Boy Stuff

Being that I am such a girl, it's not a stretch that I understand, and wholly embrace, Eloise's preference for all things girly. I totally get her love of dresses that twirl and tutus that pouf, high heels and accessories, since these are all things that I enjoy as an adult. But dressing a boy, this is uncharted territory. I am not one of those parents who leaves their babies in a sleeper for the first year of their life for a few reasons. First, don't you think it's a little undignified to have to go everywhere in what you sleep in? And second, I always want to know, do parents who dress their kids exclusively in sleepers put them to bed in the same thing they have worn to the park or grocery store or Science World? Outside germs do not belong inside beds.

The biggest difference I'm learning with dressing a boy is that there just aren't the same number of options as there are for girls. And with this new experience of boy dressing I am awfully thankful that my girlfriend Sarah set aside most of the clothing she had for her little guy, Jude, who is a year and a half older than Spencer. Sarah works in fashion and Jude is basically the best dressed baby you have ever seen, so I feel very fortunate to have his hand-me-downs. I always teased Sarah that hers was the only baby who wore denim shirts with printed leggings but now that's us. And I must say, Spencer wears chambray well.

Through Sarah's styling of Jude I've learned that cardigans are essential, tailored sweats look great with a button down, boys need accessories and metallics are a do. Spencer's rapid growth means I'm not going to get by 100% on hand-me-downs, so here are some favourite items we will continue to replace as our Butterball gets bigger.

{baby gap}

{zara}

{baby gap}

{h&m}

{h&m}

A Girls Gotta Twirl

The twirly dress saga is finally over.

My mom's idea for homemade twirly dresses that is so good I think we're going to need to start taking orders. Working with an inexpensive t-shirt for the bodice and a cotton fabric cut into a circle skirt, my Mom's design connects the two pieces at the waist with a serger and finishes the hem with a serged rolled edge. Her prototype was an immediate hit with our twirly girl so we of course sought our more tees and made a trip to the very fabulous Spool of Thread for some really gorgeous cottons.

The best part is these twirly dresses can be whatever you want and putting them together is quite a quick and simple process (right Mom?). We used a few tees found on the sale rack at the Gap and another from Joe, mixed patterns and colours and voila! Eloise now has four dresses to twirl to her heart's content. The ones above are my personal favourites but Eloise doesn't discriminate, she loves them all. 

Eloise is so smitten with her new dresses that she's been asking to wear them to bed, with tights. So long as they're clean it's fine with me. Now all we have to do in the morning is add clean panties and a cardigan and we have a solution to getting Eloise dressed everyday without a fuss. Thanks, Gaga.

Twirly Dress

Now THIS was a twirly dress.

I now have some insight into how my Mom must have felt for all those years I refused to wear pants. I was a dress girl, the pouffier, the twirlier, the better, and now I have a dress girl. More specifically, a twirly dress girl.

For the past four mornings Eloise and I have argued as I plead with her to work with me on getting dressed. She gets all huffy as she demands a twirly dress, definition still slightly unknown, and as it happens we currently do not have enough of this particular dress style to get us through the week. Pants are no longer an option, skirts aren't either, and I can forget about suggesting a jumper. No, at the moment, Eloise must wear a dress with some twirl.

At my wits end a few days ago I called my Mom to ask for her guidance. "How on Earth did you deal with me when I was like this, Mom? This is ridiculous!"

"Have you tried a tutu underneath? You wore a crinoline under everything for years." she remarked.

"Yes, and she won't have any of it. I'm starting to lose it, we were supposed to be out of the house an hour ago."

She laughed. "Sorry, I'm not laughing because it's funny, I'm laughing because this is exactly what I went through with you."

Ah, history repeats itself. Or is this just called payback?

Friday Finds

{forever 21}

I've been on a quest for the perfect cami to wear under sheer sweaters and blouses for a while. I like Aritzia's bustier tanks, but I find they can be a little awkward unless you're wearing the right bra. And it's certainly not for the big breasted among us.

I popped into Forever 21 on a whim last week and as I paid for my purchases the girl ringing me through suggested I might like to try one of their Favourite V-Neck Camis. I'm not usually a sucker for till-side purchases, but for $1.80 I figured I might as well give it a shot. I grabbed a small in white and was on my way.

I tried the cami on the next day and was pretty darn excited to see that I had hit the jackpot! Thin spaghetti straps and a subtle v-neck will keep this cami hidden below blouses while a generous length means it's perfect for tucking in or in my case, tucking over the baby bump. A-thank you Forever 21, I'll be getting one in every colour. 

Too Ouchy

Getting Eloise dressed these days is no fun. For a while she wouldn't wear anything but pink, then it was nothing but dresses, and lately everything is "too ouchy". Tee shirt sleeves are too tight, cardigans have scratchy tags, dress straps fall down and everything else just "bovers" her. I can forget about a Ralph Lauren denim skirt with sailor buttons that I've been waiting two years for her to fit, Eloise has designated it "too small."

In an effort to make getting dressed more fun I've tried to make it about dressing up. Once I make sure an item is prime for comfort - aka no tags, no scratchy bits - it's all about convincing Eloise that what she is wearing helps her become something else. A floral dress and mary-janes make her a princess, jeans and a blouse are just like mama, and in leggings, a tutu skirt and a top knot she is a ballerina. It works most of the time.

I combed through Eloise's closet last week to remove summer clothing and realized we were in need of more long sleeved shirts and sweaters for the coming cold. This time, I thought I'd let Eloise choose and let her loose in Joe where she selected all of nothing and spent our entire shopping trip admiring herself in various sunglasses. Sigh. Luckily, a recent online shop at Old Navy meant a shipment of exceptionally cute long-sleeved shirts and dresses would be arriving shortly. It must be something about clothing coming in the mail that makes it irresistible because, fingers crossed, Eloise has deemed not one thing too ouchy. But seriously, who can resist sweatshirts with gold polka-dots or silver stars?

Rachel Riley

I came across British designer Rachel Riley's gorgeous girls' clothing on Gilt this week and fell in love with the classic styling of her designs. Her clothing reminds me of the smocked, Liberty print Polly Flinders dresses I loved to wear as a little girl.

Rachel Riley's clothing is pretty, feminine and preppy. She designs many of the printed fabrics used in her clothing herself and the Rachel Riley slippers are handmade in France (which is well worth the $149 price tag I'd say!).

I want one of everything Rachel Riley for Eloise, but the dresses and slippers are by far my favourite.

{rachel riley dresses}

{rachel riley slippers}