Teeny Manolo

If you grew up in the seventies, then chances are you had a Garanimals outfit.  I’m not ashamed to admit that I owned more than a few myself.   Er, well, perhaps I should be, but there it is.

If you were not part of our exclusive Garanimals club, allow me to explain the concept.  Garanimals took the children’s fashion world by storm when they introduced the concept of a matching system.  By having labels, usually some sort of jungle animal, kids would be able to dress themselves by simply making sure that the labels were the same for both top and bottom.  If you had two bears, your outfit was a surefire winner!  There was no way you could walk out of the house in an unmatched outfit and embarass your mom!  So, a supposedly idiot-proof system.

Why this concept has not been introduced for men, I am not sure. But, that is entirely a different post probably better suited to a different blog. 

But really, isn’t being able to dress batshit-crazy some sort of three year old birthright?  At that age, it is downright adorable to go grocery shopping wearing an orange striped shirt, red shorts, and a superman cape.  Kids should dress like that as often as they can, because that window of opportunity gets slammed shut around the age of seven or so. At that point, the child will either be seen as destined for fashion greatness or someone who will never get invited to birthday parties.

Apparently the makers of Garanimals decided that a couple decades of freestyle dressing by America’s youth was too much for them to handle. They re-launched the brand in February of 2008, available exclusively at WalMart. Which sort of explains why I didn’t know about it until now.

So once again, children have the opportunity to match zebra to zebra and elephant to elephant! Forget about actually teaching them how to put clothes together, let’s have some faceless corporation do all the hard work for us! But according to Dr. Joyce Brothers, “Garanimals…helps the pre-schooler to handle his/her own wardrobe.” Remember Dr. Joyce Brothers? I thought not. Nothing like trotting out an almost thirty year old quote to inspire brand confidence!

I am convinced that fostering an early love of the outdoors, plants, animal life, and gardening is essential for a child. Engaging in growing live things, digging in the dirt, and experiencing all of the life outside of the house can only be beneficial in helping them understand how to care for the earth, and by extension, other people as well. As the current stewards of the planet, we are only as good as what we teach our children.

Here is some great stuff to get you started, if you haven’t already.

Butterfly Garden- This kit has all you need to grow caterpillars into beeyootiful butterflies before their very eyes!

Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children- From a detailed resource list to craft ideas to how to grow a “moon garden,” this book gives parents and children a great start on working together in the garden.

Kid’s Tote with Gardening Tools- This adorable tote with three gardening tools is sure to get them excited!

Kid’s Gardening Tools- This pint-sized tool set will make them feel all grown up!

Seymour Mfg Co #WB-JR Junior Wheelbarrow- Because what kid doesn’t want to dump stuff from a wheelbarrow?

Gardening Wizardry for Kids- Focusing mostly on indoor projects, this book helps kids to understand gardening fundamentals. Contains crafts and experiments, too!

Alex Toys Garden Apron- An apron is a must for all kids mucking around in the dirt, and this one is from a favorite manufacturer of mine.

A Kid’s Herb Book- Want to grow an edible herb garden with your child? This book is the perfect guide.

Sunday Afternoons Kid’s Play Hat UPF 45- Functionality wins out over looks with this hat. It has that essential neck flap as well as those all-important vents. But at least it comes in lots of colors!

Some of you persevered and managed to post, technical difficulties notwithstanding, and we appreciate that. While the Manoloelves tinker behind the scenes and restore our blog to readability, life as we know it goes on, and that includes announcing the winners of our Friday Caption Contest.

bobbie-sue Says:
April 21st, 2008 at 10:24 am

The president finally had to admit it: we have a problem with overpopulation.

Congratulations and imaginary shoes to bobbie-sue! We’re a soft touch for a social issue around these parts. And which imaginary shoes will we hypothetically present? These: the slightly insane, yet superfantastic Veronica from Vince Camuto:

You know how it works, so work it in the comments. And yes, technically this deserves the tag “Baby Clothes.”

Working as I do for the Manolo I am perhaps hypersensitized to the semiotic power of the shoe (and I may or may not be PMSing additionally but that is neither here nor there and nothing a little Merlot won’t put right) and yet I defy anyone to view the Guardian’s slideshow of magical realist Isabel Allende’s mementos and remain stonefaced when they see these.

“My son is my soul. These were his first shoes. I have a splendid relationship with my daughter-in-law and we work together in the foundation. Today there are 27 million slaves in the world, mostly women and girls. I know for the rest of my life that this is going to be my mission and my struggle”

If that doesn’t get you, A) see your doctor and B) click on to see the next image… (more…)

From Oh Baby London via CounterfeitChic

I bet that’s four words you never thought you’d hear together! But quite sensible ones, all the same. From the Hollywood Squares vintage files at lyndesquares:

Peter Marshall: If you were pregnant for two years, what would you give birth to?
Paul Lynde: Whatever it is, it would never be afraid of the dark.

In honor of the new Manolo Moda, I am highlighting a Latina designer, Paulina Quintana.

Born in Chile during the regime of dictator Augusto Pinochet, her family was persecuted by Pinochet’s government and   Amnesty International brought them out of exile to establish their lives in America.

Paulina graduated with a degree in Art from UCLA, and designing children’s clothes was not her original career goal.  But she began a line, and with their bright colors and contemporary graphics, her clothes eventually caught the eye of Barney’s and since then she has become a noted designer. Quintana insists on paying her workers a living wage in non-sweatshop conditions and runs her business in an environmentally conscious manner.

I really like Quintana’s clothing.  She really tries to do different things with color and designs.  I appreciate that she is not afraid of color, because we all know that colors are a mom’s best friend when it comes to doing laundry.

or Princess, as the case may be.

Now, it is rare indeed that you will find me flogging clothing for children that is specifically marketed as a “Black Tie Collection,” for rarer indeed than unicorn sightings at a Paris Hilton performance are the occasions on which children are properly invited to attend black tie functions (which of course begin in the evening) and naturally the use of “Black Tie” as a swanky euphemism for “expensive” is horribly infra dig if not actually nouveau riche.

But then, how is Marie-Chantal, Crown Princess Pavlos of Greece to know? Heiress, socialite, It Girl, designer and model Her Highness Marie-Chantal (formerly “Miller”) undoubtably totes her tykes to all manner of state dinners and debutante balls, and I’m sure she’s never met a nouveau in her life, especially since Warhol died before she reached puberty.

As I said, it goes against my stuffy, literal-minded grain to promote such a thing, particularly when the designer is all, like, “Oh, we just called the brand plain old Marie-Chantal” to be all down-homey while featuring a baby wearing a crown as her logo. Plain old Marie-Chantal indeed.

But.

But.

Would you look at these clothes? And, furtherto and forafter, would you look at the prices?

NAT
Lace Collar Shirt
Price: $102.00 Sale $30.60

NELL
Baby Girl Fancy Halter Dress
Price: $125.00 Sale $37.50

So you’d be getting a gorgeous little baby party outfit of heirloom quality for $68.10 instead of the completely-out-of-the-question $227.oo. That is what I’d call a frugal indulgence, and most definitely something to be considered when one simply has to commit an act of Salvation Armani.

For girls sizes 2-12:

God, I want that for myself! Yes, I confess it: I miss Laura Ashley!

NANETTE
Peal Style Cardigan
Price: $141.00 Sale $42.30

NEEMA
Raglan Blouse
Price: $134.00 Sale $40.20

NEW YORK
Reversible Dot Skirt
Price: $154.00 Sale $46.20

And the boys are not forgotten. They are just camouflaged as their grandfathers:

LANCE W07
Cashmere V-Neck Vest
Price: $141.00

NOAH
Boy “Grand-Pa” Shirt
Price: $122.00 Sale $36.60

NEWTON
Boy Dress Trouser
Price: $147.00 Sale $44.10

NORWOOD
Boys Blazer
Price: $218.00 Sale $65.40

One notes, one does, that Plain Old Marie-Chantal knows that good cashmere never needs to get marked down to sell.

She’s such a practical girl at heart.

As I was doing my usual stumbling around on the internet, I came across a site that I am very happy to promote on Teeny Manolo.

It is called Global Mamas. 

On the main page, they explain their mission:

By purchasing Global Mamas products, you are offering sustainable livelihoods to women and their families living in poverty.

All proceeds go directly to the women and to nonprofit programs that assist them with business development.

Global Mamas is a Fair Trade Manufacturer, which means they met stringent criteria set forth by the Fair Trade Federation, which is based in the United States.

I really like the idea behind this enterprise, and I feel that we here in the US are not offered as many Fair Trade products as other countries, such as Canada.   Next to the description of each piece of clothing, there is a link to both the batiker and the seamstress who made it.  Think of it as being a bit like your own personal version of Kiva, but getting cute clothes in the bargain as well.

While you may not win a Nobel Prize for Economics, it just might make you feel as good as if you had.

For Christmas, my mother bought my son a shirt.  And I liked it. If you knew the type of clothing that my mom normally buys for the Munchkin, you would topple over in shock, I assure you. I know I did.  My mom is great, but her fashion sense and mine? Let’s just say we both tend to do a lot of private eye-rolling.

After I had been revived with smelling salts, I managed to gasp out, “Wh-where did you get that? How much was it?”

When I found out she had bought it for eight dollars, out the smelling salts came.  Again.

And whom did I have to thank for such a nirvana of a shirt for such a great price?

Why, H&M, of course.  The house of fast fashion and famous celebrity collections also offers clothing for children from ages 0-14 years.  Yeeaaaahhh baby, I was so there.

Luckily, I have a store near me that carries the children’s lines, which not all do.  I went in, curious as to what I would find, as I think everyone knows by now that I find boy’s fashion Boring with a capital B.   And, because I love you all, I also looked at the girl’s clothing, even though I never do because I just get jealous. 

I saw clothing that was, in a word, awesome.  It was of high quality, had color combinations not normally found in bargain clothing  (hello, chocolate brown and baby blue for the boys!) and best of all, did I mention it was pretty cheap?  Two t-shirts could be had as a color coordinated pair for $9.90.   Pants ran around $14.00.  They also had turtlenecks, which I had been hard-pressed to find this winter, for some reason. Lots and lots of graphics as well. 

Alas, in my corner of the world we are already beginning to warm up, not that we were ever really cold to begin with, so turtlenecks just seemed a bit much.  None of the spring line was in yet, so I was unable to purchase anything because the Munchkin’s winter wardrobe is already covered.  That was unfortunate, because I really wanted to buy something.  Never had I been so upset at being so well organized. I am practically salivating for them to get their spring line into the store.

The clothing for girls was equally fab, and the infant clothing was even better.  I cannot recommend this store highly enough. To find out if you have an H&M near you that carries children’s clothing and accessories, here is a link to their store locator in the US. 

There is no online shopping for residents of North America, but if you’ve got a close friend in Sweden who’s willing to get the clothes to you, it might almost be worth it.