<p>Just thought of something. Y’all may want to stock up on next fall’s college clothes asap. You’ve probably heard that casual clothing prices will be rising, because the price of cotton has skyrocketed. It’s actually even scarier than I’d assumed. I work for a humongous apparel company, and we just learned that our prices will be spiking sometime in the fall (forget exactly when…may be late fall). We have enough cotton stockpiled (purchased at last year’s prices) to carry us through the summer, but after that, we have to deal with the higher prices. Anything containing cotton will get pricier – and that’s 99% of everything! </p>
<p>I’m planning to stockpile men’s tees, polos, khakis, and skivvies for the 2011-2012 academic year. After that, I’ll just trust to the “seconds” bins at the company store, LOL. </p>
<p>The era of Cheap Everything appears to be over. :(</p>
<p>I stocked up while my kids were seniors in high school. I was on the lookout for clearance prices on polo shirts, pants, shorts, etc…</p>
<p>One day I was in Sams Club and they had marked waaaaaay down a bunch of “no show” mens athletic socks…they had fallen out of the box and had gotten dirty. I bought every “dirty” package they had. I promptly washed them and I then had over 50 pairs of clean socks for less than $10 TOTAL. With 3 guys in the family, they’ve been put to good use! </p>
<p>Also, be on the lookout for clearance stuff that can be used in a dorm…towels, blankets, pillows, etc.</p>
<p>Ah, good idea. I should work on that now. My D works for an apparel company as well, you think she would have mentioned it. Although she just recently changed jobs so she has a lot on her mind as she is still looking for a place to live in SF.
Also have to get S a suit for graduation and beyond. Was just thinking about towels today. S likes the bath sheets. How many do we think they need for the semester? What do we think about names or monogramming, not because I am elitist, but because I think they would be less likely to disappear. Might be too much for guys though. Maybe I should just concentrate on getting a half dozen or so reasonably priced bathsheets and hoping he doesn’t lose them?
Sheets/duvets are twin xl right? Probably will go with a duvet cover as that is easier to wash. Will have to demonstrate how to stuff the duvet though ;).</p>
<p>my kids haven’t had any trouble with their towels disappearing, but I did get them sheets that didn’t look “typical”. </p>
<p>I did buy their towels in two colors…some white and some blue. that way, if they could only do one load of wash, they could at least have some clean towels. I did the same with boxers…some white and some blue.</p>
<p>As for the number of towels you’ll need… Well, what kind of kid do you have? I have one son who uses 2 clean towels every time he showers (ugh). I have another son who uses ONE towel, hangs it to dry, and uses it a couple of more times. The first son needs a lot of towels. the other son could get by with just a few. </p>
<p>Also, how often would your son do laundry. I have a nephew who refuses to do laundry more than once a month. So, when he went off to college, his mom had to make sure he had at least 30 of everything. :(</p>
<p>I really like the white & blue idea. That way he could throw some in with jeans and some in with whites. Where are the w/d’s? Do they have them on every floor in the honors dorms?</p>
<p>We go through a lot of the no-show socks, I would like to have bought the 5 pairs. S wears them even in the winter in the snow. You think he would want something on this ankles. At least he has boots now in case its really snow-ey.</p>
<p>This is definitely helpful to read – I had no idea this was going on! I’m going to have to search through old threads to find that what to wear at Bama thread.</p>
<p>The washers and dryers are usually on “every other” floor. The laundry system is high tech…it will text you when your load is done and you can check on your computer to find out if any machines are empty.</p>
<p>Regina…</p>
<p>For BB…for girls…anything cute and appropriate for hot weather. shorts and a cute top…capris and a cute top…Nike Tempo shorts and a top…spirit wear…cute sun dress…</p>
<p>towels - there isn’t a whole lot of room for towels, so i think 4 per person is plenty.</p>
<p>as for clothes. my dd took all her usual clothes, but she rarely wears anything but tshirts and jeans or shorts except when going out. so you really don’t need to stock up on clothes. they will add lots of alabama gear to their wardrobes.</p>
<p>sorry, but i wouldn’t send my kid with 30 of everything just so they could only wash once a month.</p>
<p>Thanks, m2ck! I actually just located your “What not to wear at Alabama” thread and read through the whole thing to refresh my memory. ;)</p>
<p>Can anyone who has lived in honors suites (or whose children have) give me any idea of how much storage space is available? I know there’s a closet and a bureau (I think?), but do students generally find they have enough room or what? I’ve lived in a dorm for three years now, so I’m pretty good at consolidating my belongings, but I’m also an over-packer who owns way too much clothing. Also, I love doing laundry, so that won’t be an issue.</p>
<p>I have to admit that I had never heard of (and D didn’t own) any Tempo shorts this time last year. Couldn’t wear shorts to HS. So I bought her a pair after hearing about them on this forum. Went to Bama Bound. Bought another pair for her. I think she left with 2-3 pairs. She got to campus & it was HOT. Ended up with her buying & me shipping her another couple of pairs 'cause that was all she wore for the first couple of months ;)</p>
<p>She didn’t think to bring any of her shorts back with her but it is apparently gorgeous on campus today (70 degrees!) so she’ll be bringing them back with her when she comes home in a couple of weekends. </p>
<p>For girls, your wardrobe will vary dramatically depending on whether you’re planning on joining a sorority or not. D didn’t so she didn’t have to worry about having too many “special” pieces with her.</p>
<p>the closet is normal size. plenty of room for all my dds things that didn’t go in the dresser.</p>
<p>the dresser - one drawer is full of tshirts. one os full of jeans and shorts and one is … i dont remember.</p>
<p>we added 2 plastic drawer things to the closet and also a show hanging thing for the door.</p>
<p>IMO my daughter took a lot of clothes. but she has room for everything. we did get her a tall bookshelf for her room to hold her tv and school books and stuff.</p>
<p>the bathroom has a small linen closet (no door) with about 5 shelves. so each girl gets 2 and then they have cleaning supplies and stuff on another and big packs of toilet paper and a drying rack and a step stool on the floor.</p>
<p>you will probably want a couple of over the door hangers. one for the bathroom and one or more for your room.</p>
<p>the dorms are very brown, so adding a rug is nice just to add color, even if you dont really “need” the rug.</p>
<p>Some kids put their mattress on the highest “rungs” so that they can fit another 3 drawer chest underneath (like a cheap plastic one from Wal-mart).</p>
<p>If you are not from the South (we are not), keep in mind that Alabama is much more humid. Even the standard weight of a cotton knit polo type shirt will get very heavy. At least this has been my son’s experience. During the warm months, he prefers the light weight performance type golf shirts that wick moisture away from the body. They also dry much faster than 100% cotton.</p>
<p>^ LOL, I write copy for those polos (among many other things). I work on the athletic-wear end of our business. Wicking R Us!</p>
<p>Just bought my kids a bunch of these polos at an employee sample sale. They are indeed great for hot, humid weather, but, unlike cotton polos, they can get little runs in the fabric sometimes. </p>
<p>I also stock up on mesh shorts (basketball-type shorts), as they are fairly cool in hot weather. </p>
<p>And I stock up on TONS of men’s underwear. My kids go through skivvies like nobody’s business.</p>
<p>I agree with everyone when it comes to weather…T-town can be beyond hot and humid when school starts! That being said if you are a girl the “uniform” seems to be Nike shorts, and t-shirts with Sperrys for class. The girls generally wear their t shirts bigger than normal and a lot of them wear “comfort colors” shirts (many are sorority or fraternity swap shirts). A great place to find shirts is the Shirt Shack downtown.They have a great line of Bama shirts as well as cute game day dresses and shorts (Vineyard Vines) Going out clothing is dress up jeans with cute (think designer) shirts or sundresses with cowboy boots. If you are in a sorority you will be expected to wear sundresses on game days…fraternity boys wear long sleeved blue or white shirts, khakis, ties and sport coats (yes! even in 100 degree weather). It seems like you see Alabama sports wear everywhere! There are some great little boutiques downtown and on the strip to buy cute clothes, The Shirt Shop, Sassy Britches, Private Gallery.</p>
<p>Also…bring your winter coat…My D did not want to take hers. She took it back at Thanksgiving and was soo glad! She also took her pairs of Uggs…alot of the girls wear the really short ones. They also wear the Sperry outwear shoes called Comorants. For girls you will see lots of houndstooth!</p>
:(</p>