Fashion For Kids

Baby Elfie in spots and stripes

I’d just about gotten comfortable with dressing myself when I got pregnant with Elfie. Not in a practical sense, like “Yeah, I can finally get my hand through my sleeve”, but on a “Does this top go with theses trousers?” sense. I was working for a magazine in London, going to fashion week, constantly thinking about what I was wearing.  And once I’d got it down to a fine art Elfie arrived so then not only did I have to think about outfits for myself but there was another, cuter person to dress. And now I have two. So I’m thinking about my own fashion sense, my toddler fashion sense and my baby fashion sense. It’s a sartorial minefield.

Learning to crawl in GAP dungarees

I knew from the start that I wasn’t into traditional baby clothes. I hated the pink, frilly, flowery business that you see so often. I like more unisex colours on Elfie: blue, green, white. I like polka dots and stripes, not butterflies and fairies. I’m not a fan of baby blue on Hux – I prefer green again, stripes and because Hux’s grandfather was a sailor, boats.

A denim dress, stripes and UGGS

When we went to Nottingham for Elfie’s last hospital appointment we got so saturated with rain that I had to buy new outfits for everyone; the best of the bad bunch for Hux had slogans all over them, ‘Mummy’s New Man’ and ‘Handsome Like My Daddy’. I know some people go nuts for these sorts of things on kids but I cringed all the way through buying them. It’s just not me, and because the kids can’t speak yet it’s not them either.

Spots and a Zara shirt

We were lucky with both children that we were generously handed down lots of lovely clothes but when it comes to buying new ones I struggle somewhat. John Lewis has a great kid’s range but is a bit more than I like to pay, ditto GAP (though the sale is great and I buy a lot of stuff at this time) so I generally look to H&M and the internet for inspiration.

This time around I bought my favourite sleepsuits from Next (stars, animals and rainbow stripes = winner) along with some awesome baby chinos. I magically found some striped tshirts at Tesco (similar) and along with Elfie’s old unisex bits we’ve had enough clothes to last the summer. Though unfortunately, because our summer has been non-existant he’s pretty much existed in the same 6 babygros that have been rotated. No cute tshirts here.

A special note here for the amazing baby tux that Huxley sported at my Sister-in-Law’s wedding from H&M. Also, the speed that babies grow out of their clothes is just crazy. It’s insane. Babies = weeds. 

One of my favourite online sources for kids clothing is Oh Baby London. They’re based on Brick Lane and have some amazing Olympic-themed outfits at the moment. Who wouldn’t want their kid wearing a faux-Olympic medal?! I’m also well into their lightening-bolt pieces, and check out their Hawaiian prints. Here are my picks from their current collection:

KyNa Boutique is an online clothing store dealing only in the best-quality organic kid’s clothes. The boutique was started by my friend Jenny when she discovered one of her sons had eczema and she found the need for fun and fashionable clothing that wouldn’t irritate his skin. Jenny was kind enough to send me a gorgeous onesie (not a hint of a cringey logo!) as a gift for Hux when he was born – here’s what I’m loving from their current collection:

I have an Organic Zoo Bee bodysuit (see above) to give away to one lucky MTT reader (thanks Jenny!), age 6-12 months. Check out those awesome elbow patches! If you’d like to win please enter via the Rafflecopter thingy by telling me what your favourite item of clothing is from the picks above (apart from the bodysuit, obviously). You get one extra entry for tweeting about this competition. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway