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Clothes organization/kids outfits comcept
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amother
OP


 

Post Tue, Aug 16 2022, 10:59 am
Hi, I had a home organizer come to me recently and she said 2 novel concepts:
She said kids clothes should be put away as outfits - shirt and pants together, or dress and shorts together (toddler.)
She also said that each kid needs a max amount of outfits, pick a number 10 or how often you do laundry, etc., and donate the rest. Each kid doesn't need the tremendous amount of clothes they have spilling out of the drawers.
Background: I buy in boro park and online, and I've bought packs of shirts and pants from H&M, Amazon, target, etc. sometimes outfits and sometimes things that complement but I've always put away in drawers like shirts folded, another place pants, skirts, dresses together, etc. I never placed them as outfits. We take out a shirt and look for pants to wear with it.
Also we have tons of clothes because hand me downs, gifts, and then I buy when the new season comes, or my elementary girls are picky and need something different than what they already have, etc. It occurred to me stopping in target yesterday when I saw cute toddler pajamas for $17.99, the old me would've gotten a new pair. Then I said hang on, she has 3 pairs of pajamas in her drawer plus another few odds and ends shirts and pants that could work as pajamas if needed. Why would I buy more? But I never used to have that internal dialogue. It didn't occur to me to limit the outfits my kids have.
Please be kind I'm not a hoarder or anything weird. I think I honestly just grew up in material american society where sales are the thing and buying gives us a good feeling, etc.
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 16 2022, 1:43 pm
Good for you for recognizing a shortcoming and doing something about it! Like any other activity, both organizing and frugality grow easier with practice.

TBH I never stored kids' clothes as outfits, either. For me it worked better as separates, because a kid could soil his pants but not his shirt or vice versa. Also, while pants and skirts were more or less year-round, the shirt that was needed could vary with the weather on any given day. But the idea is sound if it works for you. When we travelled, I packed entire outfits including socks and undies together in individual plastic bags so each day I could grab a packet out of the suitcase, and even if the suitcase was all tumbled, the outfits stayed together. For myself I always pack an extra shirt, because I always manage to spill something on my shirt.

Most people have more stuff than they'll ever need.
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amother
Linen


 

Post Tue, Aug 16 2022, 1:47 pm
Her advice works for outfit people. I’m
Not an outfit person. I’ve always preferred mix and match separates. Also her advice is just that: take it or leave it. If it doesn’t work for
You leave it.
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Chayalle




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 16 2022, 1:53 pm
What Linen said.

I'm totally with your organizer about reducing spending on items that aren't needed, even if on sale. If your kid has enough pj's, no need to overstuff his drawers with more pj's. Spend your $$$ instead on something that really benefits him.

OTOH in terms of how you organize his clothes, you should do what works for YOU, not what works for your organizer. I know my sister is very organized, and I've seen my nephew's drawers with neat stacks of pants and stacks of shirts.
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amother
OP


 

Post Tue, Aug 16 2022, 1:59 pm
Thanks so much! Ok so it's not just me on the outfit thing, I had never heard of people doing that so I was curious if I was the only one..
Yes also I like having a few tops and bottoms for my kids that could work with others mix and match, I feel it gives more flexibility than only one option, or if it gets soiled like some of you mentioned.

I also do that when packing what you said with the Ziploc bag and outfits, it makes it so much easier. But I guess for years having folded clothes by type in drawers have worked for us this far when not on trips 🙂

I guess I may try the outfit thing for awhile. What did help was in making outfits with the clothes I was able to see what tops or bottoms kind of float around in the drawer without really being worn much because maybe they don't have something to go with..that brought some clarity and help with decluttering a bit.

For sure sometimes I take what others say as gold, it is a take it or leave it thing thanks!! Very Happy
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amother
Melon


 

Post Tue, Aug 16 2022, 2:02 pm
I have been trying to cut back on clothes shopping too. Your organizer has a method that works for her and many clients, but you can adjust it. I find that even my kids prefer to mix and match to change things up. Some people only have 4/5 weekday outfits and 2 shabbos. Personally, I like to have more variety, but count good hand me downs as an outfit.

I also find kids need more clothing in the summer. They get dirtier, change more, ruin some things...
Clothing that comes as a set or an outfit I want to keep together gets put away together. The mix and match shirts and pants get put away separately.
For my elementary boys, their tops get separated by collar/no collar. They end up just getting multiples of the same school pants.

I have been buying less pjs lately. They tend to wear the same ones over and the laundry gets done often enough to only really need 4 pairs.

ETA
I also don't like leaving something in the closets that don't have a match. That means when purchasing, I try to buy something that goes with it right away or else I return. It's quite annoying to see a top in your closet that you'd like to wear and realize you don't have the right skirt.
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Oldest




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 16 2022, 2:11 pm
I do the outfit thing! It saves me so much time in the morning and keeps things organized (for me at least). Although, I have younger kids, so once they start getting older I probably won't continue doing that cuz they'll start having less "outfits" and more separates.
I only do laundry once a week so I make sure to have 6 pairs of pjs per kid to make it through the week.
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amother
Iris


 

Post Tue, Aug 16 2022, 2:34 pm
When my oldest was little I kept everything as outfits but that’s because I was very particular about which clothes they wore together. These days I don’t care because it’s mostly mix and match, the kids like to pick out their own clothes so they aren’t going to pay attention to my setup, and if a kid ends up wearing a red shirt with green shorts (that nearly happened the other day) I can quickly change them before we are seen in public. But I do go through the drawers and take out things that aren’t getting worn quite often.
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ra_mom




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 16 2022, 2:50 pm
I do pair outfits together for my kids, so they find their match easily.
For myself I prefer to separate by type.
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giftedmom




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 16 2022, 3:16 pm
I find that many times I buy clothes out of anxiety that they won’t have. Especially when they suddenly grow a size I’ll frantically buy the next size up and end up buying too much. I’m working on that. Really working on only buying what they actually need or what I really like.
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 16 2022, 3:28 pm
Years ago I read a professional organizer's column suggesting that ALL clothes be hung up as separates, even suits. That way, you don't get ossified into the idea that Jacket A goes with Skirt A, period. Jacket A may go very well with Skirts B, C and D but you'd never think to wear them together because you always hang Jacket A with Skirt A.
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amother
OP


 

Post Tue, Aug 16 2022, 5:46 pm
zaq wrote:
Years ago I read a professional organizer's column suggesting that ALL clothes be hung up as separates, even suits. That way, you don't get ossified into the idea that Jacket A goes with Skirt A, period. Jacket A may go very well with Skirts B, C and D but you'd never think to wear them together because you always hang Jacket A with Skirt A.


Omg that's so interesting, I think that resonates with my personal philosophy more, like why not make a wardrobe more flexible? It was a new thing for me that this organizer said about putting things as outfits.
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amother
OP


 

Post Tue, Aug 16 2022, 5:49 pm
giftedmom wrote:
I find that many times I buy clothes out of anxiety that they won’t have. Especially when they suddenly grow a size I’ll frantically buy the next size up and end up buying too much. I’m working on that. Really working on only buying what they actually need or what I really like.


Can we blame it on society?? Lol I feel like the way ads are portrayed just pushes us to impulse buy more and more and have that anxiety feeling no? I'm not sure the cause but I think this is what I do too. When my daughter was turning 3 I was so excited and old navy dresses were 8$ each and I bought 10, coupling that with hand me downs and gifts she has way too many clothes, I guess I'm not sure how to do it. If I don't buy things on sale and later need they are often more expensive. I'm trying to tell myself though that there are always sales. Which I think is actually true in the end.
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amother
OP


 

Post Tue, Aug 16 2022, 5:50 pm
zaq wrote:
Good for you for recognizing a shortcoming and doing something about it! Like any other activity, both organizing and frugality grow easier with practice.

TBH I never stored kids' clothes as outfits, either. For me it worked better as separates, because a kid could soil his pants but not his shirt or vice versa. Also, while pants and skirts were more or less year-round, the shirt that was needed could vary with the weather on any given day. But the idea is sound if it works for you. When we travelled, I packed entire outfits including socks and undies together in individual plastic bags so each day I could grab a packet out of the suitcase, and even if the suitcase was all tumbled, the outfits stayed together. For myself I always pack an extra shirt, because I always manage to spill something on my shirt.

Most people have more stuff than they'll ever need.


Thank you so much for your encouraging words and positive attitude! Very Happy
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flowerpower




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 16 2022, 5:53 pm
Funny but I do like you organizer suggested. My toddlers clothes are put in his drawer as sets- tops and shorts. I also only have whatever they wear in the closets. Each kid has 10-12 outfits in total. Nothing more. It helps a lot with clutter
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Aug 17 2022, 12:02 pm
One thing I learned from summer camp: the less stuff you have, the easier it is to stay clean and tidy. I always had the fewest clothes of anyone in my bunk, and always got top marks for neat cubbies. The girls with tons of clothes that had to be crammed into the cubbies could never even get them neat, let alone keep them that way.

I once bought a brilliant lime green purse for about fifty cents in a rummage sale. (OK, this was about 1968, when the subway cost 20 cents and an average new car cost $2800, but even so, it was a metziah fun ganev, so I thought.) I didn't have anything that went with it , nor do I even like the color, but, hey, for 50 cents how could I go wrong, right? WRONGGG! I wore this purse once --maybe--and then it was excess baggage cluttering up my closet and making me feel guilty for several years until I stiffened my spine and gave it away to another rummage sale.

"Capsule wardrobes" are all the rage now. This is just a snooty of way of saying "a small number of clothes and accessories, carefully selected so that everything goes with everything else." You don't impulse-buy a blouse or jacket in a color that doesn't go with any of your skirts, or even with just one skirt. You make sure it goes with all of them, or almost all of them. If you happen to win such an "outlier" blouse in a raffle, donate it or pass it along to a friend, but don't keep it. It will only take up precious space in your closet and you won't wear it.

You do the same for your kids' clothes. If your dd has mainly hot pink and turquoise clothes, don't accept a hand-me-down red jumper or yellow sweater, no matter how costly and adorable, because they will clash with most of her clothes and never be worn. If you already have such outliers, give them away. Somewhere someone has a kid who is into red and yellow.

You also don't go clothes shopping without a list of things you need, and you stick to that list. "Velo taturu acharei ...eineichem." You see it, you want it, you buy it, then you come home and find that your dc already has fifteen sets of adorable pjs and you already have four pairs of black patent pumps, three of black kid, and you needed the gorgeous pair you just bought like you need another nose.
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SuperWify




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Aug 17 2022, 6:05 pm
The past few seasons I created a Google doc with every little thing I order so that before I want to order again, I can check the doc and see if we actually need another pair of pajamas. I also shop from past years seasons and this helps me remember the things I bought in advance on sale. before I rush to spend $100 on the latest Shabbos outfit I can see wait… I actually scored a similar sweater on sale for just $20 and we really don’t need another one. I have coloums of categories (Shabbos. Weekday, school, shoes, accessories, pajamas ect) and a pricing section near it so I can see what I spend. This keeps thing organized in my mind.

As for the closets- I recently started hanging all clothing with it’s outfits together so that there’s no extra leggings being purchased in the seasons latest colors that will never be worn. Every Friday I go through them and make sure everything is in it’s proper place. If something is too small or torn or the pjs shirt is missing it’s pants I take care of it right then.
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amother
Olive


 

Post Wed, Aug 17 2022, 6:32 pm
That's so interesting, I don't understand how that works practically though. My 4 year old has black pants, they go with almost all his tshirts besides the ones that are navy, how does dividing into outfits even work? My daughter has shirts that work with denim, black or navy, why limit that? And my toddler wears black biker shorts basically every day with all kinds of cute tops. I have very few proper outfits, like pieces that should specifically stay together.
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 18 2022, 6:09 pm
amother Olive wrote:
That's so interesting, I don't understand how that works practically though. My 4 year old has black pants, they go with almost all his tshirts besides the ones that are navy, how does dividing into outfits even work? My daughter has shirts that work with denim, black or navy, why limit that? And my toddler wears black biker shorts basically every day with all kinds of cute tops. I have very few proper outfits, like pieces that should specifically stay together.


None of this was given to Moses on Mount Sinai. Even a professional organizer's advice is just that: advice, not an imperative. They all have their own prejudices and preferences that may or may not correspond to those of any particular client. If a mix-and-match system works for you, that's great. Mix-and-match allows you to create the illusion of a larger wardrobe with fewer pieces, but pre-set outfits work better for those who don't have the head space for mix-and-match.

.
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 18 2022, 6:19 pm
amother OP wrote:
Omg that's so interesting, I think that resonates with my personal philosophy more, like why not make a wardrobe more flexible? It was a new thing for me that this organizer said about putting things as outfits.


You can do both. Say you have three tops and three bottoms, all of which work together. On any given week, you can assemble and put away different combinations. It doesn't have to be the same combos every time. Example: you have the following matched sets: pink pants that came with purple and pink striped top; purple pants that came with purple top with black polka dots and pink bows, black pants that came with black top with pink and purple umbrellas. All three tops can be paired with any of the pants, so you have a total of nine possible combinations. You can pre-assemble the outfits in any combo you like, if you like the idea of pre-assembled outfits. No need to limit yourself to pairing the pants with the tops they were sold with.
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