[hosebergine]

Hi all

We have one very thin little girl and a baby who is likely to follow suit. At the moment I buy those clever trousers with adjustable waists - can you get them over in NZ?

She also has incredibly thin feet and I have to spend a fortune on Italian shoes for her because Startrite and Clarks shoes aren't narrow enough. Has anyone found shoes for very thin children over there? I've seen threads generally slating shoes in NZ....

This is all keeping me awake at night and I'm considering some bulk buying before we depart if it looks like it'll get even harder to clothe our specials once we're finally in Auckland

[peebles16]

I would bulk buy if you can to be honest:yes My Mum sends over trousers for our kids with those elastic waist thingies and don't get me started on shoes - you can't even get proper width measurements without going to specialist shop :( I'm going to take the advice from someone on this forum and draw round the kids feet and send drawings to Mum too to stock up on shoes... Sad I know but my kids have wide feet and are going through kiwi shoes far too quickly :o

Karenx

[Marie P]

Pumpkin Patch clothes have adjustable waists.

Marie x

[jubjub]

Pumpkin Patch clothes have adjustable waists.

Marie x

:yes and JK Kids, although both of those shops are the priciest end of the kids clothes market....

[M-Squared]

Every pair of trousers I've bought my daughter (7) has either had an elasticated waist all round, or been adjustable. As for shoes, yep no problem there, they're called jandals. ;) :D

The Warehouse rocks for clothes, no need to spend a king's ransom on something they'll sit in the sand in on the beach, and outgrow 6 months later. No fashion parades here in New Zealand, people tend not to care where your clothes come from, or how you choose to dress.

:nice1 :nice1

[gil]

My 11 year old is very thin and she wears Pumpkin Patch with adjustable waists. She also has extremely thin feet, but tends to wear jandals/crocs most of the time, so fit is less of an issue. Getting her school shoes have been no more tricky than UK (which isn't saying much!). Last pair were from Hannahs, but they were Clarks. There is a Clarks shop in Ponsonby too, but I haven't been up there. Trainers are the same as UK if yuo buy brands. We''ve managed to get hers from The Warehouse without much trouble.
We brought a few bulk buys of jeans but she and her brother have both had massive growth spurts and we had to buy more anyway!

Gil

[JasonS]

Every pair of trousers I've bought my daughter (7) has either had an elasticated waist all round, or been adjustable. As for shoes, yep no problem there, they're called jandals. ;) :D

The Warehouse rocks for clothes, no need to spend a king's ransom on something they'll sit in the sand in on the beach, and outgrow 6 months later. No fashion parades here in New Zealand, people tend not to care where your clothes come from, or how you choose to dress.

:nice1 :nice1

you are spot on, marion! in fact, my daughter will wear the same outfit more then once in a week, sometimes 2 or 3 days in a row...(that was unheard of where we came from-even frowned upon). i sometimes have to sneak into her room to grab clothes to launder! fashion really is not a big deal here, and i am grateful for that.

anyways, my daughter is a stick as well, and we have found some adjustable pants at farmers as well as some cute and decent styles at the warehouse.
so no need to worry.

laurel

[Flutterby]

my daughter also has very narrow feet, what are the italian shoes called?

[gil]

PS I also agree that they're not bothered about fashion here. Ditto here Laurel!

[Familyofmonkeys]

My 5 year old daughter is very skinny and we get all her bottom half's in either Pumpkin Patch or JK Kids....I tend to stock up on a few items in next size up in the sales. Have found similar problem with shoes too bacause although her feet aren't especially thin, she has tiny skinny ankles.....Future Feet in Ponsonby (not Milford brands as nowhere near as good) are great and they managed to find some shoes to fit her well after about half an hour of trying on different imported brands for something suitable......don't try and go there at peak shopping times though as it is packed with Brits buying clarkes shoes. Rest of the time she lives in crocks as fit doesn't matter as much.

[peebles16]

It's just school shoes we really have a problem with and trainers - maybe I'm just not buying the right sort but they seem to fall to pieces after about 3-4 weeks :( As for fashion stakes, you're right, doesn't seem to matter here at all so much so I let OH dress the kids :laugh

Karenx

[willsken]

My sister is staying at the moment and her 7 year old daughter is already fitting in with the Kiwi attitude. Oh mum, course I don't need to get changed... no one cares here! :D

[hosebergine]

Thanks for all the suggestions - I know it sounds a shallow thing to worry about but she really is tiny. I managed to get her one pair of shorts this year that didn't fall down and they were a pair of trousers 2 ages too small that I cut off. Trust me, this isn't about fashion, it is about non-exposure of bottoms!

The italian shoes I have found are Naturino - there is one style which seems to fit. They are very narrow, smart trainers with double velcro which allow more adjustment. Her feet are both narrow and shallow which compounds the problem

[veronica]

I had two girls like that many moons ago, best thing I can say is let them do the kiwi thing and run around with no shoes. that tends to allow the feet to spread a bit and makes it a bit easier to fit. I did go thru a phase when I could only get the youngest one the sandels with the adjustable strap over the front of the foot to fit, luckily it was in the summer.

[JandM]

My son when a child was always too tall for trousers that were the right size round the body. I used to have to buy things the right length, and then undo the side seams and take them in. He used to watch me at the sewing machine, always having been interested in mechanical things. One time when he was 12 and we'd bought the new term's school uniform, I took him and the shopping home, and then had to go out again to a meeting. At tea-time, I said, 'I'll have to take in your new trousers when we've cleared the table,' and he said, 'It's okay - I did them while you were out.' And he had, and they were fine.

[hosebergine]

wow can I have your son for a weekend?! I'm ok at making clothes from patterns but I'm not that confident at deconstructing them. Plus there's the old rush of enthusiasm and then the lapse of excitement which results in several half-finished garments in my sewing box!

[JandM]

wow can I have your son for a weekend?!:laugh I don't think he does much sewing these days - he's the one we hope to be following to NZ!