Check out the Children's Place's Summer Line! #placepoolparty - May 2, 2012

Thanks to a sweet friend (who will remain anonymous unless she gives me the OK to say her name here), I was able to participate in a media event in Atlanta for the Children's Place and check out their new summer line of clothing for newborns, babies, and older boys and girls. And let me tell you, I had a BLAST.

Disclosure time! Right up front. You love it. I was given a gift card with which to shop, courtesy of the Children's Place, and I was given a special one-on-one tour of the store and the new line. However, all opinions are my own - and let me assure you, I'm going to be brutally honest here. 

I feel like TCP (can I call you TCP? Great!) is trying to reposition itself more in line with BabyGap and Gymboree and to move a bit away from where I always saw it, which was as at the same level as Carter's/OshKosh (which I am a huge fan of but I also know is a slightly lower-end brand with prices to match). TCP has hired a new designer away from - what a coincidence - BabyGap, and the pieces I saw today definitely showcase a new direction.

The summer line is full of neon colors (I don't know WHY I know this, as I am fashion challenged, but those are very IN right now). It's also full of details - sequins, extra stitching, accessories, and so on. I like that. Some of the dresses I saw even reminded me of high-end brands like Tea Collection in the general detailing.

I found the prices very reasonable overall. Some things cost a bit more than I would normally spend on my girl (have you been reading my blog? did you perhaps notice that I go to thrift stores a lot? hehe) but other items were definitely priced for my budget. There were some very cute T-shirts that I noticed on my way out the door that were only $5 each - and with the coupons that flow freely from TCP (sign up for their emails! do it!), those could be even less expensive. The most expensive thing I bought today was a Hello Kitty shirt for $13, and licensed items like that do always cost more (I could not resist the KITTY).

Ah yes, I bought. I bought and bought. I was given a generous $100 gift card with which to shop, and I am proud to say that my entire total for everything was $100.08.

This is what I got:

Here's the overview. I stuck with the pink/purple category, as you can see. I like that everything I got matches with everything else I got - and within the store, that was the case as well. Lots of mixing and matching, which is great!

T shirts! The purple and pink have sequins and butterflies and flowers  - but they just don't feel overly girlygirl to me since they're still T-shirts. $10 each. Hello Kitty is....Hello Kitty! $12.95.

I love these shorts. They're the longer style and they'll both go with so many things. They were $12 each.

The khaki shorts peeking in the back were $10. They're true shorts, and they have an elastic waist. Since we're still working on potty training (I'm determined to get that going this summer) those will work well. The pants roll up to become longer shorts, but I'm not sure if they'll fit and/or if I'll keep them. I liked the versatility but the fabric is a little heavy. We'll see when she tries them on. $10.

Super adorable plastic strawberry purse. That I may steal. That I probably will steal. That I love. $7.46!

My favorite piece that I bought today - a sweet denim skirt with a pretty purpley waistband. She might actually wear it because...

Peek-a-boo, there are shorts under there! She doesn't wear skirts that often because she's still usually crawling around or falling as she tries to take steps, so having a skort is a huge bonus. $10 - a steal, I think.

Now a quick note on what I didn't like. I didn't like the bathing suits that were available in her size. While I liked that they have SPF 50 built in (they called it...UPF I think?), the designs were just a bit too grown-up for me. I'm not a prude, I swear, but my five-year-old doesn't need to be wearing a two-piece or an off-the-shoulder suit to look cute. And the one-piece suits had odd detailing on the breast area. No. I skipped those. There was a super-cute rashguard but they didn't have it in my kid's size - I liked it a lot though. And I am not a fan of skinny jeans and/or jeggings for my little girl. That's partly because our situation is different and I need her pants to be easy to deal with, but also it, again, just feels a bit too OLD for a little girl. Leggings yes. Skinny jeans no. (She actually has a pair of skinny-ish jeans that I thrifted and I think she looks kind of weird in them!)

Those are minor issues though. Overall I thought the selection was great and well-thought-out. I also really liked the boy designs - there was one pair of shorts with skulls all over that I considered getting for my girl! It was nice to see a wide selection of styles and colors for the boys - friends with boys, take note! And the newborn stuff was really cute and would make a great baby shower gift because it's affordable so you can get two outfits instead of one.

I would like to thank the local and the imported staff of the Children's Place for hosting this event, and I hope I can participate in future events as well! Whee!

By the way...she looks really cute in the clothes!

My grown-up girl! (Watermarked. Deal with it!)