I rarely have to buy clothes for the girls, thanks to our generous neighbor who gifts us huge bags of new and lightly worn pieces. We started receiving hand-me-downs when our five year old was about one. Ever since then, I look forward to sifting through the huge bags of cute outfits every season. In addition to it being an exciting surprise for me, here are more reasons I am obsessed with hand-me-downs.
1. The Girls Love Them
Our eldest daughter is so happy when she sees and gets to wear her new clothes. She also gets newly purchased clothes from her grandparents, but a majority of her wardrobe is from our neighbor, who is also her friend.
2. Sharing With A Family
When our daughter grew too big for her clothes, I desperately wanted a family to pass down her beautiful dresses to, especially if she only wore them once. Many people do not like hand-me-downs, so I ended up donating them but would have preferred to give them to a family I knew. Our neighbor seems to feel the same way and enjoys passing the clothes down to us.
3. Barely Worn & New Clothes
I love the girls in bright and vibrant colors (not dingy or stained clothes). My two main sources of hand-me-downs are from grandparents who are raising children and buy so many clothes, that by time they get to our family, most of them are barely worn and some still have the tags on them.
4. Sharing The Blessing
Because our neighbor has so many clothes, I am able to share some clothes with another friend of mine who has a little girl.
5. No Need To Shop
Shopping overwhelms me. Thankfully, we only have to shop for footwear. I think sneakers and shoes adjust to people's foot shape and gait overtime, so I usually buy new footwear to provide the best support for the girls.
6. Less Consumerism
I love the idea of taking someone's unwanted wardrobe to dress my girls.