Everyone always loves dressing their babies and little ones when they are young, but what happens when they start forming their own fashion opinions? Uh oh. Here are some tips to keep in mind when shopping for your kids and helping them develop their own style.
1. Let your kids have a style opinion
It can be so tempting to want to dress your kids and have them look a certain way like they did when they were a toddler, but it is important to let them start to form ideas and get a sense of their own style. It helps them to build confidence in themselves and learn things they like and don’t like to wear. Most of the time people feel worried that this is going to cause funky looking combinations but if that happens try not to judge – ask them questions about why they chose the pieces. Was it the colors? Fabric? Print? You will start learning a lot more about what they like and shopping for them will become easier for you too.
2. Choose comfort
Although pretty pieces can look fabulous, it is important to think about comfort and ask yourself some lifestyle questions for your kids. Do they play outside often? Can they wear it without the fabric irritating them? Just like we need to be practical about our lifestyle questions when dressing ourselves they need the same kind of focus. If you are worried about them ruining clothes or pieces, it can limit activities and what they may be able to do. It can also affect their focus.
3. Try before you buy
Just like I mentioned about comfort, you should have your kids try on before you buy the pieces. You will be able to learn quickly if the clothing is uncomfortable or irritates hem in anyway. If you do a lot of online shopping due to convenience, have your kids try on the clothes as soon as you get them before it sits in their closets and it’s too late to swap out or return.
4. Choose convenience
If you love the simplicity and enjoy shopping online there are so many great options including subscription boxes. Subscription boxes have become a major trend and what is not to love? A few of my favorites are:
• Kidbox – You take a style quiz for your kids, then you try before you buy with no styling or box fees. Only pay for what you love! (https://www.kidbox.com/)
• Rockets of Awesome – Take a style quiz for your kids, receive hand picked selections of trendy and super cool pieces. You only pay $5 for the styled box and you get credited back toward anything you keep! (rocketsofawesome.com)
• Floretz Bras – There is even a style subscription for tweens/teens needing bras! This is such a great subscription service and you can also buy bras individually. (https://www.myfloretz.com/)
5. Follow all the young trends
Staying current with all the trends for kids, tweens and teens is right at your fingertips. Look at blogs online or pinterest to get ideas and inspiration to style your kids or have them start to create their own inspiration boards. I recently started a tween style and lifestyle community called Trendee Tweens (www.trendeetweens.com) to inspire and empower girls through style. Although you may buy some trendy pieces don’t forget to still have some of the styles that are timeless for your kids such as a denim jacket, great pair of jeans, a versatile dress, etc.
