a denim like way. The boys like sandstone and classic navy. They're expensive when you have to get more than one or two but they last forever. I expect West to inherit James' old ones and baby Benji to eventually get them all too. Well worth it for style and durability.

At the Children's Place, I found a few necessities for baby Benji, most of the shirts and pants for Laura, and a couple shirts for Westley. The Children's Place clothes are also very high quality and I expect them to last, not shrink, etc.

At Land's End I also found a couple pants for Melanie who also has very specific preferences. She hates jeans and loves sweat pants. Not much left in between! We compromise with chinos and yoga pants and crops.

At CWDKids.com, I found two adorable knit dresses with tights that are casual enough for school for Laura. She's the frilly, princess in our family and must have twirl ability in her outfits to feel comfortable. A pair of mary jane shoes will complete the look.

At HannaAndersson.com I completed Laura's wardrobe with two additional adorable, twirly play dresses and tights.

I found one more pair of chinos at Old Navy for Melanie and hope they fit her narrow taste.

I ordered a princess backpack for Laura from Target. West will reuse his from last year, his still looks brand new! James and Melanie will have new backpacks from Land's End in a very durable (better last forever!) wheel-able style. Their book bags have gotten so heavy that I worry about their backs having to lug it all! I don't remember having so many books in elementary!

We'll put off purchasing jackets until it gets cooler.

The rest, undies, socks, jammies, shoes, we'll get locally at Wal-mart.

All in all, I feel quite satisfied with my purchases. I pray they all fit and I don't have to camp out at the Post Office trying to send it all back! I was surprised at the prices of everything. It's so expensive! I thought I would save money in gas not having to take a road trip and do the mall crawl. Perhaps I did. I'll never really know. Shipping wasn't as bad as I expected. I know I saved tons of heart ache by not having to drag my big pregnant self and four tired, grumpy kids into every change room in the city! Still, more money was spent than I'd hoped.

I do have some money saving tips for anyone interested.

Pick good quality stores to shop from. If the clothes you buy are going to come out of their first wash with holes everywhere and ripped seams, you're wasting money. If they are quality clothes and well cared for, they can be passed to younger siblings or sold on ebay to recoup part of their cost. I got lucky with my boys, I didn't have to buy any T-shirts due to a very thoughtful mother-in-law who sends us hand-me-downs that are always in great shape. Once you've found the right stores to spend your hard earned cash, (I love The Children's Place and Land's End - their stuff seems to last through two or three kids without looking worse for the wear!) check out their clearance sales and outlets. You'd be surprised how much money you can save by doing this. Plan ahead and know your children's sizes and you'll be ready to scoop up the good deals when they come. My favorite bargain this year was finding all those shirts for Melanie on Hanes.com. I was delighted at their prices and generally like the Hanes brand. I was able to buy a few extra things that way and now she'll have plenty to choose from (her style is constantly changing and she's very picky about fit and comfort). I love the tip I got from my sis, Holli. Ebates.com is great! Most of the stores I shopped at, were on the ebates site. I look forward to getting the cash back.

Hope all of you have great success in preparing for school this year!