by J A Wright

Created on: August 24, 2009   Last Updated: August 26, 2009

Having 3 year old female twins has been a real full on sartorial education.
Clothing for me is what I like and what fits, for my girls we have to look at far more criteria. My girls are like weeds, endlessly growing skinny things, above average height and with the slender proportions of future super models. Clothing them, appropriately but without taking out a second mortgage, can be a challenge.

I began forward thinking when the girls were about 6 months old. Finding beautiful items in sales and buying a head of time, which worked out generally speaking, occasionally something would be too big or too small once they were in the right age range. Then when they hit the highest growth percentile I wondered at the logic of my anticipatory shopping.

Still, clothes are bought in 0-3 months, 3-6, 6-9 and 9-12 months, then it all slows down a little and clothes change to 12-18 months and 18-24 months, giving a 6 month wear window. Generic and weather friendly items like trousers are easy to buy ahead as they can be worn no matter when they fit. Items suiting warn weather only are less of an appropriate purchase unless you are happy to re use them as layers or with cardigans.

Once the girls reached their second birthday it became easier again as clothing changes to year gaps, age 2-3 and 3-4 and so on. Now the girls have a second wardrobe in their room with all the next age of clothing stored inside. Most items are bought 6-12 months in advance, almost all in sales, maximising the potential use of a full season instead of end of season sales for items which will be useless for the weather conditions in just a few weeks. This means, since I don't have the luxury of passing on clothing for re use between my kids, they can share a wardrobe of clothing but it doesn't cost an arm and a leg since I usually pay around 25% -50% of the original prices.
It's also really handy for covering sudden growth spurts, I'm always one step ahead of the game.

There's never any urgency either, pushing me into buying item suddenly needed at inflated prices or inferior to my needs as I always have a stock ready. Another more unusual advantage, is by leaving the tags on, I also have a stock of gifts ready for any last minute birthdays of nursery classmates.

I hammered the Mini Mode clothing sale at Boots last winter in anticipation of winter 09/10. I also spent a fair amount of money in the Woolworths sale in anticipation of this summer.

I also like to make a note of Sainsburys TU sales which

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>