Tips, Tricks & Sources for Dressing Boys + An eBay Sale

Every now and again I get my boys out of their athleisure wear into something much more handsome.  I seriously covet those moments.  Sigh.  I pat myself on the back when we I get them in a Vineyard Vines tee, have an extra pep in my step when I can finagle a monogrammed polo, and pretty much do cartwheels and handsprings on the rare sport coat and bow tie situation.

For the occasions I can get them in something cute, I thought I’d share my favorite sources and provide y’all with info on how to find the few items from my latest closet clean out on ebay.

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We lean towards the preppy, and favor Southern staples like seersucker and bowties.
Favorite brands:

  • Vineyard Vines (tees, bowties, polos, shorts, swim trunks, button downs)
  • The Beaufort Bonnet Company (monogrammed bow ties!)
  • Polo Ralph Lauren (polos, plaid shorts, swim trunks, button downs)
  • Lilly Pulitzer (grab it if and when you see it… boy stuff is rare; love shorts and swim trunks)
  • Lands End (sport coats, pants, slacks, polos, sweaters, vests, button downs, cute shorts tees)
  • Kelly’s Kids (great option for coordinating siblings…critter shorts, polo shirts, plaids, button downs, seersucker suits)  Mine are aging out of this one quickly.
  • Leatherman Ltd (flip flops and belts… I purchase at Polka Dots in Savannah)
  • Crew Cuts – cute shorts
  • Boden – (I used to promote them but they asked me not to as it could hurt their google search rankings. LOL)

Other tips:

  • I buy nearly 100% of their clothes a season ahead once they go on sale.
  • I buy basic khacki and navy shorts at Target.
  • I always pick up a few solid color polos at Target each year and monogram them.  They are perfect for the cute shorts at Vineyard Vines and Lands End.
  • I look at Old Navy for cute, colorful solid color tees to go with cute shorts as well.
  • While I don’t have any luck passing down play clothes, tees and gym attire any more (they are so ratty), the nicer things I buy DO survive two boys and sometimes cousin Jay as well.
  • Our dress shoes of choice are tan bucks and sperry topsiders.  I buy them from Rack Room where you can almost always get one half off when you buy one at full price.

I also have an old post on favorites for dressing Southern Tots!  You can find that here.

Now, I have a few items that we’ve outgrown for sale on ebay.  Everything starts at .99 and sizes range from 4-8.  Everything is in fabulous used or new condition.

1. Go to www.eBay.com and click on Advanced next to the blue Search button in the upper right corner.
2. Under Items in the left hand menu, click By Seller.
3. My Seller ID is ratsisters.

Where do YOU like to shop for boy clothes? I’d love to know!  And, if you have older boys, do they ever outgrow the athletic wear???!!!  (Say it’s so!)

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Dressing Southern Tots

DIXIE DELIGHTS DELIVERED

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20 thoughts on “Tips, Tricks & Sources for Dressing Boys + An eBay Sale

  1. Good news – at 13, Ryan is choosing to leave the athletic wear (athleisure is perfect, lol) behind when we’re leaving the house. He is not, however, choosing to dress himself in anything monogrammed or with collars/cuffs.

    I still believe there’s hope – he doesn’t balk when I suggest it – but it is not his natural inclination. Little brother, at 11, is a different story and is likely to run and hide at the suggestion of brushing his hair, much less “”good clothes”.

    1. haha. Whit is SO the same. Before I can fret with his clothes I still have to get the basics down… Yes, you must always wear undies to school. Brushing your teeth more than once a day IS important. Combing your amazing blonde hair straight forward is NOT a good look. The list goes on….

  2. Oh, darling girl. I teach eleventh grade English, and I’m afraid the answer is no–they will not totally outgrow athleisure. In our NC school district, most teams (boys and girls) will dress up on game days, and there are times when I don’t recognize them! Having said that, you might be surprised to hear that around high school, the girls move into the athleisure phase themselves. That’s about the time they start embracing their identity and care more about what they’re doing instead of how they look. It’s actually fun to watch them enter the “books before bows/beaus” phase.

    I have a two-year-old boy and another sweet gent due in November, and believe you me, I’ll be embracing the smocked bubbles and jon-jons as long as humanly possible :)

    1. Haha!! books before bows/beaus. I love it! Oh yes, the smocking and bubbles are fleeting. I stretched them as long as humanly possible and have NO regrets!

  3. My boys are 7, 5 and 20 months, and we love the same sources. I used to be able to find cute basics at Target in-store, but now I have to order online up here in Virginia– athleisure has taken over the boys’ section!

    Have you checked out Johnnie-O? Full disclosure, my oldest loves to wear collar shirts and polos, but my middle guy also loves Johnnie-O, because the polos and button-downs stretch some so he is comfy. Really cute styles, too!

    1. Yes, my Target boys section is like that too! I also order online. Thank goodness for the Red card and free shipping :-) I’ve never heard of Johnnie-O! Will def check it out!

  4. I’ve been really lucky to find great deals on Nike and Under Armor shorts for my little one at TJ Maxx they are $8 not on sale and about $5 on sale.
    I also am able to find some great deals on Ralph Lauren polos there as well.

    I’m so dreading the day where I have zero say in their clothing options. It’s already started some at age 2!

    1. I don’t think I’ve scored one piece of good kid clothing at my TJ Maxx. It’s like the swarms of moms come down and snatch them up the moment they hit the shelf. :-)

  5. Once my son hit middle school, I had to say goodbye to collared shirts. It’s not the style for most (strangely enough, my daughter was the same way in middle school–no collared shirts). He loves tees from Academy (especially ones with graphics) and shorts from American Eagle. I do sneak in some cheaper priced Old Navy shorts for hard play outside, but AE is hist short of choice. For dress clothes, I purchase Old Navy relaxed chinos in tan or navy blue and dress shirts usually come from Belk, JC Penney or Academy. I, too, LOVE it when he’s dressed up. It’s rare that it happens, so I do enjoy it!!!!

    1. Great sources – I forgot to mention that Sister gets a lot of Jay’s cute shirts and shorts from Belk too! We also love Old Navy for basics.

  6. :). I think it’s just individual tastes . My 13 year old is all about seersucker and dressing preppy(J crew is a great source.) the daughter and I love Lilly, however, she is picky about the dresses because they are too short for her comfort level. Also, kids market is a great way to score nearly new clothes. I’d google to see if there’s one near you(ours is twice a year-families sell there gently used items and volunteer to get early entry.).
    Thanks for your posts, always enjoy!!

  7. There is hope…I have 3 teenage boys, 18,16 and 13 (and 1 girl:) and between 7th grade and 9th grade they each starting dressing in khakis and polo or VV t-shirt and sperrys for school most days. Had I suggested that, I’m sure they never would have, but I do like seeing it! They all certainly still dress in athletic wear plenty, though, but these are boys who wore gym clothes every.single.day of elementary school, so the khakis are a welcome change!

  8. The really sad thing is that around here, Vineyard Vines is no longer cool. I guess since there are so many stores around, it had become so popular that everyone was wearing it and I think that was the “kiss of death”. My 12 and 10 year old think it is too babyish for them. Breaks my heart! I hear the high schoolers are really over it, too. And my husband definitely thinks it is “too young” for him to wear.

    1. Noooo…. say it isn’t so!!!! I feel like VV is the one thing all three of them will actually wear without too much fussing.

  9. Hopped over to eBay just to take a peek and my 13yo saw you (or most possibly your littles) are also selling Pokemon cards. He does have a thing for eBay!

    At 13 and in public school, it is all Athleisure – mostly Puma, Under Armour, Nike or Adidas. I either get at Marshall’s/TJ Maxx or the outlet stores. Many of the girls also wear Athleisure.

    1. OH my gosh…. let me just say that I only intended to have my little 14 cute clothes listings out there. I woke up the next morning to find Honey had hacked my account to help John sell some of his Pokemon cards. He’s trying to buy a skateboard :-) So… I know nothing about Pokemon but can respect a kid trying to sell something to make money to buy something else.

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