Shopping for Summer–Boy Style

Boys grow so darn fast don’t they?  Every year at the end of the summer I pack up Buddy’s clothes, hoping against hope that some of them will still fit by the next summer. . . but boys being boys and growing as they do, well, let’s just say that a shopping trip is in order at the start of EVERY summer.

Now even if I wasn’t a Walmart Mom, my first stop to pick up boy’s summer essentials would be Walmart.  After all, I’ve got a budget, just like you do.  I want to get him some decent clothing that will last him through the summer and that can stand in as “gym clothes” in the fall when school starts up again.  Walmart makes that easy.  Today Walmart asked me to share my shopping trip with you!

The last few years I’ve noticed not only a huge increase in the “stylish” boy clothes at Walmart.  There are bright colors, nice styles, and lots of items that are good for boys that are older and don’t want to wear “cutesy little boy” stuff but are not yet ready to move into the “mens” sizes.  (note:  why isn’t there a “juniors” equivalent for boys?). I’ve also noticed a HUGE increase in the number of boys swimsuit styles available.

I had a few goals for this shopping trip.  I wanted items that he could wear at home and at camp, with an eye to things that might be useful next year for phys ed.  I also wanted at least one decent shirt for church–I make the kids dress for church, and although he has several long sleeve button up shirts, I wanted to have at least one shorter option.

The first thing Buddy was attracted to was these shorts.

Talk about loud.  I was NOT attracted to them.  It was time to call in our personal fashion consultant and guru on all things middle school.  Princess!  She went through things with Buddy and showed him what she thought would look “cool”.

Of course being a teenage girl  her idea of cool was quite different from Buddy’s and there were some items he was not a fan of:

They both had a lot of fun in the hat section.  Princess thought the Pokemon hat was funny and ironic.  Buddy only put on the minion hat for me.  He wound up with a “flat cap” (that means they purposely don’t roll the brim–looks dorky to me but it’s what they like” that said “Eat, Play, Sleep, Repeat”.

He loved this cool fedora.  I said it made him look like he should be selling cigars in Havana 🙂  We had to get it anyway.

One of the things I was really excited about was how much of the boys apparel was moisture wicking.  A year or two ago this feature was only available in the really high end (read expensive) clothing–now I was able to pick up several pieces in the $5 – $10 range.  For sweaty boys running around outside, biking, living in tents at boyscout camp and un-airconditioned cabins at sleep away camp, well, I figure moisture wicking was the way to go.  The fact that some of them even have anti-odor technology. . .bonus!

Buddy loved the style of the moisture wicking T shirts from Starter–he went all GQ on me posing in front of the dressing room.  I think that color looks great on him.

The gray Russell shirt (also moisture wicking) was another winner.  He likes it, even if he looks very serious.

We also picked up a red performance polo that can be worn to church, a couple of pairs of Russell athletic shorts, and a swimsuit and rash guard set.

I think Buddy is set for summer.  Now to get Princess ready!

****This is a sponsored post****

Disclosure: As a participant in the Walmart Moms Program, I’ve received product samples and compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.