I bought something that wasn't on clearance.
I did this a few weeks ago, actually, but didn't get around to posting about it.
It's fairly rare for me to buy clothes for my kids (we get a lot of clothes from Freecycle, and we are the fortunate recipients of lots of hand-me-downs) and it's ever rarer for me to buy clothes for Zoe.
She's the youngest, and she's the third girl, so she's got hand-me-downs from both of her older sisters.
But, I was in Kohl's a few weeks ago, buying a birthday present for a niece of mine, and I spied this dress. It's a Chaps by Ralph Lauren dress, and I totally fell in love with it.
I'm normally not such a sucker for new children's clothes, but my goodness, I think this is the most adorable dress e v e r!
It's hard to tell from the pictures but it's made from a light pink and white striped fabric. I just love how simple and clean the lines are, and I love the back. It reminds me a bit of dresses from Jane Austen movies.
It was on sale, naturally (is anything ever not on "sale" at Kohl's???), but it was $23, which is far, far more than I will usually pay for an item of children's clothing.
And Zoe didn't technically NEED a new dress (although, her summer dress supply is a bit low because her older sister hasn't grown out of enough of the bigger dresses. She's kind of on the small side.)
However, since I really, really loved it, and we had money in the clothing budget for it, I decided to splurge a bit.
Why am I posting about this, given that my blog is about frugality?
Well, I think it's important to point out that a frugal life isn't always about deprivation. In fact, frugality and budgeting made the $23 dress possible.
If we weren't frugal, we'd probably be living paycheck to paycheck, barely making ends meet and we'd probably have a fair amount of debt.
Instead, we're debt-free (aside from our mortgage) and so we are actually able to live a bit beneath our means. Because of that, we can set aside some money each month for clothing expenses.
I also think that keeping purchases to a minimum makes me appreciate those purchases way more.
If I routinely dropped a couple hundred dollars each spring and fall on new clothes for my kids, a new dress like this wouldn't be nearly as thrilling to me as it is now.
As it is, though, since I rarely get to go pick out new clothes for my kids, this dress is making me really happy.
P.S. Amy Dacyzyn calls this strategic deprivation; you appreciate things more when you don't get them all the time!
Your daughter looks very pretty! How old is she? My youngest daughter is 3 and she also has 2 older sisters, so she doesn't get new clothes very often. What we like to do is to shop for holiday themed clothes after the holidays, because then we can get new stuff at 50-75% off! That's why my 3 year old is currently wearing a Halloween based shirt and my 2 older girls are wearing Valentines day based shirts!:P
That dress on that girl...perfection! Worth the price, I say.
That is a gorgeous dress, Kristen. I don't blame you one bit for making this splurge. And it's nicely within budget.
I love that style of dress too and they suit Sasha so well. I can't wait to see more photos of the dress cropping up over the summer. 😀
The dress, and its wearer, are adorable.
I'm the oldest of 5 girls. Sisters 3 and 4 jokingly say that they almost never got "new" clothes (not technically true since we had matching dresses for Christmas and Easter most years). My recommendation would be to put this in a photo album so that you can someday prove to Zoe that she did too have new clothes once in awhile.
The dress and your daughter are both beautiful!! I just found your blog the other day and am hoping it'll help me change my 'wicked' ways... lol!! 😉 Have loved catching up on your past posts... and I agree, it is the *most* beautiful dress ever!
I also just recently found your site, and now I check it every day. I don't normally comment on the blogs I read, but I had to say, I would have bought that dress too! I have all boys, and live on a budget....someday in the far future when God blesses me with grandbabies that are little girls, I may completely use up our retirement on dresses just like that one!
Your daughter is a beautiful girl!
Kristen, both the dress and Zoe are so, so sweet. It suits her perfectly 🙂
Liz, she turned three in February. My other girls are 8 and 5...how old are yours?
I do the holiday wear at 75% off too! lol My kids have candy corn shirts and heart shirts and bat shirts. :p
Carla and Marilyn-glad to have you along for the ride! The more the merrier. 🙂
Clare-worry not...Zoe and her dress are definitely getting a scrapbook page.
And thank you to everyone else for your splurge-approval(and cute daughter approval!).
What a beautiful dress! And your daughter is ADORABLE!
Kristen,
My daughter turned 3 in January! My older daughters are 7 and 5.
Kristen- That's a great message that frugality isn't about deprivation. I'm sure Zoe appreciates having a new dress, and she looks adorable in it. I love that style of dress too- I go to a "Jane Austen Ball" every year where we all dress up in Regency dresses (most of them are hand-sewn) and do the dances from the movies, to live music. It's so much fun, and everyone looks beautiful! (Actually, the men look kind of funny, but the women look beautiful!)
LOVE that dress- so great. Be proud of your wise purchase. Your daughter looks absolutely adorable.
Kristen, great message. The whole point of being frugal is so that you can sometimes make those little splurge purchases. I think this was a great one. She looks beautiful and I agree, very Jane Austen.
That dress suits her so well! Good for you for not being some crank out there, but reminding us all that we need balance in our lives!
Love the dress!!! I agree 100% that is why we try to be frugal on most things, so we can enjoy the occassional splurge.
My goodness. Zoe is a doll! I think it's wonderful you splurged on this gorgeous dress for this beautiful little girl. Indeed, being frugal is about balance and not about deprivation. Congrats on a lovely purchase!
I love the style of the dress. Totally something I'd pick out too.
Adorbable!!! And those tulip-shaped sleeves!
I really appreciate your blog, Kristen! The thrift store donation tips you posted today (May 19, 2021) are really helpful!
I know, right? Everything about that dress was so cute.