Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

I never really had new clothes growing up. Everything was from my mom or grandmother - sometimes even my dad. We had no money growing up and I was teased about my clothes a LOT.

I don't mind donations from friends, but I won't buy used clothing if I can afford not to. Might seem frivolous but it's something that makes my stomach turn now to think about

So I can kind of see where your DH is coming from.

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

I see nothing wrong either from an economic and an environmental standpoint. First, I have made it a point to never spend more than $5 on an item of clothing for my DC (except certain special occasion items, even then I can usually get a christmas dress or cute halloween shirt or whatever second hand) just based on the fact that a. they ruin or grow out of clothes so quickly and b. clothes go on sale so much that I really have no reason to pay full price for anything and that includes stores like baby gap.
I have shopped second hand stores for both my children as well as consignment sales and I love them, DH loves that I dont spend alot on their clothes but that they still have nice things. I also take all handmedowns that anyone gives me gratefully. recycling clothes is a good thing if they are clean and free of rips stains holes etc.

ETA: I didnt have great new clothes when I was younger and I often felt like I was at a disadvantage socially in school for not dressing great (right or wrong but I felt it). But with my kids, nobody would ever ever know that their clothes are second hand or discount or whatever...they are mostly baby gap, gymboree, childrens place, carters etc.

Message edited 1/10/2012 2:52:15 PM.

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

my kids wear all used clothes, hand me downs, or stuff thats new but major sale. I refuse to spend $$$ on things they will outgrow in 2 months. Now coats, sneakers, and bathing suits I prefer new. But I would say 80% of my kids wardrobes are used. I would rather save money for them to have for their futures than blow thousands on clothes each year.

Message edited 1/10/2012 3:58:23 PM.

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

Would you take hand me downs from someone you knew? To me it's hand me downs. And for the toddler set, clothes are worn for months & then you're done with it.

It's a colossal waste of money if you can buy good condition clothes for $2 & you opt to pay $20.

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

My children acquire clothing 3 ways:

1- As a gift
2- As a hand me down
3- From a consignment shop or used clothing store

I can honestly count on one hand the times I have bought the kids new clothes.

DH hates it, he tells me that used stuff has "cooties" but oh well, we can't afford new all the time, and kids grow fast!

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

My DH has no clue where I buy clothes from so he wouldn't know if I paid $50 or $5 for an item!

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

DH would rather I do that then spend ridiculous amounts of money on clothes that DS & DD will get little use out of bc they grow so fast

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

I don't see a problem. Wash them. We got some hand me downs clothes from a friend's friend. They grow out of it so quickly.

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

LOL Wish I could afford to buy only new clothes!

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

Personally we love second hand clothes. Most of my DD's wardrobe is that. We hand it down from one child to another and then we pay it foward and hand it off to other kids. We have been very fortunate to have friends and family who donated alot of clothes to us where we dont have to spend that much money on clothes for our little ones. I say get it cheap and second hand now rather than when they get older and they have an opinion on what they're wearing and then you'll be spending the $$ on all their clothes.

I grew up with alot of crappy hand me downs and I understand where your DH is coming from. We don't use the damaged clothes that we get as hand me downs but the ones that are in good to excellent condition we do use. We also only give our the clothes that are in good condition to others as we pay it foward.

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

I don't mind clothes from friends (or people I know) but I wouldn't buy used clothes where I don't know who wore them before.

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

I guess it depends on how tight $$ is now.

I don't like buying stuff from 2nd hand stores - skeeves me out. However, if you bought them there for me and gave them to me, I'd have no idea that they weren't your DC's first so I guess its my own issue.

I give a lot of old clothes to my sister. Her son is 2 years younger then mine. I also get stuff from ex-h's wife's son (who is 2 years older then mine).

DS is almost 4 and like sweats over jeans but I get most of his clothes at Target/Walmart/K-mart b/c its cheap and he grows out of it quickly.

Maybe you could check the outlets for less expensive options. The VS outlet in Bellport has some good deals on jeans (especially if one leg is longer then the other )jk

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

When DS was first born I did not have to buy any clothes! A friend of mine who's Son was 7 months older gave me so many hand me downs it was insane. Now my DS has outgrown him..

I see it as being thrifty and recycling. All of the clothes I got were in perfect condition, the random ones that weren't got donated. I also feel like brand new clothes are in factories and being touched by strangers, accumulating dust, etc. Who knows if someone bought it and tried it on their LO and then returned it? To me it is all good as long as they look clean and I wash them first. Kids grow too quickly to turn my nose at nice clothes for free/cheap.

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

Posted by Otherme

Posted by Diana1215

I don't mind clothes from friends (or people I know) but I wouldn't buy used clothes where I don't know who wore them before.

Can i ask a question (not to be snarky i swear), but what difference does it make if you know the person or not? Are you only friends with super clean/non skin disease carrying people?
I never understood this reasoning

If you're washing the clothes in hot water anyway (which presumably will be enough to clean them thoroughly), why does it matter where they came from?

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

Posted by Otherme

Posted by Diana1215

I don't mind clothes from friends (or people I know) but I wouldn't buy used clothes where I don't know who wore them before.

Can i ask a question (not to be snarky i swear), but what difference does it make if you know the person or not? Are you only friends with super clean/non skin disease carrying people?
I never understood this reasoning

If you're washing the clothes in hot water anyway (which presumably will be enough to clean them thoroughly), why does it matter where they came from?

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

Message edited 1/12/2012 4:43:51 PM.

Re: Do I compromise? or is DH being a stick in the mud? re:used clothes.

Seeing that most if not all new clothes come with a coating of formaldehyde on them to prevent bugs from the countries they were made in hitching a ride over to the US, along with the people who either get the stuff as gifts or worse, wear it with tags on for an occasion and then return it, I see nothing worse than those things... what else could someone else possible do to their clothes that you would be getting. I wash everything that I get new because of the formaldehyde and someone I know works at Kohl's in the receiving dept and has said that they have brought home a few odd bugs that come out of the clothing boxes shipped from other countries and hid on her body or clothing and she got them in her home. The second something comes home from the store it goes into the washing machine for me.

But... DH and I are on a budget and we are both extremely into the environment in regards to reducing our waste, reusing stuff and recycling. I'd much rather take clothing that has already been worn so that there is less waste. Something I will also teach my sons. Everything he wears is in style and brand name and we get it all at prices cheaper than Walmart. No holes or stains and I of course wash it all the second it comes into my home.