7 Quick Takes - My Favorite Children's Clothing Brands

I am a resale-aholic. I am a consignment-aholic. I am a thrift store-aholic. Possibly even a garage sale-aholic. Let me say, it's very rare I buy any clothing brand-spankin' new, except for Mr. ADM. Something about men's clothing - either they wear through most of it or I don't know. It's just not easy to find anything besides ratty old tshirts and gigantic pants, most days. I did, however, score a couple pairs of Banana Republic pants for him at Goodwill. I was happy. $4 pants? Heck yes! Anyway, with second-hand clothing, you have to be picky and now that I'm on kid #3, I've found many brands I love and many of which I am not so much a fan. I am by no means an expert, but since I'm terribly sleep-deprived and surviving on half a brain today, I thought I'd post something light and cohesive. So, without further ado, my top 7 children's clothing brands...


1. Hanna Andersson - Before having a girl, I had heard only wonderful things about HA brand for dresses. They offer a decent variety of modest, simple play dresses for girls from baby to pre-teen. Since having Miriam, I've enjoyed putting her in these cotton dresses. I'm a huge fan of 100% cotton clothing in general. Rarely, do I put my kids in anything synthetic because of our skin issues in this family. The clothing is made of quality fabric and they last. It's not easy to find that with rough and tumble kids. The other clothing item we've enjoyed is their boys' organic undershirts. Matthew's gotten blood (not to be gross) all over them with his eczema and the stains have come out of them without even putting stain remover on them! I am in love :).

2. Gymboree - Pjs. I love Gymboree's pajamas. I buy their 100% cotton ones and they are good quality. They also allow for my kids to get their arms in the armholes. All pajamas today, pretty much, have really skinny arms for fire safety reasons. While good in theory, my kids must have extra thick arms because it's really, really difficult for them to get their arms in most pajamas. Not these. They are super soft and are adorable. AND Gymboree runs some great sales. It's not easy to find pjs in resales and garage sales without them looking completely threadbare, so I usually buy these new. I hit a $10/pair sale last winter and went crazy! I even bought the kids' matching ones (see below). They also have very cute, very child-appropriate clothing. Their girl clothing doesn't look like miniature teen clothing. That's a huge deal for me, considering I don't want my daughter to look like she's imitating a 16 year old, especially with the fashions that are "in" today.

Christmas in matching Gymbo pjs

3. Baby Gap - I love Gap for adult clothing. They provide simple staples that mix and match well. I've always had a fairly simple style. I love a good pair of jeans with a solid colored shirt and I'll be perfectly happy. So, we've gotten lots of pants, especially the boys' church pants that are Gap. I also love their dresses that are simple and delicate. Not too busy and very feminine. They also have great tshirts and polos.

Miriam in her Baby Gap, Matthew in Gap pants and Mark in a Gap shirt

4. Tea Collection - This is a brand that is fairly new to me. They have adorable cotton dresses. I have not tried out any of their boys' clothing yet, nor have I really come across any, but their dresses are wonderful and come in adorable patterns!

5. Lands End - Once again, adorable dresses! Can you tell I love dresses? I'm just thankful Miriam does as well! They wear really well. And they have great pants for the boys too! Durable and long-lasting. And they are not as pricey as some of the other brands (mind you, I almost always by second-hand, so I'm never paying the prices that I find way above my budget for most things).

One of my favorite dresses when she was this tiny.

6. Naartjie - Now, I am actually not a huge fan of the girl's side of this clothing brand. There are a few things here and there that make me look twice (in a good way), but most are just not my taste. However, last fall, I bought Matthew 3 pairs of their pants. When I bought them, they looked enormously long. My kids have exceptionally short legs. They inherited that from their mother. I figured I'd more than likely have to hem these bad boys, but they were in good condition and Matthew was in desperate need of pants. When it grew cold here, I had him try on the first pair and voila! They fit perfectly! They might have been a tad bit long, but not enough so that he wore out the backs of his pants, like he often does. And the elastic in the waist was not too big, so they did not droop either. They were fairly thin material, but they still have no holes in them and the elastic is in almost perfect condition. That is pretty impressive considering this household puts everything on high heat in the dryer for the most part.

7. Mini Boden - This is one of my favorite brands to dream about when I'm browsing websites or getting catalogs in the mail. They have incredibly cute stuff for both genders. And they cost an arm and a leg. So, I've been very excited to score a few dresses and some random shorts for the kids. High quality and cute and modest. And fun!

Mini Boden purple polka dot shirt

Honorable mention goes to Baby Lulu and Carters. Baby Lulu makes adorable outfits for girls, but they are pretty expensive, even resale. Still very feminine. My favorite winter outfit for Miriam was a Baby Lulu. Cotton, frills and flowers. Could it get any better? :) And Carters has cute dressy dresses and great onesies and sleepers.

Stop by and say "hi" to Jen @ Conversion Diary for more great (and probably deeper) 7 Quick Takes!