Australian Winter Fashion
Winter fashion is starting to hit our stores! Even though it is a ridiculous 40 degrees celcius today and the thought of wool coats is utterly unfathomable, I was just a little bit curious… I do have to concede that once upon a time my kids’ wardrobes were largely imports (with the ridiculous price tags that I choked on every time), but Australian kids fashion is incredible these days and just keeps getting better.
Here are a few of my top Aussie label picks (thus far!) for Autumn/Winter 2010.
Fred Bare : I can’t wait for my daughter to wear this coat (pictured) – nor can she which is fortunate as these days it doesn’t happen often that we agree on her fashion choices. And the rest of the Fred Bare range? I love!
Chalk n Cheese: I am also completely enamoured with this Orange cashmere number….stunning!
Minti: This groovy grey coat caught my eye, for my son this time…. (on second thoughts, it isn’t looking promising with that price tag….I suppose I could always extend the mortgage..)
Cried Wolf : This marle sweatshirt for a bit of fun and humour and as you can see, I really love grey especially when it is marle. This brand does the most fantastic casual sweatshirts – perfect for kindergarten and for the weekends. (more…)
Bonbons au Palais
I am one of those rare people who doesn’t like sweets and chocolate (unlike Courtney, who has a chocolate box full of fabulous looking chocolates which comes out after every dinner). It has never occurred to me to wander down the sweet aisle in a supermarket… but my daughters are very, very different from me!
Nowadays when I am in a supermarket I am actively circumventing the bonbon aisle, because if I I don’t I will be stuck there for hours explaining that I really don’t think it is a great idea to buy a cartload of sweets every time we shop.
But, there is a place that I do like to take them to every once in a while. It is a little sweet shop called “Bonbon au Palais” in the 5th arrondissement. The owner has travelled the whole of France to find the best bonbons from every region. The collection is pretty impressive. (more…)
Personalised Party Bags
Another birthday party — I am feeling quite the party planner at the moment. My two favourite parts of the planning process are the cake (I love baking and eating!) and the party bags. I always set myself a budget per bag and try to stretch it as far as possible. My current thing is to try and make the bags themselves part of the gift, something to reuse. I was really lucky that I could utilise the post-Christmas sales to find sweet little wicker baskets for my daughter’s birthday but my son’s birthday required a bit more imagination.
In my search for inspiration I stumbled upon the Carrier Bag Shop and found these cotton shopping bags, which were less then 50p each (when buying 25). An idea was formed. Having fixed my printer the day before (it was broken for over a year and I finally found a small toy had been inserted deep into the feed tray – grrrrr!) I remembered some HP Iron-on Transfer printer paper I had bought ages ago and never tried out. I just chose a fun font (Rosewood std for any Mac users) and bright colours and typed the name of each child as big as I could so it would stretch across the length of the page. Then I flipped the image (it is important to do this so when it is transferred it reads the right way round) and printed. Then all that had to be done was to iron it on — as simple as that.
I was really pleased with the results and each child got their own personalised bag for under a £1.
p.s. Love these stripy bags from Carrier bag Shop — so chirpy to make up little treat bags!
Mo. x
Bobo Choses, cool for more than one reason
Bobo Choses is a kids clothing brand we all love for its quirky, fun and original styling. But clothes from Bobo Choses are not only cool in their design, they’re also very cool in an ethical way!
All Bobo Choses clothing is made in Bangladesh, in a workshop/school where local women are given the opportunity to learn a skill in the textile industry. And then 10% of the profits of Bobo Choses is given back to the school, to give it even more of a boost. Another reason to love the brand!
Take these overly cute sailor pants — how cute are they! Or this stripy skirt and scarf – so cool! Both fit in great with this coming summer’s nautical trend, and are for sale in one of my favourite web-shops, Zèbre à Pois (or ZAP).
xxx Esther
Work-Family-Balance
I was talking to Esther the other day about how to balance family life with a working life, and it brought up some interesting thoughts…
I am an animation producer and Esther is an architect, both are professions which we are passionate about and both are a lot of fun. On the flip side, they are jobs that are very difficult to switch off from when the working day is finished. We have both been finding it “challenging” to keep all balls in the air, but we agreed on one thing: having kids and a job teaches you an important lesson — how to switch from work to family.
I used to drink, eat and sleep my job and was never fully able to enjoy my evenings. Now with kids this is actually physically impossible –when I get home I need to give them my full attention if I like it or not. Funnily enough it gives me a rest from obsessing about work issues, which actually means that I am possibly better at what I do now because I get some distance from it and take a real break in the evening.
Now I might be pushing this theory a bit too far but I think having kids might actually make you better at your job. Who would have thought!?
- Emilie
Obaibi
My childhood friend — who fled NYC long ago to live in Paris — sends us the cutest, chicest outfits every year for the girls’ birthday. I am always excited when the package arrives but always find myself equally bummed out that I can never find the brand here! Well last week I learned that Obaibi had quietly opened a store on the upper east side, and so I made the trek the other day and practically bought the entire place out.
What I love about the clothes is not only the beautiful muted color palate but the hipper-than-hip French styling. In addition to a bunch of great sweaters and dresses, I picked up a pair of cargo capris with a flowy top and a printed cotton wrap scarf. The cuteness factor was off the charts! Obaibi carries items from birth-5yrs and I am hoping that they soon open a store with the line for older kids (Okaidi). I would say to all New York moms that it is worth the trip – the clothes are adorable, beautifully made and priced WELL WELL WELL below what you would find elsewhere. Dress like a little French girl at Old Navy pricing. Viva la France!
-Dina
Top things to do in Melbourne (part 1)
With a steady stream of visiting friends over the Christmas holidays, and many with young children, we have been busy! Whilst we treated them to the hedonistic pleasures of the Aussie beach culture, we also spent a great deal of time indoors appreciating the ‘higher arts’. This can be tricky with young kids in tow, especially those who are jet-lagged and tantrum prone, but Melbourne has some fabulous museums and galleries, several of which are especially wonderful for children. Here are my top 3.
1. Melbourne Museum – This fabulous museum, located on the northern border of the Carlton Gardens behind the Royal Exhibition Building, is futuristic and interactive and connects architecture and nature – in the middle of the museum, you can walk through a forest! The Children’s Gallery is designed for children 3 to 8 but I would think it would delight even the younger toddler. The children’s exhibition, entitled 1,2,3 Grow, explores the many ways things, including humans, grow. Activities, children’s art, stories, an indoor sandpit with fossils beneath the sand which children are encouraged to discover, a kids puppet theatre and an outside play/picnic area including games such as skittles for the whole family, are just some of the attractions. It doesn’t matter how often we visit (we try to put our membership to good use after all) my children are always stimulated and engaged. Young children particularly love the insect section and the Forest gallery. Click here for more details. (more…)
Free downloadable colour sheets from Made By Joel
These days I’m so busy with work, I don’t have much time for my much loved little creative projects (sewing, baking, drawing). But I love looking at craft and cooking blogs instead!
Joel Henriques is a Portland-based artist who has two little kids and does the most amazing craft projects with them. Just have a look at his blog — these yo-yo balls are so sweet, and this design-tree-toy is to die for! Or this doll house…
If you have a printer at home you can print these cool designs for your kids to colour (just click on the picture to go to the original post for the download). I really love them!
xxx Esther
P.S. Through Vlijtig
Masala Baby dress (and win!)
I love bright colours — especially in this cold, grey winter season a splash of colour does wonders to my mood. And my daughter loves dresses she can twirl in — the moment a dress twirls, it is labelled a princess dress! So when we received a beautiful dress from Masala Baby, a NewYork-based label, we both thought it was the best.
The colours are fabulous: a rich pink contrasting with a deep shade of orange — colours that instantly remind you of India. The dress is made from soft cotton and because of its full skirt it twirls and twirls endlessly (or until she gets really, really dizzy).
I have been layering it up with a long sleeved T-shirt underneath, but I cannot wait for it to be warm enough so my daughter can just slip it on and go play in the sun.
Masala Baby are kindly offering a 20% discount to Babyccino Kids readers, just use the discount code: friends.
Oh, and we are also giving away one of Masala Baby’s Pure Cotton Wrap Tunics! Just leave a comment by Sunday, March 21st and we’ll pick a winner at random.
- Emilie
Kew Gardens
When the girls asked me to write for Babyccino one of my first ideas for a post was Kew Gardens. We got to know the Royal Botanical Gardens when we moved down South and immediately became members. We now go every couple of weeks and still love it just as much — it is such a great place for kids.
Apart from being a huge space to run around with fascinating trees, flowers and plants, there is also a dedicated indoor children’s area called Climbers and Creepers. All the zones have an educational element relating to plants and their habitat and have been so cleverly thought out to cater for a really wide age group (quoted as age 3 – 9 but there are great touchy-feely bits too which are good for babies).
On the other side of the gardens is the Treetop walkway (designed by the architects of The London Eye) which is 18 metres up in the air and 200 metres around — giving you an opportunity to see the tops of the trees and those who inhabit them. At ground level there is a tunnel with an exhibit giving insight to what happens under the trees (good for any bug and creepy-crawly enthusiasts!). (more…)
Bastida — clever clothes that grow with your child
I love clever concepts. Something new, something different, something fresh! Take this jacket from Bastida Solutions: ONE jacket, that thanks to some clever zips and folds adjusts from a 6 months size to a 3 year size! How cool is that? And it’s not only ingenious in design, it’s also very cute! The bright colours are lovely, and the fact that the stitching is done in a contrasting colour makes it really casual and cool.
Alicia (from Barcelona) has just started producing her cool concepts. At the moment this jacket and a pair of trousers are available, but hopefully there will be more products to come — I saw a lovely yellow dress on a picture that would look darling on the new baby…
If you’re interested in the concept, please send an email to Alicia at info@bastidasolutions.com.
xxx Esther
Seasonal choices
It’s amazing how much of an impact the time of year your baby is born has on sartorial choices. My son was born in June — which is winter-time in Australia. So woolen hats outnumbered any other gift (other than socks, for some strange reason). But I was talking to a friend recently who had a summer baby and she said her son lives in nappy cover shorts. Unfortunately I never got the chance to buy these for little C… but maybe next time I’ll have a summer baby (am I really talking next time?!), and I’ll be able to buy bloomers such as these. I saw this range recently from Elki. Sisters Emma and Georgina import fabric directly from Liberty of London to hand-make their products. Just beautiful.
- Natalie
Williamsburg
Williamsburg is seriously as cool as it gets. In fact, I used to joke with a friend of mine that they should just plaster a picture of either Beck or Moby on the front of all the Subway cars to identify that the “L” train to Brooklyn was for hipster transport only.
I guess now, with time being what it is, those young men and women with the complicated haircuts and ironic t-shirts are getting older and having kids of their own. And thank goodness they are because the children’s stores there are really just so darn cool!!!! If you have not been, you must go. Make a day of it as there are so many amazing shops and little places to eat.
Mini Jake – is kind of like the Brooklyn version of the popular Giggle chain. It’s a huge space filled with all things modern and cool — strollers, cribs, bedding, feeding stuff… you name it. In a nutshell, it is a modern parents dream as it is chock full of all those eco-fashionable brands that they go gaga for (Oeuf, Stokke, Bloom etc;). The store also has a huge selection toys (think Plan Toys and Playmobil) and a book nook with all the classics.
Sweet William – an absolutely gorgeous store carrying brands that I simply can’t find anywhere else. I am obsessed with under the radar brands like Makie and Talc and they carry both. The well edited selection caters mainly to the younger set — newborn to 5 yrs and has the type of stuff that you will hold on to for years just because it’s all too beautiful to part with. A perfect place for gifts for a newborn. (more…)
Read and Wonder storybooks
When packing for our trip I knew I had to pack children’s books — we couldn’t go a whole three months without them, no matter how heavy they made our suitcases! So I decided to pack books that were relevant to our travels — books about nature, animals, sea creatures, etc.
Over the years we’ve collected many of the books from the award-winning Read and Wonder series of nature storybooks, including One Tiny Turtle
These books have turned out to be perfect for our trip — we’ve seen so many of the featured animals (sharks, turtles, bats, frogs…) and so it’s fun for the kids to read about them. Plus the books are all paperback — making them much easier to lug around with us.
-Courtney
A crazy cuddly wolf from T’es Fou Louloup
My son has a funny thing going on with witches and wolves. He can’t get enough of the story of Little Red Riding Hood, and also the Three Little Pigs is another favourite. Especially if you make it a little more exciting with well implemented sounds and pauses, he’s completely enchanted. Never mind that he hears the same story for the gazillionth time!
This cuddly wolf from Ebulobo has therefore stolen his heart. It’s a bit of a crazy wolf, because besides Pigs and Little Red Riding Hoods he eats saucepans, mobile phones and chickens. And even though my son should have outgrown this toy a little, he and even his big sister are still majorly entertained by it!
I found it amongst many other treasures in the new online shop Peanut & Pip, which is definitely worth a visit to discover some new, cool products.
xxx Esther
Olive’s friend Pop
Oh, I think I have died and gone to heaven! Olive’s friend Pop is a collection of vintage-inspired clothing inspired by proper little-girls’ clothes of post WWII, from a time when little girls looked like…well…little girls. They call it ‘nostalgic playwear‘ — capes, bonnets, overalls, pinafores, aprons and so much more. Simply adorable!
The collection was designed by two very clever Aussie mothers who are quick to concede that whilst their clothes are indeed ’special’ they are not ’special occasion’ wear. The materials are durable and robust, to be worn… because let’s face it, little girls may like getting ‘dressed up’ but they love getting ‘grubbed up’ too (oh, indeed they do, especially mine).
I have a feeling this is a brand to watch out for. The Winter/Autumn range (pictured) is available through stockists listed here.
-Sara
Nippaz with Attitude
I met the Reverend Ian about 9 years ago after I’d read an article about how Madonna’s son Rocco was wearing these scratch-mits from a new baby-wear brand he’d set up called Nippaz with Attitude (NWA). I immediately fell in love with him (not like that! but he is seriously one of the nicest guys on the planet) and the brand.
The Rev is not your usual man of the church — he used to work in A&R (artist and repertoire) for an indie record label but had a background in graphic design. As all his mates started to have kids he found it difficult to find really cool ‘new-baby’ gifts and so started to design some t-shirts and bibs. It grew from there and since then Nippaz has gone from strength to strength. The designs are reminiscent of record covers but have a great sense of humour — very much from the child’s perspective but playing with references familiar to grown-ups. We’ve all heard from our parents and probably said to our kids “it will end in tears” but when that is on a kid’s t-shirt as “its gonna end in tears” it’s somehow funny — that the child knows it already themselves! (more…)
Resolution 2 of 999,999. Soul Cycle.
Soul Cycle just opened an amazing new space in Tribeca and while I totally TOTALLY dread working out I decided to just suck it up and force myself to go. After all, as mentioned before, the only cardio routine I have these days is courtesy of the Dancey Dance segments from Yo Gabba Gabba.
So anyway– Soul Cycle has had a following for quite some time in other areas of the city and I was nervous as hell to go. I had never done a “spin class” before and I was pretty confident that I was going to die on the bike and make a total scene. As I stood in the lobby waiting for class to start I tried my best to look like a pro but when I saw the sweat drenched people emerge from the prior class I started to panic. (more…)
Can’t beat the cuteness — Noonies from Lala’s
Need I say anything? I can just imagine the baby in my belly in 3 months time, born swift and safely, and cozied up in her Noonie after bath time. How sweet will she be?
Noonies are the original idea and design of Lala Pequenos, designer, mum, and co-owner of a rainforest (indeed). They’re made out of a 100% cotton shell in an array of colours and patterns, and have a lining so soft you wish you could squeeze yourself in. Organic choices are also available.
Now if you’ll excuse me — I’ll have to look dreamily at this picture again. Sigh.
xxx Esther
P.S. Noonies are not intended for un-supervised sleeping.
Papaw ointment — an Australian treasure
I’m probably not winning any points for originality with our Australian readers, but before coming to Australia I had never heard of Lucas’ Papaw Ointment and it has since become our favourite Australian discovery. This natural remedy, made from an enzyme in papaya fruit, can be used on burns, boils, cuts, insect bites, open wounds, chapped lips, haemorrhoids, and the list goes on. And it is definitely the best treatment for nappy rash I’ve ever used.
After stockpiling these little tubes to take back to London with me, I discovered you can actually buy it in London (the creator was, in fact, British)! Dr. Lucas formulated the papaw ointment more than 100 years ago in Australia after leaving London for a warmer climate. Its natural antiseptic quality is great for preventing infection in wounds, it’s totally safe to use on babies and children, and it is so natural it can also be taken internally to aid digestion. It also smells nice — an added bonus!
-Courtney
