As I've mentioned before, balancing practical and stylish attire for new mothers isn't as easy as I thought. It's arguably harder than finding suitable clothing for my dear baby boy--I hate the junior adult look (ties, combat pants, sports t-shirts and logos) and what I've dubbed the junior thug look (baggy jeans, proto-adult shirts and jackets that aspire to a kind of gangsta image), which basically rules out most clothing for larger babies and toddlers. As Severin is a big boy (he was 17.1 lbs and 26.5 inches at his 4 1/2 month check up, putting him in the 90th percentile for boys his age, he''s already grown out of most infant clothing. While he still fits comfortably into most of his 3-6 month gap clothes, some of the nicer pieces I've bought on sale for 6-9 month olds were too small from the start. Most clothing lines refuse to make the nicer baby boy pieces for any child over 12 months and, in Severin's case, this means that he has already outgrown most of these lines at 5 months old. Even the gap, who offer a mixture of what I deem nice and stylish baby boy clothes (striped rompers, more traditional tops and soft jersey pants) and the crappy junior adult/junior thug pieces tend to produce the nice baby boy clothes only in their smaller sizes, topping out at 6-12 months (the other lines run to 24 mos), which seems foolish as the larger sizes sell out fast. I'd buy larger versions of many of his current favourites but I'm either in the biggest size already or find that others think alike and the only sizes left are for newborns or babes under 3 months.
To me, Severin is a baby and as such doesn't need to be branded as aggressively or markedly male. I love traditional baby clothes--I'm fortunate enough that kind relatives and friends knitted him some beautiful items, but I can't keep going back and begging for more. I'd love more soft, gentle pastel and bright items. I love him in a little cotton knit onesie or jersey romper and fill his drawers with as many stripes, gentle colours, teddy, kitten, duck and puppy appliques and prints as I can find. British stores are a touch better than many of their US counterparts, but what will I do when this baby gets a little bigger and our options dry up?
Girls are so much easier and maybe one day I'll be able to indulge in traditional dresses and candy striped leggings but the limitations of baby and young boy's clothing seems so obvious--and so clearly shared by other likeminded mums--that I wish someone would fill it. If I had time and money, maybe it would be me, but I'm bereft of the training and already caught on my own mothering-work treadmill.
7 comments:
Dressing boys is tricky, but doable. I agree, Baby Gap's sizing is very frustrating!
I would suggest the following labels:
mini Boden
nico nico
goat milk
nature baby
ace and jig
makie
bobo choses
imps and elfs
tane organics
stella mccartney kids
flora and henri
There are many options nowadays, but they are very expensive compared to what you can buy at Target, etc. for girls.
Thanks Erica! We have some Stella McCartney kids (a gift from students) and I've looked at mini Boden so this list is very helpful.
I agree--all the great baby boy items are expensive and the girls get so much of a better deal from large chains. I would even put him in some of the girls clothes but realize I'd have problems rationalizing the odd puffed sleeve or ribbon trim that make otherwise unisex items entirely feminine.
I've dealt with this for 11 years. It's just harder to find good boy clothes, especially for big boys (Bradley has been 90th percentile his whole life). I buy almost everything online and he dresses very simply (by his own choosing) now, so it's easier. I do like the comfy, unisex baby/small child clothes at American Apparel, but it's hard to find the right sizes. I won't buy expensive clothes because he grows so fast and is too hard on clothes to resell them, so I usually end up meticulously measuring him, buying online, and crossing my fingers.
Ah Brittan, I was afraid things wouldn't get better with older boys clothes! Even without taking into consideration the way that Severin will ultimately chose his own style (which may not mesh with my ideas for him), I had a feeling there were limited choices especially on a reasonable budget. I've already learned my lesson with expensive items (those given as gifts) that lasted one or two wears before he grew out of them. Nothing can be saved for best either as he only has a window of a couple of months before the like new items are stored away , hopefully for future use.
Hi. Congratulations on your new bundle of joy ( I myself have a 7mnth old daughter). I have a son, too, who is 7years old now, but when he was a baby I remember his clothes were pretty limited to shorts/pants, tops and overalls. I scoured for shops that had interesting style/prints for boys but in the end I ended dressing him in a lot of Ralph Lauren polos :). Now that I have a daughter there are so many choices that I find myself having to keep a distant from any children's clothing store.
On another note, I don't know if I already commented on a previous post- but I would really like to join Community closet. Just like you, I've just had a baby and I no longer fit into some of my old clothes, and my lifestyle no longer coincides with some of the apparel I currently have sitting in my cupboard. I would really appreciate it if you would allow me to join Community closet. Thank you.
indubitably Thank you I will absolutely add you--just send me an email or give me an address so I can add you. I really wish boys had the rich array of clothes available to girls! I know that as S gets older, I'll have even fewer reasonable choices.
And you remind me that I have to list some clothes that I'll likely not fit into again post baby.
Thank you. My email is modearchives@hotmail.com, blog: in-dubitably.blogspot.com.
I seem to have trouble losing weight this second time round, so I have a lot of clothes that I'm having a hard time getting into. I just hope someone will be interested because I'm quite a small person.
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