LO wants to pick out her own clothes, which is fine, but I don't want her to look like a mis-matched mess. I have a reputation to uphold! I think she is kind of "getting it". This morning she knew that a bright turquoise shirt did not go well with the green and white striped pants. But this is still a work in progress -- any tips on teaching her the concept?
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Would you just be able to give her choices of things that match? Like have her pick out a shirt and say "you can wear these or those shorts to match it." Or does she want to pick from all of her clothes herself?
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@artbee: yeah, if only it were that easy! she can open all the drawers herself so she has full reign. i am also contemplating emptying out all her drawers so that she only has two outfits to pick from. but i don't really have anywhere to hide all the other clothes that is convenient since her room has no closet.
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@Andrea: HA. You should let her pick a top, and then pick out a few bottoms that match and let her choose!
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@chopsuey119: i know - i tried. doesn't work! see above!
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@Andrea: lol, that seems like a lot of work to hide her clothes every day! Could you have her help you make outfits on the weekends for the next week? Ive seen people have their clothes laid out in baskets or shoe racks for the whole week, and it might be easier to do it all ahead of time so your not so rushed in the morning.
Obviously I have no experience with this, lo is at that fun age where I fey to dress her how I want to!
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@artbee: well, i have hid all of her diapers and that seems to have solved the whole oscar the grouch problem! it is a lot more effort for clothes though.
i already have all her clothes organized into outfits. that is what i do when i fold her laundry. unfortunately, toddlers change their minds every 5 minutes so it's best just to decide on the day. and she can very well change her mind 5 times in the course of one morning.
yup, everything gets a lot more challenging as they get older!
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@Andrea: maybe you can put Oscar stickers on what you want her to wear.
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@artbee: haha. maybe! i could make a game out of it. find the clothes with oscar on it and you get to wear that today!
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I am so tempted to start a spinoff thread called "How do you teach your SO to match their clothes."
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@Lozza: HAHAHA. you are really making me laugh this morning!!
do it!
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@Andrea: Does your LO get sad when you tell her that her clothes don't match? I want tips on getting SO to understand that the super-shiny super-pale pink tie DOES NOT GO WITH ANYTHING without hurting his feelings.
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@Lozza: not sad really - just confused so far....or pissed that she can't wear what she wants to wear and then a tantrum ensues....
super shiny super pale pink tie -- hmmm, get rid of it?
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@Andrea: I used all my surreptitious getting-rid-of-it points on the hole-ridden glow-in-the-dark lightning bug shirt that this 32-year-old man has had since the 6th grade.
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@Lozza: teeehee! start a thread! i'm sure we'll get some very funny stories out of it, too!
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@artbee: i was thinking about you this morning. i busted out the oscar stickers to put on the shirt i wanted her to wear and guess what the LO said? "Noooooo, I want an Ernie sticker". *banging my head against a wall*
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I let Lala pick her clothes. She's already pretty good at matching and we rarely have to redirect her. She always picks a hat to go with the outfit too!
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@Mrs. Jacks: lucky! i went shopping for a few summer outfits yesterday and i made sure to get either black, denim, or khaki shorts so that no matter what shirt she picks -- the bottoms are SURE to match.
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I am brand new here so hopefully I can just jump right in. I have spent over ten years as a professional nanny and I have run into this problem a lot!
To start, I try to make sure there is a common color theme running through the whole wardrobe but really it is too late for that now but if you consider it as you shop in the future and tell other people it helps!
After that thought we talk about how khakis, jeans and white tshirts match everything. Beyond that they pick a shirt or bottom and I grab two or three of the opposite out of the drawer and close it then we hold up each option to see which they like the best. As they get older I do point out that there is light pink in this shirt so light pink leggings look nice or orange and green striped tops really only match jeans or khakis.
I also make a point of letting them choose whatever outfit they want on certain occasions so that other times I can point out "you get to pick whatever you want when we go to the park with the sandbox but when we go to Mommy's office it is my turn to pick."
It isn't fool proof but it has served me well over the years!
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@Cole: welcome to Hellobee and great points! Hope to hear more from you on the boards!
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@Cole: thanks for the tips! hopefully my careful summer shopping yesterday will help!
and welcome to Hellobee as well!!!
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@Lozza: omg, I know! DH is a phys ed teacher and wears track pants, cargos or cargo shorts with a polo shirt each day. There are SO many days that I tell him he can't wear black with navy or grey with light khaki.
I tried categorizing his clothes into light, bright or dark. He can pick one item from each category, but can't wear light with light, dark with dark, etc... He still doesn't get it, but does ask me more often.
I'm not much for style, since I tend to stick to the basics in neutral colors, but I love a little kid who might be totally mismatched, but is so proud to have picked out her own clothes and dressed herself! I guess there is a balance between fostering creativity and independence and teaching some style so they don't get picked on when they are older.
I'm glad I have a boy so I don't have to worry about this too much just yet. I do think buying neutral pants/bottoms is a great way to start, so that they will match just about any top.
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@Andrea: Lol, did you have Ernie stickers? You'll have to buy stickers that you can just print out so you'll always have what she wants!
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@artbee: no, of course not - she has never once mentioned Ernie otherwise!! gah, lol!
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@Andrea: Oh no! What did she end up wearing?
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@artbee: ultimately i got her accept that I had no Ernies and that it was just Oscar so she wore one of the pre-matched outfits that i have in her "daycare clothes" drawer. But she did have to switch Oscar stickers 3 times.
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@Andrea: At least it worked.... even if you had to do a little more work to get there.
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@artbee: perhaps it helped a tiny bit. every morning is a battle over something different so it's hard to keep up. things change too quickly in her mind!
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My sister is running into this with her 2 year old, she loves to mix patterns and gets really upset when my sister tells her that looks silly together, like it breaks her heart. My sister started to put out 5 outfits that can all be interchanable and she gets to pick from those, it has made life easier. On days when they will just be at home, she can wear her crazy combinations.
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@jessiejo17: glad i am not the only one dealing with this!! i am working on getting a more inter-changeable wardrobe since i am shopping for summer items now! yes, i allow her to look a bit more "questionable" on the weekends.
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You could diaper pin the outfits together.
My 2yo has started this as well but she usually just grabs one of the pre-matched outfits out of the drawer or if she doesn't like the shirt I picked then I'll give her another option or two. Our biggest problem is she never wants to wear the shoes I pick out.
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