Where We Shop for Our Kids at the Mall
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As a kid, going to themallto buy new clothes from Gap Kids and sneakers from Foot Locker was a huge treat. But the kids-clothing landscape has changed dramatically since I was a second-grader begging for two pairs of Converse because I wanted to wear different colors on each foot. So I summoned the Strategist Parent Hive Mind for aroundtable chatabout their favorite mall brands for kids of all ages (our children range in age from 4 months to 15 years). What constitutes a mall brand was a little different for each of us, depending on where we live (though we all agreed that Target doesn’t quite count). Here’s everything we talked about and the things we’ve bought for our kids at mall brands, both online and in person.
Shopping for kids’ shoes is easier in person
Liza Corsillo, senior writer:Are any of you shopping in person with your kids? Or do you mostly buy everything online?
Lauren Ro, senior writer:I went to Famous Footwear and got shoes recently. We went to the one in Herald Square. My parents were in town and wanted to buy shoes for the kids before our family dinner reservation. They had two whole walls of Nikes. It was hard to find sizes because the boxes are all just stacked up and you have to read the labels carefully. The kids enjoyed it, but they haven’t worn the shoes yet. I’m like, “Don’t you wanna wear your new shoes?” Anyway, I would take them somewhere like that again because it was nice to try on different sizes. My husband, Chang, didn’t want our 7-year-old son to have Jordans this young because they’re too expensive and brand-y and grown-up, but that’s what he chose.
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Krista Bennett DeMaio, beauty writer:I goback-to-school shoppingthere every year for Adidas and Nike sneakers. They definitely have coupons or promos that are online-only, so you could possibly do better if you shop online. But in stores, they often have “buy one, get one half off” deals too.
Julia Edelstein, features editor:I have two boys who hate shopping, unfortunately. But I buy all of their shoes with them in person because whenever I buy shoes online, they don’t fit. My older son just got shoes at Famous Footwear. I have also taken them to Foot Locker and Stride Rite at the mall in Connecticut.
Ditto for tweens who are in between sizes
KBD:My one daughter is 8 years old, and at this point I have to bring her shopping in person because she wears a different size in every brand. She’s very petite and can still wear dresses in a size 4 or 5 at one store and then wear a size 7 or 8 at another store depending on the cut. She’s tall and lanky. So I take her to try everything on because otherwise I end up with returns that I never do.
Jen Trolio, senior editor:It’s tricky because I have one kid who would love nothing more than to go shopping and the other who is like, “No, absolutely not.” Thankfully, the one who doesn’t like to shop is the easier one to buy for, size-wise. My 8-year-old likes a lot of color and a lot of pink. But I’m struggling with her being at the cusp of the size cutoff between younger kids and older kids for many brands. It’s especially hard at places like Gap and H&M where the younger kid stuff is more for kids ages 2 to 8, and the older kid stuff is geared toward 9 to 12. She usually needs the next size up, and in the bigger sizes, there’s so much navy and gray. It can be hard to find more brightly colored stuff, so she actually tends to want styles that skew a little younger. That’s where I end up defaulting to Target a lot, even if its Cat & Jack line doesn’t really count as a mall brand.
Try DSW, Dick’s, and Dillard’s for trendy footwear
LC:Would you consider UGG and Crocs mall brands? They are both at the outlet mall that I have gone to, next to Carter’s and Zara and H&M. I bought my son an adorable pair of Realtree camo Crocs there last year. They’re too small now, and I think I’m going to buy them again.
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JE:I get those brands at DSW. I bought, like, reject UGGs or something there for one of my kids. He wanted the slipper ones. DSW is also the place I’ve recently discovered to go with my kids to buy kind of nice sneakers to wear to a party.
JT:You know where I’ve seen a lot of people get their Crocs? Dick’s Sporting Goods. A lot of times, it’s attached to or very close to the mall. It is kind of a bubble mall store. They carry Crocs, they carry Adidas and Nike, they have a whole wall of Nike socks. There’s a lot of stuff kids want, in addition to the specialized baseball equipment.
KBD:I’ve gotten sneakers at Dick’s that were hard to find at other places, like the Adidas Campus sneakers, and Owala water bottles at the beginning of the school year. They were sold out everywhere else, but at Dick’s they had a ton.
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JT:Dillard’s is another mall store that consistently has shoes like whatever the hot Birkenstocks are that are sold out everywhere else. I don’t know what their secret is.
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KBD:Yeah, I found a lot of things around the holidays at Dillard’s that I couldn’t find other places.
Zara is great for stylish kids’ clothes
LR:I used to buy a lot of H&M for my kids when they were babies. But if I had to pick between H&M and Zara for kids’ clothes now, I would do Zara. I have only bought stuff for them at Zara online because I didn’t know where there was a Zara kids’ section in the city, but I would love to visit one.
LC:Are you saying that because of the cuteness and the sort of trendiness of the clothes or the fit?
LR:I think the trendiness and style. And the sizing at Zara is not bad. Augie is a small kid, so I size down. He is 7 years old, but he wears a size 6 there.
KBD:Lately, my daughter Mila loves lightweight wide-leg pants like these from Zara. They’re comfy and cute, and she can dress them up with flats or wear them with her Converse for a sportier look.
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LC:I love Zara Kids for everything from basic striped T-shirts to fun accessories. A lot of the clothes are gender neutral with a boxy oversize fit that makes them last longer on growing kids. And most of the “boy” clothes are bright and fun. They also have a lot of things that you can get custom-embroidered when you order online, which make great gifts.
Ailbhe Malone, senior editor:I buy Halloween costumes from Zara on sale for next year, like generic cat, pumpkin, or witch ones.
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And H&M has surprisingly good formalwear
JE:We have gotten very cute boys’ suits at H&M for family weddings or special occasions. But you need to be a narrow child. My younger son has a lot of special-occasion H&M stuff that he gets compliments on.
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Lauren Levy, lead editor:I have looked up suits at H&M for my son Ezra, who is 3 years old, because he got a tuxedo for my sister’s wedding and loves to wear it to synagogue every week.
JE:My kids just had to go to a black-tie wedding and we got these tuxedos at Nordstrom Rack. But we ordered them online. Macy’s is basically known asthe center for boys’ formalwear. But these were slightly cheaper. It was really inexpensive. I ended up buying each of them two tuxedos so they could mix and match the sizes of the pants and the jackets — and it included the shirt and the bow tie and a vest.
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Never buy Crewcuts at full price
LR:Both of my kids have this rugby shirt in different colorsfrom Crewcuts.
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LC:Ooh, I might buy one of those for my son! I’ve been given swim trunks from Crewcuts that were hand-me-downs twice over and are still in really good condition.
KBD:I completely forgot about Crewcuts, but that’s another favorite one too.
JT:I like Crewcuts a lot, but prices are so high that you have to get them on sale. I never buy things there in person because I’m just waiting until the stuff goes on sale online and ordering it.
Clarks (of desert-boot fame) has nice-looking and supportive kids’ mary janes
AM:Formal shoes for kids are hard because I’m allergic to buying shoes that can only be worn once. But Clarks has cute little mary janes or pumps that are supportive and can be worn, you know, with leggings to the playground.
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Abercrombie Kids has good denim for tweens who want to look older
KBD:My youngest, her favorite I would say are a pair of wide-leg jeans from Abercrombie Kids. And they’re a light color but also a very lightweight material. So I think that’s why she likes them, because we went through the “no jeans” phase for a while, and now she’s into them again. And they have some rips, but patches under the rips. They’re super cute and there’s even a teddy bear embroidered on the back pocket, which I love, because it makes me feel like she’s still little even though it’s a very cool, more grown-up cut, like the wide-leg jeans her older sisters wear. So she loves to wear those.
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And Gap Factory has adorable little-kid denim
LL:My dad recently took my kids shopping to the Gap and Zara, and Lily picked out some things by herself. She got a sweatshirt that says Gap and has a bunny on it, and a denim skirt with little flowers. She’s obsessed. She’ll wear it anytime she gets to pick her own outfit. Another thing they got that she loves is a little denim jumper. I feel like she feels like such a grown-up in it. She likes to get dressed by herself. She likes to pick it out and put it on. It’s really adorable.
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You don’t have to spend a fortune on sports jerseys
LR:Augie has graduated from wearing graphic shirts that are maybe a bit babyish, like with animals and things on it. So many of his boy classmates only wear basketball shorts over leggings. They wear sports jerseys. Augie has one Yankees jersey and one Bulls jersey and Chang is like, “We’re not getting any more of these. They’re too expensive for this age.” But Augie doesn’t really care. He’ll wear whatever.
JT:You know what, though, places like Old Navy and Carter’s are coming out with more and more sports stuff and it’s not necessarily jerseys, but it’s not totally generic either. Old Navy has Messi shirts. There’s a lot of World Cup stuff coming out right now. I definitely see boys at my kids’ elementary schools wearing T-shirt versions of the various sports jerseys and, you know, plenty from our local sports teams.
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The mall is the best place to try this cotton-nightgown hack
JT:I have always loved Gap Kids and Hanna Andersson pajamas. But my one daughter only wants to wear nightgowns now. And if you want nice fabric, you cannot really find good nightgowns because of various fire-resistance standards in the U.S. — even brands that make organic-cotton jammies, they will only have cotton in the more snug-fit tops-and-pants sets. The nightgowns are going to be polyester. So my secret to nightgowns is to buy clearance tank dresses at stores like Gap, Old Navy, H&M. Literally any of the mall stores.
LL:Like real dresses, you’re saying?
JT:Yes. I wait until the end of season when they’re on clearance, or H&M usually has cheap ones, and I specifically choose designs that are simple, without a lot of seams or embellishments. So they’re just like an open shift kind of thing, something that will be comfortable to sleep in. And then they function really well as a nightgown, but they’re cotton.
LL:Pro tip.
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The Strategistis designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read abouthere. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
