The idea of a capsule wardrobe for nursery school may seem laughable to some but hear me out on this one! My eldest starts at preschool/nursery/playschool – whatever you want to call it – this week and while I’ll be the first to admit it’s certainly no junior catwalk it does throw up some issues if there is no set uniform.
On the practical side, while I can be incredibly organised when I want to be, leaving the house any time before 9am is quite a challenge so anything that involves speeding up this process can only be a good thing.
With this in mind I decided on the idea of mix-and-match basics for the nursery wardrobe so Coco Lily can choose and dress herself and no matter what is in the wash, anything can go with everything.
I also like the idea that it will get her used to a kind of uniform and separates her ‘normal’ clothes to those for nursery time so we manage to keep some clothes neater and without paint or glue on!
New purchases for the nursery capsule wardrobe (details below)
Building the capsule wardrobe
With this in mind we headed to Next and H&M; two brands I frequent for kids-wear which are relatively inexpensive, fit well and we’ve always found them to wash and wear well too.
Tops
I carefully chose (with help from Coco Lily – heaven forbid I should choose without her say so!) a selection of t-shirts from Next.
We had one of this style already and it’s lasted brilliantly this summer and has a dipped hem at the back – I’m not a fan of short t-shirts that rise up when she’s playing – and at £3 (for age 3-4) they’re a good price and very soft jersey but not flimsy and they hold their shape well.
All Next
(Note: Online, some of the colours appear to show a different style of t-shirt but this is an error and they ARE in fact this dipped hem, turn-up sleeve style!)
Bottoms
Then it was off to H&M for leggings and cardigans. Their 3 for 2 range is great for mix-and-match prints and basics, so we chose a combination of plain navy bottoms and printed colours so her wardrobe is still fun. She can be very fussy when it comes to what she wears in the morning so a bit of polka dot, heart prints and bright pink gets her pretty excited!
Layers
A combination of plain, crew neck cardigans, a hoody for chillier days and a polka dot print shirt (probably worn open like a cardigan) will work with everything else, and again, navy and grey with a bit of print and pink worked perfectly.
Shoes
As for shoes, we went with a style we bought last year which lasted really well so it’s the Start Rite, flexy-soft Milan in, yep, bright pink! It makes life easier having just one pair for nursery/school so it’s worth the £40 to know they will be protecting and supporting her growing feet and they’re comfy enough for her to run around and play in. And of course, velcro fastening, so she can manage them herself.
Start Rite flexy-soft Milan shoes
How it looks
TOP:
Spotty shirt, grey cardigan and grey hoody, all H&M, from £5.99, hoody in 3 for 2 range. | Pink cardigan, F+F, £7 (we have a very similar Primark crew neck cotton cardigan – sadly no longer available)
MIDDLE:
Dipped back, turn-up sleeve t-shirts, all Next, £3
BOTTOM:
Leggings, all H&M, from £3.99, most in 3 for 2 range. (Note: heart print grey leggings are much darker grey than appears in this image)
Shoes: Start Rite, £40.
Labelling
I chose Cash’s name labels from the Great Little Trading Co. and let the little lady choose the colour and picture she wanted (sadly no pink available – take note GLTCo.!) and they arrived within just a few days.
Have I put far too much thought into this? Maybe, but time will tell. When everything is stained? It doesn’t matter, if it’s beyond reasonable wear it’s no problem to just replace a t-shirt or two but if it makes the start of the new term even a tiny bit easier for all of us, it’s got to be worth it!
What about boys?
Of course this is all girls’ – that’s what I know! But if I were to put a capsule wardrobe together for a boy I’d follow the same principles and stick with block colour and simple prints – perhaps camo, with khaki, navy and orange – and opt for comfy chino-style bottoms or stretch jeans.
Your top tips
As this was all new to me I also asked you on Twitter and Facebook to share your top tips for nursery clothes and got some great suggestions…
Label, label, label!
TV & Radio presenter and blogger, Katy Hill said “I did sew on labels for both kids this year. Youngest was starting school so I thought I’d go old school, ordered from Cash’s & put in the hours! Felt strangely proud once I’d done them all!”.
Katy Hill made an evening of labelling her childrens’ clothes!
Katy also has some brilliant tips for us mamas on the first day of school on her blog which I will be definitely be re-reading the night before my little one starts nursery.
Also on the subject of labelling clothes, Danielle, founder of Ella Bella scarves said “I did use iron in labels but they’re a total faff! Now I use sew in and just pop 2 stitches in. Much quicker and also easy to remove if you want to pass on or sell clothes!”.
Caroline on Facebook: “We got a pack of sticky and iron on labels from stuckonyou. Have a picture too which helps children recognise their clothes before they can read their name- although a lot of the time they just give it a sniff and can tell by the washing powder!”. I love the thought that our little ones recognise our own washing powder – I’d never considered that before!
Chloe on Facebook: “I use sew in labels but recommend also writing on the other labels with sharpie marker. Heard good things about stamptastic for labelling.”
What to buy?
It seems keeping it simple, comfortable and cheap is key:
@ChelseaMamma “cheap and cheerful is the way forward as clothes get ruined / lost! Leggings, jeans and cheap and cheerful t-shirts are best! Eliza even painted her shoes last year!”
@balletgal84 “bright colours & patterns, they will get dirty & hides stains!”
@KyNaBoutique “keep it simple, leggings and a tee, make it easy for them to play.”
Where to shop?
For Alison of NotAnotherMummyBlog.com it’s “supermarkets all the way! And H&M. Avoid white based clothing as paints can stain them. :-)… although I sent my 3yo to nursery in a brand new Little Bird [at Mothercare] outfit yesterday and made her PROMISE not to paint!”. I love this because it’s exactly the kind of thing I would do too!
@liztyers “mix and match items such as leggings and tops. Sainsbury’s have a lovely selection.”
@Blissful_laura “sainsbury’s kids clothes are so hard wearing/reasonable- withstand even the dirtiest nursery play!”
@Messy_Baker “George and M&S have great quality reasonably priced basics – tops and pants”
@TheRealSupermum “buy cheaper labels or second hand as they get ruined with paint/glue/dirt”
Gorgeous post-my son’s nursery wear the cutest uniform which makes life easy-they are comfy trackie bottoms with a polo top and jumper (and hat and blazer)! I love having my boys in bright block colours, red, yellow, navy, lots of breton stripes, statement print jumpers, polo shirts, jeans, chinos, converse (leather for winter) and little Hunter wellies when it snows! Thanks for linking up to #fashionfriday x
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Blazer and hat = too cute! Great tips for boys! Thank you 🙂
This is a brilliant post, when my daughter 1st started preschool last year I wanted her to look super cute. She wear an old fashion tunic as her uniform but the rest is down to you.
I stupidly thought that would protect her clothes, nope, 1st week I ruined a Zara dress, little bird top and a Maxomorra tee.
She now has a preschool set of clothes, some are ones I no longer love, some are gifts from parents and as above some are H&m/Supermarket bargains.
She still looks cute but no risk, shoes are a must in velcro as they have to do them themselves, she has already ruined her 1st pair and only been back 2 weeks xx
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Thanks Kara! Shoes ruined already after 2 weeks? Eek!! There are some great styles at the cheaper end of the high street for kids aren’t there, so like you said, they can still look cute!
This is genius.
Gwenn has been to two settling in sessions at nursery, has another this Friday and then starts properly the next.
I was considering writing in my diary what she wears each time so that she never wears the same thing twice.
Is this the behaviour of a same person?
As for labelling, she is only going for one day a week so I was just going to permanent marker “Gwenn” on the washing instruction labels!!!
Slummy mummy.
xx
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Brilliant! I’m glad it’s not just me that puts so much thought into children’s clothes! 😉
I’ve just attached the name labels with a few stitches at one end so on the off chance they survive a year at nursery – they can be handed down to her little sister and labels removed. Now this is wishful thinking I’m sure!
The great thing about H&M kids clothes though is that they usually have a name label in them, just waiting for a Sharpie to scribble a name in!
This is fantastic thank you my youngest has just started nursery – two days a week, it is breaking my heart. Thank you for these top tips though, will definitely be using them. #streetstylesunday
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I agree, it is actually far more difficult when pressed for time and they have no uniform – I used to run around like a headless chicken when Joe was in preschool.
#Stylemesunday
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