Kids Capsule Wardrobe Part 1: Maggie

Maggie just turned 4, so she has a lot of opinions. As in, all of them. Especially in regards to her clothes. I’m always in awe of people who have a 4 year old they can choose clothing and lay out outfits for. Maggie picks out her own outfit every day, because if she didn’t, it might signify the beginning of the apocalypse.

Maggie loves leggings, t-shirts, and dresses. She tolerates jeans. Thus, her wardrobe consists mainly of leggings, t-shirts, and dresses. Since she likes to choose her own outfits, I’ve tried to have color schemes that mostly match.

We do a lot of second-hand, hand-me-downs, and deeply discounted clothing for all the kids. Our favorite brands are pricey, so I scour clearance racks, Goodwill, and consignment sales to find them.

In these parts, we have Whale of a Sale twice a year, and the Twins and Multiples group I belong to also has a wonderful sale twice a year. I pick up a lot of the kids clothes here.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the nice, practically new items I’ve found at Goodwill from brands like Gap, Crew Cuts, Janie and Jack, and Gymboree (some of our favorites!).

ThredUp also has a nice selection of gently used kids clothing. I’ve heard good things about Moxie Jean but I haven’t yet tried it.

Leggings and Jeans

She has one other pair (purple) which were on her body that day. I get jeans for Maggie from Target’s Cherokee line now, because she does not wear them much, and while they’re not the best quality in the world, they are fine for the times she wears them. When she was younger and wore jeans more, I got them from Baby Gap (usually second hand or deep discount).

For leggings, we love Hanna Andersson, Lands End, Gap kids, and Circo.

Dresses and Skirts

Maggie has two kinds of dresses; church dresses and everyday dresses. Pictured above the church dresses. I am a big fan of sweater dresses for fall and winter. Gap Kids and Gymboree have wonderful sweater dresses.

The one pictured in the front in the above photo is from a sweet brand Matilda Jane. Their clothes are beautiful and whimsical, and cost a small fortune. So naturally, I buy them secondhand. Their dresses are just so sweet, Maggie and I both love them. They do make them for adults too…

These are everyday dresses. The front is a Matilda Jane outfit with matching jersey knit pants. We try to stay away from characters on clothes, but there’s Elsa poking out from that dress in the back. We may also have a Frozen t-shirt floating around here somewhere.

We love Lands End, Hanna Andersson, and Tea for everyday cotton dresses.

Skirts aren’t a huge part of Maggie’s wardrobe, but we have a few. She likes polka dots, as should we all.

We love Lands End and Gymboree for skirts (especially with built in shorts!)

Sweaters and Sweatshirts

Maggie is a big fan of short sleeve shirts. So since it is winter, that means we also have a lot of cardigans. The Cherokee brand from Target makes great light-weight cardigans. For heavier sweaters, Hanna Andersson and Gymboree are great.

Everyone loves a hoodie, and for a 4 year old girl, they better be pink. We’ve had the best success with hoodies from Carter’s and Cherokee from Target.

T-Shirts

Maggie loves t-shirts. Right now she is into short sleeved shirts worn with cardigans because we live in the frozen tundra. She’s also very into orange right now, hence several orange shirts.

Our favorite brands for t-shirts are Gap, Gymboree, Cherokee, and Lands End.

Outerwear

We all wear Lands End parkas in this house. Eric and I have each had ours for six years, and they are going strong. The one pictured above is Maggie’s first. I won’t say she loves it, because truthfully she resents us terribly for living somewhere where she needs to wear a coat. But what I will say is, she doesn’t complain about being cold. And the inside is very, very soft.

I am a Lands End true believer. All our bathing suits and winter coats are LE. They can be a bit pricey, but if you catch sales or secondhand, you can get a good deal. Especially considering that they last a long time. Maggie will be able to wear this coat again next winter, and it will probably have enough life left for Mary Cate when she fits it.

Jammies, Tights, and Socks

Sorry I don’t have any photos for this one.

In the winter Maggie wears fleece jammies from Carter’s. She also loves several pairs of second hand princess PJs from the Disney store.

For tights, our favorites are Hanna Andersson and Stride Rite (we received these as a gift and love them!).

So there you have it, a little peak into the capsule wardrobe we are trying to make for Maggie. Focusing on outfits that mostly match or are interchangeable has allowed me to simplify her wardrobe and focus on the clothes she really loves. Hope you enjoyed it.