Primary has quickly become one of my favorite online stores for affordable kids clothes - I have yet to find anything priced over $40
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- Primary makes high-quality baby, toddler, and kids clothing at prices any family's budget can handle.
- Its clothing comes in simple patterns and solid colors so it is largely gender-neutral and won't go out of style.
- The online shopping experience is quick and easy, so busy parents can load up a child's wardrobe then get on with things.
I was born in the '80s, so as it happened, some of the baby and toddler clothes my parents saved were rather in style when my son was born in 2013. The bulk of it, however ... was not. So we bought a lot of baby clothes. And as our next child happened to be a girl, much of the clothing we had acquired for him was relegated to the donation pile (and some to the memory box) as soon as he outgrew it.
Also, often when kids outgrow a given garment, it's fit only for disposal, having required so many washes what with the messiness of early life.
If only there had been a company that made affordable but high-quality clothing that came in basic, timeless, and gender-neutral designs back in 2013, we would have saved a lot of cash getting clothing that could have been handed down from brother to sister. Alas, I knew of no such company. Then, in 2015, a pair of moms founded one. And as their company, Primary, makes clothing for kids aged 0 through 12, you can bet we're shopping there heavily going forward.
As the name suggests, the model informing Primary is simplicity.
The company carries all the various types of clothes you'd expect from a retailer catering to youngsters, from onesies and sweatshirts and leggings for babies, to dresses and sweaters for girls, to sweatpants and tees for boys, and PJs for all - albeit without one thing you expect from most brands: branding.
Primary clothes come in a host of bright, solid colors, they come in stripes, and - the most adventurous - a few come with a multicolored heart print. There are no logos, no graphics, no prints; the clothes are simple, but not boring. The vibrancy of the colors and the many styles available (they offer 11 different cuts of dress alone, for example) make it easy to have your kids looking sharp, and their garments mix and match well with one another as well as with clothing from other companies.
Of equal or greater importance to how the clothes look is how they are made.
Primary uses high-quality cotton that meets the OEKO-TEX standard. And rather than explaining what that means in my own words, I'll use an excerpt of Primary's own explanation of the OEKO-TEX (pronounced oh-WEEK-oh-tex) certification:
The goal of OEKO-TEX Standard 100 is to ensure that fabrics pose no risk to human health and have a skin-friendly pH level to ensure against skin irritation ... This certification means that every single chemical used in the production of our fabrics have been tested and found free of over 300 chemicals and known irritants (such as banned azo dyes, formaldehyde, pentachlorophenol, pesticides, cadmium and nickel) in accordance with legal regulations and US Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) requirements regarding lead and harmful chemicals. It's a higher standard that is better for skin, better for the environment, and better for parents' peace of mind.
The clothes are also quite comfortable. My son has said as much, and our daughter seems to agree, though so far her vocabulary is limited to mama, dada, yeah, cat, and what we think is a stand-in for her brother's name. (We named him Ben, but for now "BAH!" will do.)
As for the prices? Most Primary clothes cost less than $20. Some cost less than $10. And after scouring the site, I have yet to find one thing priced above $40.
Shop all baby and kids clothing basics at Primary here.
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