Summer sponsored by pink or blue
I’m shopping for summer clothes and baby holiday items, obsessively. We’re going away soon to Greece and the list of equipment we ‘need’ is fairly long, maybe it’s not, I haven’t done a beach holiday with a one year old before. Perhaps I’ll learn from this one and next year I’ll do the ‘sun-cream in my back pocket and that’s it’ kind of parenting but I doubt it. I’m the mum with a purse full of plasters, a sewing kit, 3 books of stamps and a travel polishing cloth for silver (I don’t know why).
This is what I think she’ll need: Swimming outfit (sunsuit thing that covers her), armbands, beach towel/hoody, swim nappy/nappies, sunhat, a pop up tent for shade? sunglasses, beach shoes (crocs?), cool cotton clothes to cover up, intense sun cream, bug repellers
Actually, for a list that’s not too lengthy. The friend that we’re going out to see can arrange for some of the larger items we need and for baby-proofing of the villa (thank goodness).
After some looking around I have two problems; summer clothes and swim-wear seem to follow the pink/blue rule even more than I found newborn clothes to, and, I’m really really fussy. I don’t want my daughter to be dressed head to toe in cute frilly pink florals, I don’t want to dress like that and find it astonishing that more brands and shops aren’t targeting mums like me and my friends. They are out there and I’m starting to recognise them and ask other mums where their daughters brilliant green tights are from etc. but they’re not on the highstreet. It’s a good job I like internet shopping.
Maybe I’m just a snob; brands I like unfortunately seem to cost the most. Brands like plastisock, Toby tiger, Bob and blossom, Smafolk, Littleshrimp, and No added sugar are not cheap. They’re mostly reserved for presents with the occasional item balanced with H&M kids and ebay finds.
I’m not alone in my non pink/blue desires, my friend doesn’t particularly want to perpetuate the stereotype of having trucks, football references and monkeys all over her son any more than I want to enforce that my daughter is a fluffy, cute princess. Or covered head to toe in Peppa Pig or In the night garden merchandise, Winnie the Pooh can sod off and my daughter will not be wearing a bikini until she reaches about 30.
I still like people to know that my daughter is a girl, I didn’t think I’d mind people confusing her for a boy when she was tiny, but it’s really annoying. Not annoying enough to make me dress her in pink though (Although our doctor once referred to her as a he when she was wearing dark pink and orange stripes (he’s since retired)).
In my mind girls can have big bold seventies floral designs, lots of butterflies, animal prints and repeated fruit patterns. Boys can show off stars, stripes, and bold animal prints like the Molo shark design below. To lapse into the obvious just seems like such a waste, I wish I could wear head to toe cow print and not look like a crazy woman. Baby clothes and kids stuff should be fun, you could dress your little one up like a miniature 40 year old if you want to (flat cap, v neck sweater, sensible trousers, lots of brown and navy), it’s a good look but I think dressing him like a dinosaur is much more fun (Mothercare Green £15-16, Red £10-11)
Words on baby clothes don’t often agree with me, the exception I can think of is Bob and Blossom based in Brighton. Well made and simple babygrows and long sleeved tops give you so many choices of ‘labels’ including Poppet, Pickle, Little one, Boy wonder, Tiger and Dude. Google them. they’re ace. It’s the ‘Princess’ or ‘Gorgeous’ written in glitter, or the ‘I Heart mummy’ writing that annoys me, I know my baby loves me thanks, she’s not a princess (unless there’s something my husband has not told me about his family tree) boys are cheeky monkeys, naughty monsters or mischief makers. It hardly seems fair.
I’ve spent some time looking around for summer items and here are some favourites, there are no hand drawn tractors, monkeys, fluffy bunnies, glitter or frilly bits.
