My kids started back to school a few weeks ago and I am slowly trying to get their clothes situated for fall. I spent an entire weekend sorting through their closets and bureaus trying to weed out the things that no longer fit. Since I am pretty sure somebody is sneaking Miracle Gro into my kids breakfast cereal, there are a LOT of things from last year that no longer fit. In fact, almost everything had to get tossed into boxes to hand down to my niece and nephew. That means I have a lot of clothes to buy them for the new school year and in order to stay in budget I am shopping sales, clearance racks and consignment stores to find stylish yet versatile outfits for fall. As part of the Glam JC Penney #FirstDayLook campaign I was asked to head to JCP this weekend to see what sort of great styles and prices I could find to put together a new fall wardrobe for my 13 year old son.
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Back to School for Less at JCP
Posts feature partner companies & may be sponsored. Post contains affiliate links & I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Let me just say that back to school shopping for my teenage son is not always easy. He is 6 feet tall and has the build of a string bean. He has very little fashion sense and is only just recently starting to care about how his clothes look to other people. Last week he put on plaid shorts and a striped shirt and my daughter quickly informed him that he looked ridiculous. Only she didn’t say it quite so nicely! Gotta love the way teenage siblings interact, right? So, I try to keep his fashion options rather simple and easy to mix and match. Our back to school shopping at JCP was a great way for me to help give him a few pointers for putting together a stylish outfit!
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My son lives in jeans during the winter and the selection at JCP this weekend was amazing. I loved that there was a display of mannequins in the jean section that portrayed every style and how it looks on a real body. Sometimes it is difficult navigating the terminology of denim…skinny jeans, boot cut, slim fit, loose fit…what do all those things mean? Seeing all the styles on the mannequins helped us figure out what style would look good on my tall and super skinny kid. We also hit JCP during their doorbuster sale and the prices on jeans were really good. I was amazed to find my son’s odd size (29 x 34) and we got a few pairs as well as a pair of cargo pants. Back to school pants are done in one easy stop!
Winters here in Georgia are sometimes hard to shop for. Our weather one week could be in the 50’s and then the next week it drops down to the 20’s. In order to be ready for any temperature my son wears Tshirts under long sleeve button down shirts. This look is a good balance of fashion and function. He gets to look hip and trendy and when the afternoon weather warms up he just takes off the long sleeve outer layer and still looks good in a Tshirt and jeans. The button down collared shirt also works as a slightly dressier option with a pair of nice pants for church on Sunday. Multipurpose outfits save money and the prices on Tshirts and button down shirts at JCP made it affordable to get several combinations during our back to school shopping this weekend.
Accessories play an important role in back to school shopping, too and for my very fashion challenged son that primarily means a lot of belts. Being incredibly skinny means that almost all pants require a belt. We found a nice selection of genuine leather belts on clearance for a really good price. He had his eye on a stylish cap but seeing as hat’s are not on our list of back to school necessities I convinced him that we were better off getting a couple more Tshirts instead.
I have found that buying a good selection of basic styles for back to school shopping gets us the most outfits for the least amount of money. Items that mix and match easily make getting ready in the morning simple for my son, which in turn makes my life easier as well. I was very pleased with the variety of styles available at JCP this weekend and I got a lot of really great deals! I was thrilled to find a coupon online that gave me an additional $20 off my purchase and we left with a big bag of back to school clothes. Of course, with the way that boy is growing I hope he doesn’t outgrow them by January!
Are you finished with your kids back to school clothes shopping yet?
Come find your #FirstDayLook at jcpenney. For back-to-school and every day, we bring you the quality and comfort you want with the style and affordability you deserve.
Disclosure: Compensation was provided by JCPenney via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of JCPenney

Diane is a professional blogger and nationally certified pharmacy technician at Good Pill Pharmacy. She earned her BS in Microbiology at the University of New Hampshire and has worked in cancer research, academics, and biotechnology. Concern over the growing incidence of human disease and the birth of her children led her to begin living a more natural life. She quickly realized that the information she was learning along the way could be beneficial to many others and started blogging and freelance writing to share this knowledge with others. Learn more about her HERE.
What’s funny for me is that now that my son is 10 I have to do back to school shopping, before I could just shop ahead and pull anything out of the closet. Who told these kids they could get their own sense of style!
thanks,
Mitch
I remember the days of shopping ahead! It was easier to stock up when they were small!
We do a lot of our shopping at JC penny’s! I have gotten some amazing deals there, especially around Back to School time. I like those plaid shirts on him…he looks great!
If I could just get him to smile!
My son is younger and his preschool is very active. So we’re encouraged to dress them in things that can get dirty. We leave his more stylish, new clothes for Sunday services and parties. Thank goodness he can still fit a lot of his old clothes.
Love how affordable JCP is! The t-shirt selection looks fabulous!
I love the great prices at JCPenney! I don’t get to shop there too often though because we don’t have one that’s really close to our home. But the few times I got to shop there, I loved their selections!