Saturday 13 July 2013

Kid's Summer Clothes

Closet Content Analysis: Designer, Handmade & Consignment Clothing in Childrens' Closets


Nice

It seems that children's clothes in Europe do not follow trends in the same way that North American children's clothing do. In fact, little people clothes are timeless in a way that they are not in North America. The next photo is of a little guy that looked . . .  well, he looked, French. Are those Dolce & Gabana "tennis" shoes? Bien sur! This little guy's mother did not dress him with clothes from the Tati kids' bargain bin. He was definitely dressed for Cap Ferret on the South-West coast.


Photo by Brian B while in Cap Ferret, June, 2013.

Photo by JoyD, May, 2013
Ella was visiting France from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, when our neighbours, Jean-Charles & Nancy, so graciously gifted her with this very cute outfit in primary colours from Du Pareil . . . au meme. The red tunic has a blue border hem with animal motifs and yellow foot-free tights. How cute!

Her mother is eco-friendly and has no trouble shopping consignment for herself or for Ella. When she was in France she picked up a Laura Ashley dress in beautiful condition at a vides grenier (empty attic sale/boot sale/garage sale) in Eymet. 

At the same time, Melanie has no trouble spending a goodly sum on clothing of natural fabrics made by artisans. She makes it her practice to support local artists in music and crafters and artisans for other needs in her life. While in Spain and France she sought out local independent shops representing local and regional artists. Her take-back-to-Canada-cache included several handmade, natural-dyed scarves; pieces of artwork and wooden toys.










Of course, we do have to please grandma or oma or mami or baba sometimes and little boys do it well when mom finds a clip-on tie for the little guy. Michael, from Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada was decked out for his oma at the last family gathering.











No Thanks

Not having children in my life but having been around plenty, I empathize with parents who must find it difficult to keep up with growth spurts and maintain some sense of "style" for children, especially those from ages 7 to 10. I once read an article about how mothers were dressing little girls and boys in inappropriate clothing for their ages. I don't remember the author or the source of that particular reference but I have found another online post that is reminiscent of the the same sentiment. Author Celia Rivenbark writes, 
When you see a size 7 shirt that says SEXY! or a mom and her little girl strolling through the mall in matching shorts with JUICY scrawled acrosse the butt, you have to wonder what the hell is going on. 


It seems that I have stumbled upon a few more future post topics: previously worn/owned clothing, handmade pieces for the closet, appropriate children's clothing, pleasing grandmothers .  . . funny how that is . . . looking forward to the next post . . . 





3 comments:

  1. I love the picture of baby Ella in her red dress! She is growing so fast! We are not wearing dresses very often right now because she loves to crawl. A baby fashion statement amongst a crowd of cloth diaper users is to show off cute bottoms in bright colours, prints and appliqués. Add a simple t-shirt and the outfit is complete. There seems to be a certain pride in showing the eco-friendly practice and diapering facebook groups swap, sew, sell and show-off the diapers. I have to say that Ella's very big bottom crawling in paisley is quite cute. Of course, I can't wait until she is walking so that I can put her in cute dresses. The red one in the picture is her special dress this summer and gets tucked in if she wants to motor!

    Melanie Osmond

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    1. Thank you so much for the update and it was great to read the comment. But of course, diapers should be colourful. I had no idea. So white flannel is no longer an option? ;-) Good grief, I may have to write a post on diapers!

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  2. Relaxing in Kelowna31 August 2013 at 22:22

    A quick update on little Michael from Kelowna. He is becoming quite a fashionista courtesy of his mother, and Oma of course. He attended an adult type function put on by his father's company and was dressed to the nines! White shirt, cool distressed jeans, fashionable joggers, black tie, and a vest any guy would die for! He looked great! This little fellow is learning how to dress for success! And he knew he looked great: the grin and the sashay told us all that he was very aware of the statement he was making. Apparently he was the hit of the evening. Never too young to start to love looking and feeling good!!!

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