I was hoping to post the inspiration board I’ve been throwing together for Laelia’s first today, but I’ve hit a snag, and it won’t be ready quite yet… But instead I’ll share the snag with you!
I’m a planner, more than I had previously thought. Not so much in a “what are we going to do” way, but much more of a “what is it going to look like” way. I suppose it would be much more useful and pragmatic to be more of the former, but my aestheticism takes over everything, I just can’t help it (I remember wishing that the entire house, down to the walls and the couches could be red & green during Christmas because it clashed with the southwest colors going on in my mother’s newly redecorated living room– of course now I eschew a strict Christmas pallet of forest green and brick red, but I don’t think I understood you could break the Christmas-color rules when I was 7). So, I like to plan outfits (amongst other things…)! And lately, it’s been more fun to plan Laelia’s outfits for special events, seeing as I’m not back into the size 4’s I’d be okay with spending our limited cash on. Not that she’s going to be able to wear her dresses for much longer than I would, but you know… she has an excuse. See? I’m pragmatic. I don’t buy myself clothes until I can fit into all of my old clothes! … >.> (… and meanwhile, I have nothing to wear).
So, I began to look for dresses for my little, and I start with Janie and Jack (because babystyle no longer exists). JnJ always has amazing party dresses. I call it “baby anthropologie” and while it is WAY too matchy matchy to really be on par with anthro, I find myself using the phrase more as a way to identify with the level of detail, quality and quirkiness you expect at anthro (although JnJ is still considerably less quirky =/ ). Laelia has the JnJ Santorini dress, and I knit her a cute little shrug and some mary janes to go with it, but obvi she’s no longer 3-6mos. I didn’t love anything they have in stock now, but I did love some stuff on eBay. And then I thought to look on Etsy.
Searching for things on Etsy can be difficult, especially if you are looking for something you have never done a search for before, or you haven’t been led there by another website. You have to sift through a lot of kitsch, and not the kind of kitsch you grow to love, but the kind that makes us gawk at some of the handmade creations of of yester-year. ESPECIALLY children’s things. It’s mostly bad fits and poofy and tulle and glittler and sparkles and zebra print and marabou and ruffles in all the wrong places (*disclaimer* I do like some of these elements, but rarely all in the same product and I’ll never like bad fits… or zebra prints). Maybe I’m strange for thinking a lot of this stuff is tacky, and some of it is cute, but it still lacks that something–like the difference between Arial and Helvetica. However, I did find some genuine gems out there in between all the pebbles and the colored faceted plastic, and obviously they were so good I decided to change my whole post, and I just might have written the longest one yet!
… one final note: I could go on and on here about sustainability (❤) but I’m sure it will come in another post. Just support the WAHMs of the world!
Searching Etsy for girl dresses should have its own word. Its ridiculous. I didn’t know that tutus were a dress…I mean really, lets tag our items correctly. However when you find the good ones its a lot of fun. And I think you found an outstanding collection. For me to be categorized with All The Numbers, I am flattered. :)