Some purple polka dotted pants, an orange striped shirt and bright red socks is the height of style for most kids, but it can also be painful to look at. Dressing a kid up in style takes a magical mixture of patience, cunning, patience, money and patience.
Part of dressing a child up in style is teaching them how to choose and match outfits together. You can buy all the couture clothes in the world, but it won't matter if your child wants to wear a red, striped, designer skirt with her green and blue, dotted, designer shirt.
Make shopping and dressing a little bit of a color matching lesson. Help teach them that blue pants, an orange shirt, green socks and white shoes do not match. Depending on the child's age, you may also need to teach them how to dress and undress themselves. This is of the areas that will require patience.
Any style still needs to be easy and durable when it comes to kid's clothes. Regardless of your shopping budget, every child should own an ample supply of blue jeans. Jeans are tough and go with almost any style of top. They work for boys and girls in every age range. No matter the current fashion trends, jeans are always, always, always in style.
The next must have is long and short sleeve T-shirts. Obviously, short sleeve work for warm weather and long sleeve works for cold weather. The current hot band, movie, cartoon or whatever is always available in T-shirt form. They're easy to find, usually cheap, somewhat durable and the best way to keep your kids dressed in hot trends. Though they may be tacky for adults, T-shirts are always stylish for kids.
A stylish, quality kid's coat is usually a fairly good investment. Cheap children's coats always use shoddy zippers that break within the first few months of wear. You'll end up buying three cheap coats in a winter compared to one nice coat. So make a real fashion statement here and choose a truly fantastic style for you child to wear during the cold months.
A few nice outfits are always a wise, and stylish, investment. Boys should have some fancy slacks and button down shirts. Girls should have fancy dresses, skirts and/or slacks and dressy blouse or other nice top. Don't forget to store away few pair of nice socks and/or tights.
Now that you have the basics down, it's time to add a little flare to your child's wardrobe. Look for stylish belts, vests, sweaters and socks. These smaller or less used items are a smart place to use the "cheap but stylish" method. You'll need a good belt or two, but you can also stock up on a couple cheap fashion belts. You'll need tons of sturdy socks, but stylish socks are a cheap fashion item to add.
Forgo stylish underwear and stick to what they need. Cute or current underwear is always great, such as superman themed or butterfly embroidered. However, since nobody but family will be seeing their undies anyway, don't invest too much in trendy styles for underwear.
When it comes to shoes, you want to use the "cheap but stylish" and "quality counts" methods together. Buy some reasonably good shoes for your child's everyday use. To keep things trendy, also invest in one or two pairs of cheap, but ultra stylish, shoes. These can be shoes they were once in awhile to add some fun to their outfit. For a complete wardrobe remember to get pairs of cheap, stylish shoes for casual and dress affairs.
Remember that kid's clothes should reflect not only your child's style, it should reflect their age. If you let them push the boundaries and dress too sexy or grown-up now, things will get even worse when they turn into teenagers. This doesn't mean you have to be a prude, or that if you're not you're child will have no morals. It does mean that clothing becomes a battle ground for most families as their children grow. So start laying down your rules about shopping for clothes right now.