Kids' clothes, tracked by size instead of by season
Children outgrow things on their own schedule, and the sales do not care. Plan it as a board organised by the size that comes next, so what is bought ahead is visible and nothing is bought twice.
The short version
Children's clothes are bought in two modes: replacing something outgrown today, and buying ahead in a sale. The two collide when nobody records what is already in the loft in the next size up. Track the size, the season it fits and where it is stored, and buy ahead deliberately.
A sample board
Next size up
What is already in the loft, and what still needs buying before winter.
- Items
- 6
- Have it
- 1 of 6
- Total
- $322.95
- Budget
- $27.05 left of $350
Open any item for its details, the product page and what to read.
$118Needed by the first cold snap, which still leaves a few weeks to watch the price. The biggest line on the board.
NeededSize · 5Fits by · WinterWhere · To buy
primary.com (opens the product page in a new tab)
$46Bought ahead in the spring sale and put in the loft. This line is the only reason anybody remembers they are there.
Have itSize · 11Fits by · AutumnWhere · Loft box 2
tenlittle.com (opens the product page in a new tab)
$45All black for the uniform rule. If they survive the year they go to a younger sibling, so sturdy is worth paying for.
MaybeSize · 12Fits by · SeptemberHand down · Yes
tenlittle.com (opens the product page in a new tab)
$34.50Plain enough to go with everything else here, which is also what makes it worth handing down.
MaybeSize · 5Fits by · WinterHand down · Yes
tenlittle.com (opens the product page in a new tab)
$52.50Three pairs covers a week with one wash in the middle.
MaybeSize · 5Fits by · Winter
primary.com (opens the product page in a new tab)
$26.95Wool stays warm when it is damp, and a 4 to 8 will do several winters rather than one.
MaybeSize · 4 to 8Fits by · Winter
menique.com (opens the product page in a new tab)
Product photos from primary.com, tenlittle.com and menique.com, each of the product linked beside it.
Who it's for
Parents clothing one or more children, especially anyone buying ahead in sales or handing things down between siblings.
What people use today
A spreadsheet, a loft, and a good memory, in roughly that order of reliability. Wardrobe apps are built for adults whose size does not change every eight months, which is the entire problem here.
What a board tracks here
Fields you name yourself, on the item they belong to. These are the ones that decide a purchase and have nowhere else to live.
- Size
- Everything here is organised by it, and it is the one thing a shopping list normally omits.
- Fits by
- The season it will actually be worn in. A winter coat in size 5 is useless if size 5 lands in June.
- Where it is
- Bought ahead means stored somewhere, and stored somewhere means forgotten.
- Hand down
- Whether a younger sibling gets it, which changes what is worth spending.
Reading
- Cost Per Wear Is the Only Number That Compares Two CoatsA ninety dollar coat and a four hundred dollar coat are not comparable on price. They are comparable on cost per wear, which is the one figure that makes an expensive purchase arguable rather than indulgent.
- How to Track a Price on Any Store, Not Just AmazonPrice history tools mostly stop at the big marketplaces. Here's how to watch prices at the small stores where the things you actually want are sold.
- The Wardrobe Inventory: Photograph What You Own FirstHalf an hour with a phone is the highest value thing you can do before a wardrobe refresh, and it is the step everyone skips. Here is why it works and how to do it without it becoming a project.
- The Rule That Makes a Capsule Wardrobe Actually WorkCapsule wardrobes fail on combinations, not on pieces. One test, applied before buying anything, is what separates a working capsule from thirty nice things that do not go together.
- How to Tell Whether a Black Friday Deal Is RealThe advice is always 'know the price beforehand'. Nobody explains how. Here's what to record, when to record it, and what counts as a genuine cut.
Start one of your own.
Paste a link from any store and Vurra reads the page for a title, price and image. Free while Vurra is in early access.