<p>How much did you allot for back to school clothes and shoes for your highschoolers?</p>
<p>Um, nothing? Actually that’s not true. I bought her a North Face fleece jacket, which was about $120. It was totally unnecessary; it was symbolic of her decision to rejoin the Nice Catholic Kid world. I never would buy her one in middle school, so when she picked a Catholic college I bought one as kind of a joke/ kind of a badge of something. </p>
<p>When we visited campus, it seemed like the wardrobe was much more jeans ansd hoodie and not dressy, so if anything her high school wardrobe is more than adequate for college. The only thing she will really need are some snow boots, and I figure she’ll pick those based on what everybody else does. She can use her ski parka and snow pants for when it gets viciously cold. I will also send her a set of underarmour for her birthday, which is late November.</p>
<p>we don’t do a big shopping trip-
she gets things here and there, when she sees them at consignment shops ( I am still impressed by a haul she found last year at RedLight of brand new banana republic) or when jcrew marks things down.
scrimping on basics, allows her to splurge more on a cashmere sweater or rugby sweats.</p>
<p>She is on swim team- soccer team- track & field and rugby-
at least she only needs goggles, caps, and swim suits for swim team( but has to have several suits) but athletic equipment adds up- so we calculate that first and what is left over can go for school clothes 
Too bad she can’t wear her sisters old clothes- her sister is 8 years older- but 7 inches shorter.</p>
<p>Since my high school D runs, by the time cross country season is over and she is wearing ‘real’ clothes again I take advantage of some good sales. The running shoes are the biggest chunk of the budget. Now my middle-school D, that is a different story…but I am luckier than emerald since even though she is more than four years younger than her sister, they are the same size…I usually hit the JCrew, Banana Republic & Ralph outlets and get by for less than $200</p>
<p>We just get new sneaks for the guys when they outgrow them and add t-shirts, jeans, sweatshirts here and there when I see them on sale. My guys don’t care about brands so shopping for them is pretty easy.</p>
<p>How much I spent depended on how much they happened to grow that year.
We have mild weather all year around, so starting school didn’t necessitate new clothes. I usually bought my son one new shirt ($28 or so) that he could wear in his class photo, a new pair of sneakers ($60), and almost always a dozen pairs of socks. ($15) That was all he really needed or wanted to start school, unless he happened to outgrow his t-shirts or shorts, which I would buy during the year on sale otherwise. When cool weather hit, around the end of October, I would get him a couple pairs of cords or khakis on sale, maybe a new sweatshirt, and the shorts would go in the drawer until spring.</p>
<p>My daughter - she went from semi-goth to hippie in a year’s time, then settled into what I consider “regular” jean, t-shirt attire by junior year that has continued through college. Because her clothing tastes varied so much, we let her buy most of the clothes she thought she “needed” on her own, and supplemented with things at Christmas and her birthday. Rarely did I spend much at the begining of the year for her. She also ran xc throughout high school, and her running shoes, shorts, sports bras etc. were the most expensive, which we did provide, probably running about $300.00 a year.</p>
<p>The only thing we usually spend much on for back-to-school is shoes, which have usually been outgrown. That first week or so of wearing shoes/sneakers after running around barefoot or in flip-flops all summer was always a drag!</p>
<p>My daughter’s school is kept so warm that she gets hot in anything but summer shirts or tees all winter long. She is able to take advantage of all the summer sales for her back to school shopping. I monitor the Urban Outfitter website for sales all year long and there are some great deals to be had there.</p>
<p>S1 (college jr.) $0, he doesn’t need a thing, wears shorts, t-shirts and flip flops until it gets too cold then switches to jeans, tennis shoes and hoodies/fleece jacket. He has all that stuff already.</p>
<p>S2 (rising h.s. sr.) football cleats, work-out shorts, socks…about $100
Everything else $0. See S1’s wardrobe above.</p>
<p>My kids are not fashion hounds and jeans/cargo shorts last a pretty well from year to year. Lots of t-shirts from Goodwill or their schools.</p>
<p>We don’t do a big back to school thing…just pick up stuff here and there as the need arises.</p>
<p>" My daughter’s school is kept so warm that she gets hot in anything but summer shirts or tees all winter long."</p>
<p>Our HS is the opposite: kids freeze in most of the classrooms, which is silly because this is excess AC we’re talking about, not lack of heating. They always thought it was to make sure the girls followed the dress code and covered up.</p>
<p>S#3 is getting expensive.</p>
<p>He has grown 8 inches in 16 months, from 5’4" to 6". Needless to say, nothing fits. He is a soccer player on a premier travel team and has grown out of innumerable pairs of expensive cleats–he buys a couple of pairs at a time for different conditions, etc., and tries to find them on sale but he is very picky because of a couple of foot problems. </p>
<p>He needs all new clothes for school this year–he has two older brothers but the hand-me-downs aren’t there because the older brothers are keeping their clothes these days as they aren’t growing any more, and #3 is built differently than they are. He is the tallest by a good 2" and is built very lean ( he is 140 lb fully dressed).</p>
<p>He tried on his polar fleece jacket from last year (at which point it was already a year old) and the cuffs were up by his elbows. It was really funny!</p>
<p>I get clothes when they need them. I got several pairs of khakis for my oldest this summer. Does that count? I get new winter jackets when the old ones get grungy. Last year neither of them wore them, they just wore fleeces. So they are still in good shape!</p>
<p>Our HS is the opposite: kids freeze in most of the classrooms, which is silly because this is excess AC we’re talking about, not lack of heating. They always thought it was to make sure the girls followed the dress code and covered up.</p>
<p>That does sound silly.
When my D was in 4th grade- she wore tank tops, shorts and sandals all year.
Not only because she has a tactile disorder, but because she ran really hot- and the building had some classrooms that were over heated- but you didn’t have individual controls. She did have a really nice patagonia winter jacket- but I remember when the outside dance instructors were so worried, because she didn’t " have any appropriate clothes". If only they had asked me, I could have shown them her stuffed dresser and closet!</p>
<p>Luckily- while she is style concious in high school, she also doesn’t attend a school that is brand name dependent. We get her clothes when she needs them- its mostly younger kids who grow a huge amount over the summer and need new fall clothes.
Although I agree with Lspf that it is really hard to put shoes on after summer is over-although I am looking forward to wearing my cowboy boots again- they are so comfortable :)</p>