“…making a big fuss out of an adult shopping in a junior’s section”
August 14th, 2007
A couple of weeks ago, I was at Joe’s purchasing a pair of running shoes. The sales associate looked at my size 6 women’s shoes and said, “Size 6…you could take advantage of deals on kids’ sizes!”
Yes, he’s right. A women’s size 6 is a kids’ size 4, and sometimes great deals can be had in the kids’ section. In fact, I own 2 pairs of Columbia shoes that are a kids’ size 4.5. I bought them because they fit well, and the prices were incredibly low, much lower than the adult styles.
Here’s an example of how much prices can differ. At Zappos.com, I queried the kids’ and women’s versions of the Keen Newport sandal. The one on the left is the women’s version; the one of the right is the kids’ version. The women’s version costs $100.95, while the kids’ version costs $60.95.
Now, bear in mind, we are not comparing apples to apples; they are different shoes. But if you find that a kids’ shoe fits great, looks good and does what you want it to do, it could be an awesome deal over an adult style.
The same goes for clothing. If you’re a size small or x-small—men, this applies to you too—it may be worth taking a look at the kids’ section. Personally, I have purchased sweats, t-shirts, pajama pants, and other loungewear in kids’ XL and XXL. Sometimes these types of items fit me better in kids’ sizes than adult.
As with any purchase, be sure you’ll actually wear the items or you won’t be saving any money. And personally, I would stick to age-neutral attire, lest Stacy and Clinton from the Fashion Police come knocking. (Although getting $5,000 for a new wardrobe would not be the worst thing in the world!)
Shopping for clothes based on fit, style and function—and not restricting yourself to a particular department or size—can save you money. No one has to know….
(Kudos to whoever can identify the origin of the quote in the title.)
12 Comments Add your own
1. Trent Hamm | August 17th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
One of my wife’s closest friends is about 4 feet ten inches and petite and she shops in that section all the time. I’m sure she’d agree - don’t be ashamed, be proud!
2. mike | August 17th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
Thank you for the challenge. Though trivia quizzes forever changed with the internet.
I ended up finding the quote on a cool website. http://www.officequotes.net/no2-01.php
Angela: Malls are just awful and humiliating. They’re just store after store of these horrible salespeople making a big fuss out of an adult shopping in a junior’s section. There are petite adults who are sort of… smaller who need to wear… maybe a kids’ size 10.
I just wished they Garanimals for adults, well guys. http://www.garanimals.com/meet_the_garanimals.htm
You just matched animal tags and your pants and shirt matched. Life would be so much easier and shopping would be easier.
3. The Simple Dollar »&hellip | August 20th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
[...] Making A Big Fuss Out Of An Adult Shopping In A Junior Section (@ around the sun) [...]
4. Mitch | August 20th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
And the boys’ department gets cute sweaters that aren’t skimpy like a lot of the juniors’ and women’s sweaters. I mean, you’re wearing a sweater because it’s cold out, right?
5. Bill | August 20th, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Wait until you are shopping for lingerie for your very petite wife and accidentally wander into the junior miss section!
6. Amy K. | August 21st, 2007 at 1:02 am
I shop the boys’ shoes, because I have wide feet and finding wide womens’ shoes is a Pain! There are very few wide womens’ shoes at my local Target, but I’m very happy with my pair of these that I wear to the office every day.
For what it’s worth, my feet are a 7 to 7 1/2D in womens, and a 5 or sometimes 5 1/2 in boys. At that size, the girls’ shoes have started to get a little narrow.
7. More Than 60 Articles at &hellip | August 21st, 2007 at 5:31 am
[...] round-up of great posts from personal finance blogs. I’m honored that my post titled “Making a Big Fuss out of an Adult Shopping in a Junior’s Section“ is [...]
8. Best Finance Posts from C&hellip | August 21st, 2007 at 2:33 pm
[...] As I mentioned in our shopping spree article, it’s hard for Stacie to find clothes that fit. She’s had to resort to buying clothes in the kid’s section. Around the Sun writes about her own discovery of cheaper and better-fitting alternatives in the junior’s section. [...]
9. gamefacepdx | August 21st, 2007 at 9:21 pm
A month ago, I tried to go shopping at Target for a shirt. I found that the sizes have changed over the years. What used to be a Medium is now being tagged as a Small, what used to be a Large is now being tagged as a Medium, and so on.
So I walked over to the kid section and found that their boys’ size XL is the same size as the adult Small. It was pretty much the same shirt. The only difference was that the Adult shirt was almost double the price.
Overweight America is somehow helping me save money?
10. Judy | October 1st, 2008 at 5:47 pm
It a nice site collecting all info about shopping goods.
I need this info because i want to buy a good dress.
Thanks
11. Rick | October 7th, 2008 at 2:27 am
Keep in mind that at least for shoes, there is a reason why it’s cheaper in the kids size. It’s not built for how an adult woman walks. It will wear different, and put stress on the bones differently.
12. Kris | October 10th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Its a great post and useful also because today everybody want to buy shopping goods online.
Thanks for such an helpful post.
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