Formal Dress for Boys - how much to buy?

Bow ties and quarter-zip sweaters seem to be de rigeur at most schools.

If your son isn’t wearing men’s sizes yet, you can get both Nordstrom house and Lands End brand blazers in 18 or 20; both of which fit my son until he was 15. We went to local thrift shops for ties…super funky and fun to pick out, and only $5 a piece. Lands End wrinkle-free shirts and a couple of khakis. Done! Good luck!!!

You’d be surprised how grimy a jacket adolescent boys don’t think twice about wearing. I paid for laundry service and the jackets never got sent out for dry cleaning. At the end of the school year S2 had pancake syrup stains like Rorscharch inkblot patterns.

I suggest fewer jackets to start off with. You can aways reevaluate & supplement w more during Fall Parents Weekend or Fall/Thanksgiving Break.

@doschicos The band clothes were an issue here. DS joined band in the second term. I got a text on Tuesday saying “I need black pants on Friday for the concert”. Thank goodness LL Bean delivers quickly. Bought 2 sizes and one worked. DS had never been in a band before and his teacher thought he knew the dress code.

Yup, agree on white shirt and black dress pants (and black dress shoes and black socks.)
Our local school is black on black in orchestra/band, so I also sent black shirt but it got sent back home during break (mom, no space in the closet!)

Also, sent back home during breaks are: bathrobe (towel will do,) 2 jackets (I got 4 - casual school) 4 khakis (he got bigger - gained weight) 5 shirts (school is casual so just t-shirts and polos will do) snow jacket and fleece (he wears t-shirt/shorts in 30 degree) hiking boots (tennis shoes seem to work fine)
I got too ambitous with shopping in the beginning of the year. So less is better.

Get lots of underwear and socks but less in others.
I bought extra sheets and fold/stuck them under the mattress and he’s been exchanging/washing the sheets.

I had to order/ship extra belt (lost one?) and linen-blend pants that are more forgiving to “growing” lower body.
He only liked a single pair of pants, wore every day, washed not on gentle, so got holes, and wanted another one. Of course, that was discontinued/gotten-on-sale on J Crew. So I found a similar pair at a premium and had to ship it to him.

Oh, just to mention - shorts are a big thing. Shorts pretty much all times of the year with maybe the exception of December and January - maybe. I think I’ve seen them then. Shorts with a button down shirt and a jacket and a tie. “Dressy shorts”, not gym shorts or cargo type shorts. And sandals - even though its November and 38 degrees out.

I bought khaki shorts and oxford shorts (made of oxford like shirts, dressy and more flexible/forgiving.)

DS wears them exclusively. Expect to see lots of holes in them as well at the end of year.

Note re shorts: not all schools allow them. Double check the handbook for your individual school.

And some schools only allow shorts in certain months.

(edited to correct spelling)

Can I assume that it’s the exact opposite for girls- trying to fit more clothes into the same size closet?!

Both my kids had tons of stuff in their rooms. You just need to get creative. Back of door hangers for belts, ties, under bed storage. Hanging bins in the closet. It’s amazing how much they could cram in without it looking that way. I’d wait to see the dorm room and closet size but there are options to maximize space.

I got this per SevenDad’s recommendation,
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/double-hang-commercial-grade-closet-rod-in-chrome/1015040149
but DS’s closet is under slanted roof so not tall enough to use the double rod.

Two words: Command Hooks

Buy them in jumbo packs. You can’t have too many.

DS is in a triple…which used to be a double. Three boys, 2 closets. The room itself is huge, though, so they’ve been creative in finding solutions, including building their own shelves (on which they store clothes), and rigging up a armoire of sorts (metal rod between two desks hutches). We didn’t know he would be in a triple until the night before drop-off day. The other thing we didn’t count on was how dark the room would be. For such a large room, it has only one window, which faces north, and no overhead light (!!!). It is like a cave. When we got home that night we immediately hit Amazon Prime and sent the boys 3 floor lamps and some stick-on touch lights for their closets. That has helped a lot. DS also brought home a bunch of clothes…“too many” he says. We will send him with less next year.

@hellomaisy Sounds like they have sorted the situation out nicely, but what kind of school charges +/- $50k and doesn’t even provide a wardrobe for the student? Yikes.

For boys Macy’s teen section is a good place to get teen size blazers and or suits. Once the boys are a bit larger things go into men’s sizes ands it’s more expensive.

Don’t go crazy buying too many things. Just buy enough to last a few weeks and then reassess at parents weekend.

Macys online has a fantastic Navy blazer in kids sizes. Nautica. Its excellent. My son only wore ONE blazer. Buy the navy one, then when he comes home on thanksgiving, he can choose another. He needs to figure out his ,“style” and it takes a few months. Plus he will grow!

^ Agree on Macy’s with 2 high school boys in blazer/khaki prep attire. NEVER pay full price. Add yourself to their email list, you’ll get 25% or more discounts and free shipping emails weekly. Saves us a ton of money.

Also forgot to mention that the tastes of boys in boarding schools varies quite widely. Some schools like Deerfield are very preppy, and others like Andover the boys are quite laid back. A plain navy blue blazer probably wouldn’t be enough at Deerfield, where salmon colored shorts and pink ties are the norm.

You’ll see that your child’s tastes will evolve over time.

^Agree with this. When I came into Andover as a freshman I pretty much wore nothing but sweatshirts, shorts, and sweatpants, but over the last four years, whether intentionally or by some sort of assimilation, my closet is now filled with Vineyard Vines pullovers, Khaki pants, and Sperry Top-Siders