Why I let my seven year-old pick out her own clothes and look like a crazy person sometimes (with a special offer from thredUP.com!!)

ME: Zoey, get dressed.

ZOEY: I don’t know what to wear.

ME: You have a closet full of clothes. Just pick something.

(I come back two minutes later and she’s standing in the exact same spot.)

ME: Zoey, please get dressed. And don’t forget to put on new underwear.

ZOEY: I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO WEAR!!

(I go to her closet.)

ME: What about this?

ZOEY: No.

ME: This?

ZOEY: No.

ME: Okay, this or this?

(I hold up two dresses so she knows she has to pick one.)

ZOEY: Neither.

ME: Zoey, pick something. Anything.

ZOEY: I need a white shirt.

ME: Here you go.

ZOEY: No, that has a picture on it. I need a PLAIN white shirt.

ME: You don’t own a plain white shirt.

ZOEY: Fiiiine. Then my cheetah hoodie.

ME: Okay.

ZOEY: And my cheetah dress.

ME: Okay.

ZOEY: And my cheetah shoes.

ME: Mrrrgghh, okay.

By the time she’s done getting dressed she looks like an episode of What Not to Wear goes on an African Safari. I feel like I should make her wear one of those bright orange hunting vests so no one shoots her. (Keep reading to see a picture of the outfit)


Oh wait, before I continue and show you her crazy cheetah outfit, I have something else to tell you about clothes. I just found the BEST online consignment shop ever!!!! (Yes, this is a short break sponsored by thredUP, but FYI, I swear I only promote products I use and like)

thredUP is AWESOME!!!!!! In case you don’t know what it is, it’s the largest online marketplace to buy and sell women’s and kids’ secondhand clothing (even handbags and shoes!!). It’s all secondhand so you get amazing discounts, but their teams check each item meticulously to make sure it’s in great condition. Most stuff is 70% off retail, and sometimes as much as 90%!

Anyways, Zoey and I picked out a bunch of awesome stuff (so hard to decide!!) and when our cute box from thredUP arrived, we were ecstatic!! Wayyyy more fun than picking through clothes on a rack at the consignment store. See?

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We got sooo many beautiful designer clothes that I could never afford in the store! TWENTY-TWO items for about $300!! Holy moly!! Here are some of MY favorites.

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Their clothes (and accessories!!!) are ridiculously cute. And so many of them look like they’ve never even been worn before. I have to be careful not to wear the Tory Burch tank top too much because I’m officially addicted to it. Keep reading the rest of this post for an AWESOME 40% OFF your first order at thredUP!!! Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.


Oh hello, awesome person who understands that I do sponsored blogs so I can pay for important stuff for my kids like food. Here’s the rest of the post!

But in all seriousness, who gives a crap what my daughter wears?

I mean sometimes people see us walking in public and they commend me for letting her wear what she wants. This makes me feel good because it means people don’t think I actually picked out her outfit.

And sometimes people see us and they look at me like I’m CrAzYyYyYy for letting her go out in public like that. And I’m like yup, it’s true, I let my seven year-old pick out her own clothes, and here’s why:

1. I decide what my daughter eats, what she does on the weekends, what she watches on TV, when she watches TV, when she goes to bed, when she wakes up, etc etc etc. Clothing is one of the only things I can let her choose all by herself that’s not gonna hurt her or anyone else.

2. If her genitals are covered, and she’s not going to burn or freeze to death, and she doesn’t smell funky because she pulled something out of the bottom of her hamper, what the heck do I care?

3. Who am I to say what’s “in?” Have you seen those Olsen twins? Apparently they’re like total designer gurus, but to me they usually look like they’re wearing the drape they make you wear at the hair salon so you don’t get hair down your shirt.

4. So every day I go to Starbucks and there’s this older lady there who’s always wearing a totally cuckoo outfit and has like six scrunchies in her hair, and I pray Zoey’s not gonna dress like that one day. But then I notice that this older lady is always chatting with someone and laughing and she looks like the happiest person on earth, so maybe wearing exactly what she wants isn’t such a bad thing after all.

5. Telling Zoey that cheetah doesn’t go with cheetah just sounds wrong. I mean how can cheetah not go with cheetah? That just sounds stupid.

6. When Zoey draws a picture, I say it’s awesome. When Zoey sings a song, I say it’s awesome. When Zoey dances, I say it’s awesome. Why? Because I want her to have a crapload of self-esteem. So when she puts together an outfit, guess what I do? I say it’s awesome.

7. All that really matters is that she’s wearing a smile. And the chances of that are much higher if she’s wearing what SHE wants to wear. Cheetah with cheetah with cheetah.

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See? Doesn’t she need the orange hunting vest just in case? Anyways, if you want to get 40% off your first order at thredUP (and why wouldn’t you?!!), just click on this link and enter the code BSB40. You can use it through 12/28 and get up to $50 off!!! And then you can look as awesome as Zoey does. Well, almost.

What are you still doing here? GO SHOPPING!!!!!!

If you liked this, please don’t forget to like and share it!! Show me the love please! Thank you!!




There are 17 comments for this article
  1. supee1117 at 11:19 am

    I wish there was something like this when my kids were growing up because I can relate to EVERYTHING you write. I would’ve loved to share my stories like you do. Unfortunately I can’t remember half of the s**t that happened back then!
    Keep up keeping us smiling!

  2. Hayley at 11:41 am

    This made me smile — my daughter went to school today in a Spider-Man dress, with a Spider-Man hoodie, and Spider-Man socks! 😛

  3. Jen at 12:09 pm

    Amen to that. I let my daughter go to school for picture day wearing a cheetah print tank top because who freaking cares, let her wear what she loves! School pictures are pointless anyway because we have 8 million other photos of her that we’ve taken with our digital cameras and smart phones over the years.

    Gotta say though, I am really not a fan of thredUp. I did a couple of boxes several years ago, and somebody didn’t like one of the items in the box full of 20+ items that I sent – not that it was in bad shape, she just didn’t care for the aesthetics of that particular item – so she gave me a one star rating, which you can’t get rid of. That was the end of that. Great concept but a bad system IMO.

  4. marge at 12:18 pm

    Thank you for the info on thredUP. I had heard of it, but just went to the site now and found awesome baby clothes for my granddaughter.

  5. Janine at 12:25 pm

    I have just one question…..aren’t you afraid of the kids at school being mean to her? I mean, you know how kids get these days. I applaud you for letting her be herself. But I think I would be worried my daughter will be laughed at if I let her go to school in such outfits….and then she won’t have any friends….

    • Desiree at 1:09 pm

      What’s the point in trying to raise a confident child if they sit at home every morning dressing for their peers and not themselves. She’s little now. As she gets older she’ll pick stuff that makes more sense. It’s been fascinating watching my daughter grow. She went through a crazy outfit stage and now she pretty much looks like every other kid with her own twist.

    • Myriam Francoeur at 12:14 pm

      Who’s saying the other kids are not thinking how cool she looks! And if they don’t like it, it’s a good teaching moment, on what’s important is how we feel about ourselves, not how others think we should look. Today, it’s cheetah, but tomorrow, it might be because they think her skirt is too short…

    • Christine Andrus at 1:20 am

      Courage builds confidence
      I would worry more when your child conforms to using drugs because they are afraid to say no and buckle under peer pressure to use as to not be teased or harassed by those around they may attempt to gain approval from for all the wrong reasons .
      Confident children can make for confident productive empathic adults .

      Think of all the inventions inventors entrepreneurs entertainers had there tenacity and courage been stifled where would we all be in life as we know it without there imaginations.
      .
      Parents help your child deduce the pro and cons to there decisions, help support a back up plan if it fails while there children and there brains are building synapses to cope and reason .
      Ask yourself WHY NOT ?

      support there decision to be different then the rest of us it’s what makes us who we are ultimately.

      Rule, STICK AND STONES ETC: :If its not hurting someone ,breaking the law or a rule in place to keep everyone safe and it wont cause them or someone or property irreparable harm.
      Then Why Not ?

      A little humility wont kill them and allows for a learning experience, they will know what it feels like and are less likely to hurt others by being mean to others in the manner they may be ridiculed
      if there genuinely supported in there decisions to stand up to conformity logically , Then should, humility come with there decision to express them selves it is best learned now ,how to cope and respond , because life will get much rougher for them as unprepared toddler’s teens and adults.

      BRAVO to little girl who chose to be different and to the parent’s who sent her to school with confidence and her self esteem supported ,there child knowing her loved ones, were supportive in her decision to persevere knowing she may not have everyone’s support in her display of uniqueness. The child knew her family
      would be waiting with loving open arms regardless of the outcome of her choice.

      Today and into adulthood relationship Building the bridge of trust will be imperative to a childs success into there future of many decisions good and bad to come , especially when they have a supportive person in there life they can depend on to discuss there challenges of failures fears and success .
      Reduced anxiety of knowing they have a person on there side .
      It only takes one person to change another persons life for the better.

      Imagine how great the world could be if everyone had someone to believe in them
      Less abuse less suicide less crime less mental illness less hatred is what we are standing up for when all we risk is a little embarrassment to trully be who we are inside instead of who they want you to be on the outside .

      RESPECTFULLY
      Christine Andrus

      Confidence

  6. Kathy Linklater at 12:30 pm

    I’ve bought many items from ThredUp. I’ve loved most of them. I’ve decided not to buy any item that was marked “can’t return” (or something like that). There was a reason they didn’t want those items back! 🙂

  7. Jennifer at 12:50 pm

    For 2 solid years, from ages 2-4, my daughter wore a princess dress every.single.day. It was horrifying to me, but I figured it didn’t really matter. So one day she would wear Snow White, and then the next day, Aurora or Cinderella, while I washed Snow White. She wore the dresses over long sleeves and tights in the winter, with shorts in the summer, and she wore them to climb trees, roll around in the grass, and sometimes act like she was a princess. So not only did she wear princess dresses, but they were pretty raggedy ones. Fortunately, she outgrew it, and now she wears riding pants 4 days a week and dresses almost never.

  8. Brandy Wiggins at 1:06 pm

    I have been shopping from ThredUp for years….my daughter found it when she was a teenager and she is still shopping there as a college student.

  9. Rebecca F. at 1:39 pm

    I so wish I had a picture of my daughter from Monday. She and Zoe apparently share a love of all things Cheetah. She has the same skirt and shoes as Zoe and paired them with Cheetah knee socks and a Cheetah tank covered by a white sheer sweater. She said it made her feel “fast” and ran everywhere that day. 🙂

  10. Dana at 1:55 pm

    Well I get almost all my kids clothes at consignment sales…so I’m for sure trying thread up. Thanks!!! And Zoey is adorable. The headband makes the outfit

  11. Danielle at 3:02 pm

    I let my daughter do the same, and she’s the same age. Sometimes she gets disappointed because others may not take notice of just how awesome rainbow goes with rainbow that goes with rainbow. I reminder her about how she feels wearing it and she’s back on top of the world. Like the other commenter I’ve momentarily worried about what her peers may say, but like you, I’ve got a confident kid. She doesn’t care if you like it or not, but she does appreciate being noticed.

  12. Kathy at 7:45 pm

    My boys are also little walking fashion statements. Some days I wish I could pin a sign on them that says “I dressed myself “. Like the day of the apple orchard filed trip that had pictures of my 4 year old in bright orange shorts and a red shirt plastered all over Facebook, or the day my 10 year old ended up on his teacher’s classroom app picture wearing sweatpants, a button down shirt and sandals. But when I ask them if they think they look good and they smile proudly and say yes, all I can do is huge them. And pray that their fashion sense will improve with age.

  13. Brooke at 10:14 pm

    My 8 year old boy picks clothes randomly out of his draw every morning. Whatever is on top gets worn. Plaids with stripes, sport shorts with a polo and star wars knee socks, etc. My 4 year old daughter is a bit pickier with choosing her school attire and spends approximately 10 minutes every night selecting her clothes and laying them out for the morning. It could be a party dress, her brother’s hand me down camo shirt with a brightly embroidered flower corduroy skirt and sparkly shoes, etc. My 2 year old just wants to emulate her sister….if big sis has a dress on, than she wants one too.
    I have two rules for dressing:
    1. It has to be clean 2. It has to be weather appropriate.
    That’s it. Yes, I have gone food shopping with Anna, Elsa, and a storm trooper. But ya know what I remember about that trip? They were happy, I was happy, there were no melt downs, and I got everything on the list.
    So who cares what they wear? If they are happy, dressed and out the door on time it’s a win for everyone.

  14. KittyKitty at 4:53 pm

    Okay, granted, I’m not a parent, but something like this seems like such a reasonable thing. I see so many parents battling over every little. thing, and I roll my eyes so hard. Like… are you really going to fight them on what they’re wearing? That’s silly. As long as it’s clean and weather appropriate, who gives a crap. They’re little, let them enjoy.

    But then I’m that weird grown-up who will happily wear superhero-themed underwear all the time. In fact, I’m due to stock up. And do NOT let me find a superhero shirt in my size. I will buy it and wear it. And, heck, I have Batman leggings I wear all the time.

    Good thing I’m a professional dogwalker, or I’d never get to have any wardrobe fun! 😀

    Just saying, we adults need to lighten the heck up. For real, for real.