style
August 18, 2021

Preschool Capsule Wardrobe

Sometimes I get asked how and when I shop for Gemma and at first I didn’t think I had a strategy but I started paying attention to when I shop for her and it turns out I DO know what I’m doing. All this fashion blogging has paid off you guys. I tend to shop for her before a season change and/or at a seasons change for sale items for the coming year. I shop for her like I shop for myself — I find a common theme / color and stick with it so that everything can mix and match together. This way when your 4 year old wants to pick out her own outfit, it won’t be too crazy. Oh it’ll still be crazy, but at least the colors will complement each other. Matching colors and shoes on the correct feet. This goes for Gemma AND me. We celebrate the little things around here.

The reason I shop for her before the next season not while we are in it is because I never know when it’s going to turn randomly cold here one day and she will need pants or a coat ASAP. This has obviously happened before so I’ve learned. I like to take one or two shopping event (either in store or online) and buy everything in that moment and it’s done. For instance, I bought Gemma’s winter coat and boots during the Anniversary sale, so I am prepared for when it turns cold. (I shop after season sales for the next year and just buy the next size up. This usually works out unless it’s shoes. Shoes I have to buy pretty close to the season we are in.)

The retailers I like to look at for Gemma are: Old Navy, J.Crew Factory, Zara, Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Every once in a while a fancy something from Nordstrom, but I typically hit up the sales here for her. For shoes I go high quality so that we can get the most wear out of them. We’ve gone cheap before and they fall apart. This year we bought 2 pairs of sneakers, a pair of crocs and a ballet flat for her. I did two color shoes and two neutral shoes for her. I buy her shoes usually at DSW, Nike (or Nike Outlet) and Nordstrom Rack.

I spend the most on shoes and outerwear for her because those are the things we wear the most and I want to get the most use out of them. Also, you can easily resell these items and get 25-40% back on them if they are in pretty good condition! I’ve resold shoes and coats to second hand stores and on Facebook Marketplace with great success.

Since she just went through a growth spurt, I wanted to go ahead and grab her some new things for preschool this fall and share with you guys what I picked up for her. I also took each piece and made a mini capsule with 2 weeks of outfits below. Hopefully this is helpful for you to plan your own little’s back to school wardrobe!