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Erin Lemanski

When shopping around the mall it is important to look at both sections. A student might be missing a money saving deal by only shopping in “their section”. “I like finding things that are in my sizes, and also, they tend to be less expensive, which is a plus. I avoid the childish styles, but then can often find styles and outfits that are trendy now, and are unique in that not everyone else is wearing the same thing,” junior Linnea Rustad said.

High End clothing is becoming the new trend, however, with this trend comes expenses. One shirt can cost up to $100. Many students have found different ways around the expenses, while still being able to dress by brand name.

Students discovered that if they were to buy the brand name clothing’s children line, it is significantly cheaper. For example, Ivivva is the children’s line of Lululemon. Buying a pair of Ivivva legginging is only $64, compared to Lululemon’s price of $98. The sizes for these clothing lines are relatively similar. Unfortunately, this shopping trick only works for certain sizes.

Lululemon and Ivivva are not the only stores that provide cheaper alternatives for their customers. Abercrombie and fitch and department stores also do this for their customers.

“For kids brands, I shop at Ivivva and Abercrombie Kids. In almost every store I go to, I look and find something in the kids’ sections, for example, at Nordstrom,” junior Linnea Rustad said.

Some students shop at these stores for their sport. They can get more product for less money.

“I have a couple of kids athletic shorts and t-shirts from places like Dick’s or the Nike outlet. More specifically, I have spikes for track from the kids section because my feet are so small,” junior Hanna Gaertner said.

The most popular store that students shop at for saving money is Ivivva. The main reason why is because of the leggings. They are identical to the Lululemon leggings, but significantly cheaper.

Rustad said, “In my opinion, I believe Ivivva  has consistently higher quality than Lululemon.  Last year, Lululemon had problems with many of the clothing items being rather transparent.  I have personally noticed that my Ivivva clothing has held up better than my Lululemon items.”

Another reason why students are shopping in the children’s section, is because the clothes fit on their bodies.

“Most of my kids shopping is shoes because my feet are so tiny. Pretty much any shoe store usually has the same styles for adults in the kids section, so basically it is the same thing for a lower price,” Gaertner said.

However, the main reason why students do their shopping in the children’s section is because of the differences in prices.

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Gaertner said, “The biggest thing is the price because everything is expensive these days, but sometimes the adult stuff is too big so that’s a plus too.”

During the winter months it is hard to find reasonably priced winter gear. However, at Patagonia, kids sizes are offered for a cheaper price.

“I bought a pullover from Patagonia in the kids section because it fit way better on me. But when I tried on the exact same pullover from the adult section I felt like I was drowning in it. Also, my pullover from the kids section was half the price than the one from the adult section,” junior Chelaina Daniels said.

Shopping through the kids section used to be seen as embarrassing or demeaning. Now, students love to shop there because it provides them with cheaper clothing that actually fits their bodies.