This roundup is for those of us who still love our little angels despite their growing obsession with Cars, Curious George and Jay-Jay the Jet Plane (or Spider-Man, or Barbie, or Tinkerbell, etc.) and have failed miserably in our attempts to protect our children from the indoctrination into Consumer Culture, hypocritically bedecking them in just as Consumery items (Arthur is adorable in his much-abused Paul Frank shirt this afternoon and is très désolait without his Converse sneakers and Target fedora)--for those of us who have realized that our angst about seeing our kids decked out in dorky cartoon characters makes us just a little selfish and absolutely made peace with it, letting Little Man run around at home in his Lightning McQueen slippers but genuinely, desperately guiding him toward more fashionable choices (hopefully with socially conscious companies not cranking out their duds in some horrible Sai Pan textile mill, but we live in the real world, after all, and so we just do the best we can when we can, and if we shop our consciences [and second hand] most of the time, we don't beat ourselves up over it)--for those of us who love WALL-E but cringe at the mere thought of buying him a 3-pack Fruit-of-the-Looms tribute to the little AI ecologist and/or his Disney-Pixar cronies, and only because deep down inside, we're just a wee bit snobby.
First, let's meditate on how much we all loved our WonderWoman and Daisy Duke Underoos back in the late 70s to early 80s (or Ewoks or Ghostbusters, depending on your age).
.We all have to admit, the were the sh-bomb.
But those were way cooler, right? I mean, because everything was cooler back in the 70s and 80s, right?
Except...
I vaguely remember the previous generation's retro nostalgia...as much as I might appreciate it now, my mom's insistence that I was super adorable in saddle oxfords made me want to sink into the ground as I longingly fashion-stalked anyone rocking an oversized Guess sharpei sweatshirt over tight leggings with legwarmers and canvas kicks, eventually landing a solid compromise with the inexpensive but ubiquitous jellies (seen below).
Point being, maybe get the kid a couple of Buzz Lightyear Underoos and then we have a compromise suited to all parties.
That said, onto the cuteness.
These are just a touch spendy, but oh-so-cute. Butterflies for girls, Guitars for rock star boys like the Botster. By the Dutch Claesen's (I love Holland!), manufactured in India. More by Claesen's, with the sweet (I mean, cool, Arthur, sorry) matching undershirts :
Claesen also makes very cute everything else, including swimwear
And baby clothes...
Many of which are available via Olliebollen, incidentally one of my favorite spots to get fun kiddo freebie printables, and the place to pick up these, some A-bot's favorite snuggly PJ bottoms:
But let's focus. Back to that other thing we put on the kids' bums, undies.
Swedish boutique Hanna Andersson has always been one of my favorite brands for cool unisex kiddo clothes, and oddly they are one of the few designers that defy the "girls' clothes are cuter than boys' clothes" norm; often, actually, the reverse seems to be true. I've seen some goofy HA girls' stuff and some super cute boys' threads, causing me to wonder if the designer raised boys and not girls. I don't know enough about the company to speculate. Alls I know is that their boy undies definitely pass the cool test.
The company also offers matching training pants for little brothers or in-betweens.
I also love the Canadian typically-outdoorsy Hatley's shorts, and they are less than what we pay for the boy's Daddo, which is pleasing to my dollar-savvy hubs:
Hands down, though, for crafty mamas, Ditto Daddy patterns are the cutest on the web. If you are a wee bit shaky with a needle and thread, get someone like Michelle from A Lovely Start to do it for you! Look what she's made! Go over there and buy some. She even offers custom orders, and many of her products are repurposed fabric.
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