Little Black Dress, Nothin'!
I don't think there's a little black dress that could give this white dress a run for its money when it comes to usefulness.
I bought it way back in 2002 at a Gap outlet store for Lisey, who was then a year old, to wear. I think I paid about $15 for it, which is more than I usually pay for my kids' clothes.
Lisey didn't actually need this dress, but I just fell in love with it (white dresses make me weak in the knees!) and bought it on the spur of the moment.
Lisey wore it for a summer or two, but unfortunately, I have no pictures on the computer of her wearing it. That was before the days of the digital camera, at least at my house!
I kept the dress for Sonia to wear, of course, and she did in the summer of 2005.
The next summer, a chubby baby Zoe wore it.
A toddler Zoe wore it the next summer.
2-year-old Zoe was still wearing it at the end of the following summer, when we went to Myrtle Beach.
I thought that might be the end of the little white dress, but amazingly enough, it fit Zoe again this summer.
Even if Zoe is too tall to wear it next summer (maybe it could be used as an empire waist top?), I'm quite sure that this dress has brought us more than $15 worth of usefulness and joy. I love it when that happens.
Edit: She did wear it again the next year, just with leggings!
What an adorable dress! White dresses make me weak in the knees, too. But the real question--how has it stayed so white??
I love when a dress lasts more than one year and you can watch the hemline gets shorter and shorter. It's visual proof of their growth. So cool.
Love the pics of Zoe year after year in the same dress. I wonder if I could do this with my son somehow?!
Where are u located? I follow your blog all the time, and I live in NC, which is 3-1/2 hours from Myrtle Beach, SC, the best beach on the eastern coast! lol
I'm in the mid-Atlantic area. 🙂
That would make a neat series to put in an album for your girls. When they grow up, they will think that is neat that they all had the same dress 🙂
I love little girls' dresses in general - they start out around the ankles and they're still wearing them till the dress fits above the knee!
btw, your lawns look much better now. 🙂
How fantastic! This is why I love dresses for girls so much, because kids grow up more than out for quite a while! And it looks adorable on Zoe!
We had a Gymboree piece for my now 14-year-old son that we called, "The snowsuit that became a onesie."
Seriously.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
*expires on the spot from the cuteness*
They should make a TLC show out of your life, Frugal Girl!
Franci, thanks for noticing! Our lawn did used to be pretty awful.
Katy, that's great! lol
Freckles, funny you should say that. Last year a company that makes shows for TLC called and wanted to see if we were interested in doing a reality show. After some thought, I decided that my answer would be "no way!". I just don't want the world to know me THAT well and I think being in the spotlight to that degree would just be wearing.
I'm honored that you think my life is so interesting, though!
Even if she is too tall next year, she could wear it with a pair of leggings underneath. Some sort of printed leggings might be cute.
I found you blog about a week ago and love it. Adorable liitle girls. How did you keep the dress so white?
Well, the girls mostly wear the white dresses just to church, so they stay fairly clean. Also, you can get food stains out of white fabric simply by letting the item sit in bright sunlight.
*your* sorry.
Kristen,
I recently came across your site and REALLY enjoy it. I was born over 80 years ago and grew up in a large family during the "Great Depression". As a matter of necessity we were frugal in many ways. That's when I started doing what you're doing now concerning food, clothing, furniture etc. We even bleached the brand names from the cloth feed sacks and dyed them with indigo to use for our clothing. Later the feed companies started making their cloth sacks with various floral designs which made things a lot easier. My family calls me the Frugal Queen.
I love reading about your projects etc. I hope more of the younger generation sees your site and learns from it.
Jean from Ohio
P.S. I've been shopping at Aldi's since they opened years ago in my area. Their Baker's Corner Brownie mix is the BEST!!!