My husband likes wearing shirts and jackets with unique and interesting details. So it only makes sense that mini-him is clad in some equally nice apparel. In the process of doing so, we quickly discovered how pricey children’s clothes can be. “A rip-off!” Not really, if you know more about what really goes into making tiny little clothes …
Unless you are Carter’s or the Gap and have gazillions of factories in faraway countries who churn out your pieces for insanely low prices, it does cost a lot to make childrens’ clothing. It takes the same amount of work and effort to make a little shirt or dress as it does to make a big person (adult’s) one, and sewers have to be paid fairly for the amount of time and effort they put into making each garment. Fabric is also a pricey thing — it gets cheaper to buy fabric only as you buy a whole lot more, which isn’t realistically possible for a small boutique designer. The same applies to buttons, linings, and every other bit of material that goes into the garment. Children’s clothing designers (at least, the ones I’ve met!) do try really really hard to find the most affordable prices for the best quality materials, so parents can get their money’s worth for what they buy.
Now that I’ve seen what goes on “behind-the-scenes,” I’m pickier and more careful when I buy clothes for my son. I look at the way things are sewn — whether the stitches are neat, buttons are secure, what type of fabric is used, and I think about how much use and wear each little garment will get if we buy it. For certain things, it makes a lot more sense to buy the cheaper mass-produced things, but once in a while, when my husband and I want something different that our son will get to wear a lot and eventually pass down to another little boy, we treat ourselves to a nicer piece. And we do so willingly, knowing that the money we spend is supporting another growing designer.