5 Wardrobe Essentials for Your Children

start with the basics

You’ll find tons of articles and fashion tips about wardrobe essentials and creating a basic wardrobe if you’re an adult. But I haven’t seen many fashion tips about creating a basic wardrobe for children and tween girls. Given today’s economic environment it just makes sense to have a less is more approach regardless of a person’s age. A few good pieces can help you and your children navigate most social settings that will crop up during the year.

Every child should have 4-5 key pieces in their closet. I’m focusing my fashion tips a little more on formal items since most kids have PLENTY of play clothes. Once you know the basic items, you can be ever vigilant and acquire new pieces when you find a good value. I recommend buying clothes on the larger size because children grow so quickly. You can always hem, tie, belt or use some other creative way to improve the fit. I’m a fan of basic colors such as navy, beige, white, red and brown. By sticking with basic colors you’ll be able to mix and match your children’s outfits. Use hair accessories and tights to add color to an outfit.

The first item needed to build a children’s basic wardrobe is a pair of dress pants. Dark cotton pants are a good starting point since they can be worn year round. The pants can be paired with a sweater in the winter or a polo shirt in the summer and your child will look presentable for 99% of all occasions. The next key item to have is a party dress or skirt. The level of dressy-ness of the party dress should be in keeping with your lifestyle. If your family goes to the ballet for the annual performance of the Nutcracker then you’ll need a dressier style. Third, a pair of black dress shoes is a must. Consider Mary Janes or ballet flats depending upon the age of your daughter. Both of these styles are classic and work with just about any outfit. There is nothing worse than sneakers to ruin the look of an outfit. Consider buying the shoes an half size larger and using a Dr Scholl’s insert as their feet grow. Fourth, consider investing in a cardigan. It not only changes the look of an outfit but it keeps children warm. Lastly, consider investing in a dress coat for your child. This will be the biggest investment but if you buy the coat 2 sizes bigger then you should, you’ll get a solid two years out of the coat. Granted it might be slightly big the first year and perhaps a tad small the second year but your daughter will still look adorable.

Tagged as: Children's Fashion, classic childrens clothing, Fashion Style, Fashion Style Kids