Tips to find the best shopping sites for kids’ clothes. They are constantly growing out of them, so better not spend too much money, right?
The cold front blew into New Mexico last week with razor-sharp teeth. We’ve been wondering when it was going to actually get cold this year, and now we know. Now. That’s when. (Cue: The sudden urge to make stew.)
Anyway, I was disappointed (but not surprised) to find that my son’s newest gloves have run away from home. Anyone with a young child knows that gloves, like socks, mittens, hats and other assorted items, find creative ways of disappearing, mere days—and sometimes hours—after having been bought. Don’t believe me? Just take a look at the lost and found bin at your child’s school. It is likely overflowing with new, forgotten water bottles, lunch boxes, scarves, backpacks and jackets.
I was also disappointed (but not surprised) to find that the cuff of every sweater from last year now hits Dear Boy somewhere around the elbow. The scarf still fits, but he is horrified to notice that it has race cars on it. “Why did you let me wear something so horrible?” boy wonders. “Let you? Son, I made you. And you were cute. Here. Just try it. You’re still mommy wittew bunny wabbit.” Son’s deadpan response? “There ought to be a special hotline at child social services to report moms like you.”
Read Related: The Low-Down on Hand-Me-Downs
All of this in mind, I got online to look for winter clothes for my son. He needed them yesterday, of course, but now that I live in a small town whose only shopping option is a large store that shall remain nameless, but whose name rhymes with DollFart, I have begun to do the stylish rural mom thing and shop online.
My criteria this year are unreasonable, because my son is sure to outgrow everything I get him within 20 minutes of putting it on. But I’m feeling very crafty lately, and I want to surround myself and my kid with beautiful original things. So, here’s what I looked for: Independent, handmade, not too expensive.
Here are a few of the wonderful sites I found.
Sweeters—Sue Katz hand knits beautiful, whimsical sweaters for children from pure cotton yarn. Yes, they’re probably too childishly cute for my son, but a mom can dream can’t she? Perfect for little kids, and big kids who are not yet too cool for school.
HandmadeSweaters.com—When I go to this site, I basically find myself saying, “Omigod, omigod, omigod…” over and over, because even thought there are only a few items for sale, they are all so thick and warm and oatmealy and utterly delicious you want to die.
Third World Tienda—Andean colorful knit hats with cotton fleece lining? Yeah, boy. You can betcha people living in the Andes know how to keep warm. And look good doing it. And the sweaters and ponchos? Lordy. So cute.
Etsy—This is basically a massive global marketplace for handmade crafts and goods. You can find anything here. I did a search for “boy sweater” and found 32 pages of gorgeous stuff.
Psychobaby—Knowing that my son has outgrown my taste in clothes for him, we agreed that this site matched his own budding “taste”—please don’t tell him I put that last bit in quotes, okay? He likes skater hats and reggae shirts.
Happy shopping, everyone. And if you can think of any good ways to keep our bad little kittens from losing their mittens, other than withholding their pie, lemme know.
