School clothes shopping can take a lot of time, emotional energy and money. Over the years I have slowly developed a system that works for our family to cut down on the time it takes, lower the frustration level with finding what we are looking for, and save money.
Step#1
Grab a piece of paper and pencil. Fold the piece of paper in half vertically. I write the name of the child at the top of the paper. On one side of the paper I write NO ALTERATIONS. On the other side of the page I write ALTERATIONS NEEDED.
Step#2
I have each child try on each item of clothing. If it is a shirt I have them lift their arms to see if their stomach shows or if it too short on the arms. If it's shorts or pants I check to see if it is too short on their ankles, or legs. I also check to see if it is too tight on their bottom or waist. If it is now too small in some way and cannot be altered then it goes into my fabric stash for repurposing. If it can be altered to make it still work then I write it down on the ALTERATIONS NEEDED side of the paper and what it needs to make the clothing work again. If the clothes still fit and need no alterations then I write it down on the NO ALERATIONS side of the page. This process of having the kids try on all their clothes does take a large bit of time. However, I have found this is a far better use of time and money because we are not buying clothes that are not needed. At the end of trying on everything we then take the two lists and see what is missing from their wardrobe and make a list of what they are in need of for the next school year.
Step#3
I have the kids hop on Pinterest and pin what they think is cool to wear. Then we look at the pictures together so that I know if it's the color of the shirt, the fabric, the cut of the shirt or shorts etc. This saves so much time and frustration on my part. So many times in the past I thought that I knew based on what they said what they were looking for in their own personal style and I was often wrong.
Step#4
Take the list of what is needed and the images of what they are looking for and go shopping.
Step#5
Alterations. I take my list of the clothes that need altered and to that I add clothes that are not quite right at the store that I need to alter. For example, one of my daughters has some sensory issues and so it is very hard to find the clothes in the style she likes and in the right fabrics without paying prices way outside of our budget. The solution is to find clothes as close as we can get and then have her print out a picture of the clothing item from her inspiration board on Pinterest. I pin the picture to the clothing we bought so I know exactly what is desired of the clothing item. This way there is no way to miscommunicate what she wants the clothes to look like and no way to get the fabric wrong because she touched it when she picked it out at the store.
It does take a lot of time on alterations sometimes but its worth it because she will wear what is in her closet rather the same 3 outfits all year because she cant stand everything else. We are very happy with this process for our kids with sensory needs and our budget, it saves us so much time, energy, and money. This process may not be for everyone but hopefully this can give you ideas for something that will work for your family.