Clothes Shopping: Department Store vs. Thrift Store

Like all good procrastinators, a crowd of us were out shopping this weekend for our children's clothes as they begin a new school year.

Gabe is going to be a sophomore and has a very no-frills style. He likes jeans and button-down shirts, with a dapper sweater vest or two for good measure. Some dress slacks for special occasions, and he's good to go.

As I do now for his baby brother Max, I shopped at thrift stores for Gabe most of his childhood. No sense in shelling out big bucks for a kid who is a different size every four months and who puts grass stains on his jeans like it's a job.

I get Gabe a piece here and there at thrift shops still, but I'll do an annual wardrobe update at a department store for him now that he's all manly. He loves the shirts his grandpa orders from western catalogs and race fan websites, too.

He's pretty hard on shoes, though. I've been trying to keep his clod-hoppers in discounted tennis shoes, but those just don't last. He's even worn through a pair of New Balance this summer. I suppose I'm going to have to go to one of those fancy sports shoes places -- like the one where my husband bought me the most comfortable pair of walking shoes I've even worn for my birthday -- and get his feet measured by a professional and then clad in an expensive pair of shoes by a marketing genius.

There are some pretty damn cute baby clothes out there in the boutique shops, and I'll pick up some here and there, but there a nice enough pieces for Max to drool all over from thrift stores. The cool thing about baby clothes is that babies rarely fit in the month sizes that match up with their ages, so people are always giving gifts that don't fit come the right season. Those clothes get donated without ever being worn and then are snapped up by savvy mommies like me.

In the end, the price tag makes an impressive difference. To illustrate, here are my purchases this weekend from a department store and a thrift store.

From JCPenney, $368.29:

For Max: A long-sleeved and -legged outfit that says "I'm the little brother"

For Gabe: three pairs of jeans, two pairs of dress pants, eight pairs of dress socks, a pair of gym shorts, a sweater, a very fancy dress shirt, nine other button-down shirts (short- and long-sleeve), and a swaetshirt hoodie that has ear bud headphones (which we didn't even know were in the hood strings there until we got it home)

From Goodwill, $32.56:

For Gabe: A Banana Republic dress shirt that looks like it was never worn

For husband Dan: a funky short-sleeve shirt

For Max: two long-sleeved onesies, a pair of long knit pants, two pairs of sweatpants, a pair of khakis, a pair of corduroy pants, a pair of denim overalls, a Gap matching sweatsuit, a thermal sleeper, a Mickey Mouse thermal lounger, a hoodie that says "Me & my Daddy," an Old Navy quilted rain jacket, a Clifford the Big Red Dog sleeper costume complete with an eared hood, and a shirt and pants set that make a skeleton

For cousin Amelia: a dress

For me: a picture frame, and three small baskets

Sooo ...

Department store: 18 pieces plus socks, about $20.50 per piece

Thrift store: 18 pieces plus housewares,  about $1.80 per piece
A young friend once turned her nose up at thrift store items. "I mean, those clothes are used," she sniffed. I replied, "Your clothes are used the minute you wear them, so what exactly is the difference?"

This weekend, the difference was $335.73.