I am currently pregnant with my second son. When we found out the sex of our first, I heard on more than one occasion, “oh… but girl clothes are so much better/cuter/more fun,” followed by a look of sympathy.
I will not even go into the annoying gender politics of that statement, but it was basically right then that I determined that 1) my son would be adorably dressed; 2) I wouldn’t break the bank doing it; and 3) those people would eat their words. Two years and change later, I think I’ve been pretty successful. Sure, we have plenty of shirts with your standard trucks, monkeys and dinosaurs, but I like to think that the majority of our wardrobe is a bit more classic and fun than the basic boys department fare.
First, remember that dressing a kid (before they hit the phase where they care about what they’re wearing, and I recognize that it’s all over at that point) should be fun! Adults can’t get away with a lot of the things kids can. Mix patterns, buy ridiculous hats, go vintage – do whatever inspires you.
I also love to invert the traditional solid pants + patterned shirt setup, and instead pair striped or plaid bottoms with a solid or graphic shirt. For casualwear, I love the Gap Striped Pants from their Playtime Favorites line (which I never buy for less than 50% off with coupons) or Mini Boden play sets (which I only buy on consignment or clearance).
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard “but… but… bows and tutus!” in defense of the “girls are more fun to dress” argument. To that, I present you with bowties, and hats, and sunglasses, and oh, the shoes. Amazon actually has a pretty great toddler bowtie selection for cheap, and I have lots of fun knit hats from Zulily. See Kai Run and Keens are our go-to shoe brands.
Think outside the box when it comes to stores. While I love the staples at Old Navy, Target, Kohl’s and Baby Gap as much as the next person, if I want something special I start scouring the sale sections of stores like Tea Collection, Kitestrings, Mini Boden, Ruum, Kickee Pants, and Next Direct.
The moms I know have very strong opinions about this, but I’ve found that buying a year ahead at end-of-season clearance sales has worked out well for us and lets us stretch the budget. But, then again, my kid grows into and out of sizes right on schedule, and I can always throw it in the bin for No. 2 if it doesn’t work out.
Of course, now that my kid is two, we’re reaching an age where he adores shirts with his favorite TV and movie characters on them. I really love the designs of the character shirts at Threadless for the Disney/Muppet/Sesame Street fans and Junk Food for Baby Gap for the superhero fans. He loves that he has a Mickey or Elmo shirt, I love that it’s a little more understated than the typical character fare.
So, to the haters of boy clothes, I say enthusiastically that you are wrong. Dressing boys is actually a lot of fun – embrace it!
I agree a THOUSAND percent! I got the same comments about dressing a boy, with both of my babies. There are so many other good boy brands out there, Polarn O. Pyret and Appaman and and boutique-y stuff like Salt City Emporium (obsessed with their baby leggings lately)… H&M is a great staple too, frankly the quality is better than Gap.
These days there are tons more fashionable offerings for boys, which I am SO thankful for. Still nowhere what it should be, but much better than even five years ago when I had my first. There is hope for sure.
Hoping these comments are full of more baby clothing recs, I am always on the lookout for new brands!
Agree!! Dressing boys is fun because people think it’s not, and are easily awed by a cute bow tie or other simple accessory. A smartly dressed boy can stand out in the crowd of otherwise run-of-the mill clothes whereas there’s definitely an over-saturation in the cute-girl-clothes department. Plus I don’t have to dress my boy in only pink, which is one of my least favorite colors! Here’s an idea: Wouldn’t it be fun to ask moms for their favorite photo of their handsomely dressed boy? I’d love to see the creativity going on there.