Love or shove: holiday outfits for little kids

Buying holiday outfits for my kids is not a tradition I’ve embraced so far in my parenting career. Well, not totally true. I do buy holiday jammies every year. What I mean is a fancy party dress with patent leather shoes or a little man-style outfit that is specially selected for holiday parties. When I have considered this tradition, I always think, “The kids can wear what they already have — the nicest version.”

Buying dress shoes for a boy who just wants to wear his “sprinting shoes” every other day of the year seems like a terrible waste.

This year, I’m stepping it up a half-notch. Tea Collection sent me a code to share with you guys (ROOKIEMOMS15) and a couple of days after that, I received their catalog in the mail. I liked the dresses for girls, and they’re not fancy at all. They’re festive, but mostly still made out of t-shirt material. They could be worn to school or to the park, meaning they’ll get more wear than just Thanksgiving Dinner and my dad’s synagogue’s Hanukkah Party.

I passed the catalog around in the car today and let my sister, my brother, and Scarlett all vote on their three favorite dresses. These were the finalists.

Tea Collection Swedish Lark Tiered Dress	Tea Collection Juniper Wrap Dress
Tea Collection Flower and Berry Smocked Dress	Tea Collection Akvarell Party Bubble Dress

I just ordered the one in the upper right. I know it doesn’t have a tulle skirt or a bow of any kind, but I think it will get more use than one that does. I could tell Scarlett liked it the most.

What do you think? Is it important to you to have a special dress-up outfit for your child for the holidays? How fancy must it be?

If you like my strategy, feel free to use code ROOKIEMOMS15 (until 11/20) as I did to save 15% at Tea Collection. They have boys clothes, too. Dress-up clothes for boys at Carters.com also look pretty good and reusable, while several fancier dresses for girls at Children’s Place are less than $30.

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Whitney

RookieMoms.com co-founder Whitney lives with her husband, son, and daughter in the San Francisco Bay Area where she writes about parenting, crafts, and activities that moms can do with babies in tow. She and Heather also publish 510Families.com, a site for East Bay parents.