When Jo Jo was a tiny baby, it didn’t bother me to dress her in girly clothes. Little ruffles, headbands, flowers… she looked adorable. But now she is older, and has a very strong tomboy personality emerging. She doesn’t want to wear dresses, hates stuff in her hair, and loves to run, jump, roll, dive, etc. It just feels wrong to keep putting her in glittery, sparkly, ruffly stuff when she is so rough and tumble!
But in the stores such as Target, to give an example, all little girl clothes are absolutely slathered in bows, bling, sparkles, or hearts. Every. Single. Thing. is pink or purple, or has pink or purple on it. I couldn’t find a pair of jeans without pink, purple, gemstones, or flowery designs! Every outfit is frilly, lacy, or shiny! This girl is not going to a dinner party… she’s got dirt to dig in, plastic hammers hammer, floors to jump on, food to smear in her hair! She needs t-shirts that don’t say something cutesy, hoodies without ornaments, pants she can do somersaults in!
So, to the boy section I went. God it’s almost just as bad, the opposite extreme. “Mommy’s little hunk” and “Ladies’ Man” on every t-shirt. A truck, baseball, or dinosaur to make sure that we all know it’s a “manly” outfit. The colors are great… greys, blues, and reds. But do I need footballs or racecars on my pants???
From the boys section I got a t-shirt that said “rock star” and has musical instruments, in navy and red. I got plain jean capris and denim overalls. From the girls section I found a short sleeve simple striped t-shirt in light blue.
If anyone comes across any “unisex” stuff, especially hoodies, in major chain stores for toddlers, let me know!
Mother of All Things 
Old navy?
Old Navy the Gap. P.S.kids. I that they are many different things you can still dress he in that are in the girls section ar Chuldrens Place or Carter that are good for active play…Btw I cannot takw all the pink in thw girls section
My small town does not have these… but I can look online or stop by next time I’m in a city that has them!
You can always find coupons online for these stores
Also online these stores always have a coupon
Do you have any consignment children’s shops in your area? Children at this age rarely wear out cloths before they out grow them and there are WONDERFUL things in our local used clothing children’s shops. We also have a facebook yardsale where TONS of beautiful children’s clothing shows up. Good luck!
I find the best gender neutral stuff for Evie at places like Value Village and Goodwill/second hand shops! I think that’s because they’re older clothing, and making clothes “gendered” is becoming more and more prevalent in stores.
There is a strong correlation between cost of clothes and how distinctly gendered they are. The more expensive, the more neutral they are, with far less embellishments. Bizarre but true, it’s even true for kid’s bicycles, with glitter sparkles at Wal-Mart and basic solid colors at bike shops. That’s my observation, and I am sure there’s some deep, fascinating socio-economic reason behind the difference, and maybe someone should write a dissertation on the subject? 😉 Anyway, I know your stores are limited in your area, but I shop at thrift stores in wealthier areas and pick up quality clothes that those folks donated. I keep an eye out and collect items that are a year or two ahead of our current size and just hold on to them. American Apparel (online) is about as neutral as it gets. Not cheap, but at least made in America and can be used for a future boy or girl child.
The Children’s Place has a lot of clothes that are VERY gender specific. But…I just checked and their are some neutral enough ones as well. Prices are good and they often run sales. I’ve purchased a lot of stuff online from that store even though there’s a brick & mortar location 3 miles away from my house.
We were the exact opposite, fairly neutral, no pink clothes when she was a baby. At 18 months she developed her fashion sense and it was pink and ruffly. With every princess that ever existed. Weirdest thing ever to experience. She couldn’t even talk but she knew what she wanted to wear.