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By Sweet Wink
How Early Should You Order the Christmas Outfit This Year? The sweet spot for ordering a Christmas outfit is late September through mid-October. That gi...
The sweet spot for ordering a Christmas outfit is late September through mid-October. That gives you time to check the fit, size up if you need to, and still have the piece hanging in the closet well before the first holiday photo. Order in that window and you're not chasing anything down in December.
Here's why that timing works, and what actually changes depending on the outfit you have your eye on.
Holiday collections land in early fall, which feels wildly early when it's still 80 degrees out. But that timing is on purpose. The most-wanted pieces, the red velvet dresses, the Santa-print sweatshirts, the sequin numbers, are the ones that get picked over first.
Shopping in October means you're choosing from the full range of sizes and styles instead of whatever's left. You get the color you pictured and the size that fits, not a compromise on both.
And if a piece runs a little small or you're between sizes, ordering early leaves room to swap it. That's a lot harder to do calmly in the third week of December.
Kids grow on their own schedule, and a lot of it happens right through fall. A size that fits perfectly in September might feel snug by the time the tree goes up.
This is the one real argument against ordering too early, like back in August. Order months ahead for a baby or fast-growing toddler and you're guessing at a body that hasn't happened yet.
Late September to mid-October threads the needle. You're close enough to the holidays that the fit you check now is basically the fit you'll get, but early enough that the good stuff is still in stock.
A few situations move the timeline up, and it's worth knowing if you're in one of them.
If you're coordinating siblings, order all the pieces together and order them sooner. Matching a big sis dress to a little brother's outfit means you need both in stock at the same time, and that's harder to pull off if you wait.
Multiples, specific size runs, and outfits you want for a card photo shoot all call for an earlier order too. Holiday card photographers book up fast, and shoots often happen in early to mid November. The outfit needs to be in hand before that, not the week of.
Not everything needs an October deadline. If you're shopping for a simpler piece, a "Merry" sweatshirt or a solid-color style that comes in a wide size range, you've got more breathing room into November.
Everyday holiday wear, the outfits your kid lives in through December rather than the one big showstopper, also gives you flexibility. Those pieces tend to restock and come in more sizes.
Just know that shipping gets busier the closer you get to the holidays. Even a piece that's in stock takes a bit longer to reach you in mid-December than it does in October.
The move that saves you the most stress is ordering the outfit and its layers at the same time. A tutu or velvet dress usually wants a bodysuit or leggings underneath, and tights or a bow to finish it off. Grabbing all of it in one go means no scrambling later for the piece that pulls the look together.
Check the size chart against a recent measurement before you order, not against the tag in last winter's coat. Kids change fast, and a quick measure beats a guess every time.
If you're deciding between two sizes, the roomier one is usually the safer bet for a December outfit. A little length in the sleeve is easy to live with. An outfit that got tight in the weeks before the party is the thing you can't fix.
The best part of ordering in October isn't really about the outfit. It's about what you're not doing in December.
You're not refreshing a page hoping a size comes back. You're not paying for rushed shipping. You're not settling for the last thing available because the one you wanted sold through.
The piece is already hanging in the closet, tags on, waiting for the season to catch up to it.
That's the whole reason Sweet Wink drops holiday collections when we do. We want you choosing from the full lineup with time to spare, so the Christmas outfit is the easy, done-early part of your December instead of one more thing on the list.
If you like a plan you can actually hold in your head, here's the shape of it:
Order the outfit while the leaves are still turning, check that it fits, and tuck it away. When the first holiday rolls around, the only thing left to do is get your kid into it and let them steal the whole show.