Children's Fashion
Buy and sell children’s fashion in Costa Rica.
A child can outgrow a pair of trainers, a swim shirt and a Saprissa or Alajuelense shirt in the time an adult takes to wear out one, which is why so much children’s clothing reaches a second family in good shape. Girls’ and boys’ clothes, shoes and accessories sit here, from the end of baby sizes to the early teens, new with tags or already worn. Shoes are the purchase to measure for, swim shirts the one to hold up to the light, and club shirts the one where the season on the design moves the price.
Girls’ and boys’ sections, and the pieces either could wear:
children’s fashion divides by who wears it before it divides by what it is. Girls’ fashion and boys’ fashion each carry clothing, shoes and accessories, so a swimsuit goes under girls’ clothing and a pair of football boots under boys’ shoes. Unisex pieces such as a plain swim shirt go in the section of the child they were bought for, with “unisex” in the title. Anything still sized in months belongs with baby clothing.
Kids’ shoes and the foot measured in centimetres:
one measurement saves most wasted trips. Children’s shoes sold here can carry a US size with a C or a Y after it, a European number, or a number close to the foot’s length in centimetres. Stand the child on a sheet of paper with the heel against a wall, mark the longest toe and measure. A shoe about a centimetre longer inside leaves room to grow without the heel slipping out. Ask a seller for the inside length rather than the number on the tongue. Clothes are less exact: labels give an age, but one brand’s six is another’s five, so give a seller the child’s height.
Swim shirts and UPF 50+ for the beach:
a long-sleeved one does more for a child at Playa Hermosa or Puerto Viejo than sunscreen they will not stand still for twice, because around midday the UV index regularly climbs into the very high band on both coasts. The UPF 50+ on the label lasts only as long as the knit does. Stretched over a child who has grown, thinned by chlorine or simply wet, the fabric lets more light through, so buy the size that fits without pulling across the shoulders and rinse it in fresh water after every swim.
Saprissa, Alajuelense and Herediano shirts in children’s sizes:
the big clubs all make them, sized by age from about three to twelve, and new they run from around ₡18,000 to ₡38,000 depending on the club. A new design comes out every season and a child grows out of a shirt about as fast, so many reach a second family nearly unworn. One from the current season with no name on the back keeps more of its price than an older design. A printed name narrows the buyers to fans of that player. Copies are common, so compare the crest, the sponsor and the kit maker’s logo with the club’s own photos for that season.
Second-hand kids’ shoes and what the insole shows:
a shoe keeps a record of the child who wore it. Pull the insole out: a deep print of someone else’s toes, or a heel worn down on one side, means the shoe has shaped itself to another foot and will not sit right on a new one. Squeeze the heel from behind: if it folds flat, it no longer holds the foot. Soles split at the toe from braking on a bike are rarely worth fixing on a shoe that will be outgrown anyway. On clothes, zips, snaps and waistband elastic give out long before the fabric does. Hold a used swim shirt up to a window: light coming through at the shoulders means it has thinned.
Outgrown trainers, swim shirts and club kits:
sell on the numbers a parent asks for first. Give the inside length of a shoe in centimetres, the age on a clothing label and the child’s height when it last fitted, and for a club shirt the season and whether a name is printed. Photograph shoes from the side and from underneath so the tread shows, and swim shirts against the light. A parent coming from Liberia or Pérez Zeledón to collect a pair will often bring the child, so let them walk a few steps in the socks they normally wear: a shoe that seems right in the hand can pinch at the toe once it is on.