Fashion Archives - Enjoying the Small Things

What to Wear: Coordinating Family Looks for the Holiday Card Photo

October 9, 2018 By Kelle

I know, I know, it’s not even Halloween yet, but in the photographer’s world, this is prime family photo season as families across the globe scramble to put outfits together for the annual Christmas card photo in an attempt to “get it over with” before things get crazy. With the big boys out of the house and more harried schedules for all of us, our annual family photo does, of course, bring a teeny bit of stress; but it’s a tradition that yields images we’ll cherish for years to come and often the only ones from the year that capture all of us together (looking half decent). In a perfect world, our annual family photo would be one of the beautiful unplanned, uncoordinated moments in our home where no one’s looking, no one’s matching, and the magic of our love casts an aura across the lens, but let’s face it. Those moments are hard to capture. So, a coordinated family photo it is for us.

So, the big question for so many families is…what do we wear? Oooh, oooh, I know this one! (hand waving dramatically) Pick me! Pick me! Coordinating outfits for family photos is one of my favorite things to do–so much, I’ve been known to take over this job for many of my friends’ photos (they willingly give it to me). Today, I’m sharing a few tips for choosing clothes for family photos as well as four themed style guides, and tomorrow I’ll be back with tips on attempting your own photos if hiring a photographer isn’t in the budget. Last year, Heidi got stuck in traffic on the way to our family photo shoot, so I handed the camera to a friend who was tagging along, and ten minutes later, our photos were done. It doesn’t have to be a big production.

A few things to consider…

Will the photos be displayed in your home?
If you intend to enlarge and display photos from your shoot, you’re going to want to consider the color palette of your home in choosing outfits. A selection of bright and fun jewel tone clothes, for instance, probably wouldn’t be the best choice if you’re going to display a large image in a living room with muted earth tones.

DON’T GO MATCHY MATCHY!
When I used to do more family photography and a family reported they were considering white shirts and khaki pants for all, I’d A: Get it together to keep my sarcasm in check, and then B: Calmy guide Florence toward a less 1989-Olan-Mills look. Sometimes it sounded like, “Hell no, Flo.” Might I suggest the following rules: Do not have everyone wear primary colored polos. One polo is okay. Five colored polos says,”We are going on a rainbow golf outing, and our mom is forcing us all to wear these.” Two people wearing jeans is okay. Six people wearing the same shade of blue jeans with black turtlenecks says, “We are in a cult, and this photo is going to show up in an Internet meme in T-minus-two-days.” BREAK IT UP.

Throw in something unexpected.
Mix prints. A bright pop of color. Have someone wear a graphic tee. Bright pink with light pink. Wear a dress, but skip the dress shoes for sneakers. Break the rules. I love throwing something unexpected in our outfits–it keeps it from looking too perfect. One year, Austyn showed up to our shoot wearing camo shorts, and while I didn’t love it at first, it added such a great unexpected element and made our photos more fun. As if chasing Dash that year wasn’t fun enough.

Choose clothes that represent your kids’ personalities
If your kid dresses like a skater, let him dress like a skater for the family photo. If your daughter loves wearing Chuck Taylors, choose the Chuck Taylors to go with her dress for family photos. If your little one is wonderfully wild and crazy, let it show in the photos. Dash’s sweater in last year’s photo had a giant tiger on it, and I love it because it’s so him. In other words, don’t button up the things you love about your family for the photo…let it loose in the clothes you choose. You can coordinate and dress it up a little while still hanging on to everyone’s personality.

Keep it casual.
The best photos are ones that maintain a natural feel and ones where everyone looks comfortable. If everyone’s dressed like they’re going to a prom formal, likely no one’s comfortable, and it will show in posture and strained facial expressions.

Now that that’s out of the way, here are four color palettes with sources that show how outfits can come together with a coordinated feel without being too matchy. Note the unexpected elements in each ensemble–pops of color, leopard print touches, sequins and mixed shades. Now, can you guess which set is my favorite?

E A R T H T O N E S

1. Dad
H & M Men’s Sweater
H & M Men’s Black Slim Jeans
H & M Men’s Desert Boots

2. Mom
H & M Women’s Ruffled Dress
Zara High Heel Leather Boots

3. Sister
Old Navy Oatmeal Ruffle Sleeve Sweater
Old Navy Girls’ Ballet Pink Jeggings
Zara Girls’ Ankle Boots

4. Sister
Zara Floral Print Dress
Wonder Nation Girls’ High Boots

H & M Boys’ Rust Slim-Fit Twill Pants

5. Brother
Mabo Kids Charcoal Stripe Tee
H & M Slim Fit Pants
Old Navy Sueded Boat Shoes

M O O D Y B L U E S

1. Dad
H & M Men’s Light Blue Sweater
H & M Men’s Skinny Cords

2. Mom
Zara Women’s Cobalt Sweater
Zara Animal Print Skirt
Noonday Collection Timber Hoop Earrings
And Other Stories Suede Kitten Heels (have the serious wants for these babies)

3. Sister
Gap Girls’ Ice Blue Bobble-Knit Sweater
Nordstrom Girls’ Wide Leg Jeans
Old Navy Faux Suede Flats

4. Brother
Boys’ Bear Graphic Sweater
H & M Boys’ Slim Jeans
Cat & Jack Sneakers

5. Sister
Janie & Jack Cobalt Knit Dress
H & M Navy Satin Ballet Flats

T H E F U N F A M I L Y

1. Dad
J. Crew Slub Knit Tee
Men’s Red Adidas

2. Mom
H & M Women’s Pink Sweater
Banana Republic Women’s Yellow Pants
J.Crew Silver Sequin Boots (on my birthday wish list)

3. Sister
Hanna Andersson Fair Isle Sweater (in my cart right now)
Cat & Jack Girls’ Skinny Jeans
Pink Converse

4. Brother
Boden Boys’ Stripe Tee
Cat & Jack Jeans
Boys’ Suede Pumas

5. Sister
Shein Green Dress
L’Amour Yellow Flats

C L A S S I C C H R I S T M A S

1. Dad
Old Navy Jade Sweater

2. Mom
Boden Women’s Riley Blouse (obsessed with this blouse!)
Gap Women’s Red Plaid Pants
Zara Slingbacks

3. Sister
Zara Striped Sweater
Zara Girls’ Buttoned Pants
Zara Red Boots

4. Brother
Janie & Jack Fair Isle Sweater
Old Navy Jeans
Gap Mid-top Dress Sneakers

5. Sister
Next Direct Navy Dot Tea Dress
Gap Gold Sequin Flats

Round Rattan Bag 4 Ways

April 25, 2018 By Kelle

I’ve determined the It Bag of the summer is a chic round rattan bag, popping up on sites and in stores everywhere and fitting in nicely with my summer dreams of picnicking, strolling beach docks and looking chicer than I ever will in real life. I mean, the jig is up–I’m the girl who drags toilet paper from her shoe. A girl can dream though, and dreams for this chic rattan bag come in so many flavors because this bag is a blank canvas begging to be jazzed up with accessories and colors. As for the bag itself, I fell in love with this one and this one but didn’t want to pay that much, so I found this one for $30, and it’s perfect.

Now comes the fun part–accessorizing. Four easy ways to transform your bag:

So quick and easy to switch out and depending what scarf you choose, you can make the bag take an elegant vibe or make it summery and fun (like this kid version with multiple gingham scarves).

This was really just a way to slip in my Shrinky Dink obsession, but still–I love it! Inspired by this project we did last year, we made three fruit tags and tied them on with a little string.

Want to step it up a notch?

Looks like a totally new bag. We dug through our craft bins to find some pom-poms and stitched them on with a needle and some embroidery floss. The basket weave of the rattan makes it easy to slip needles in and out, and just a few stitches held our pom-poms in place. If you want to change it up again, you can clip the stitches out and start from scratch–which you’ll totally want to do because there’s one more transformation…a full rainbow.

This one is, of course, my favorite and surprisingly didn’t take long at all. I used a thicker needle with a bigger eye so I could thread chunky rainbow yarn through. The needle is a little more blunt but still poked through the inside lining of the bag without a problem. I started each color arc securing a knot on the inside of the bag and threading the needle in and out of the bag 4-5 times to hold the shape of the rainbow arc and securing another knot on the inside. Repeat with each color.

Only one thing left to do–fill the bag with used wadded Kleenex, capless lip balms, snack crumbs, loose dimes, Band-Aids that fell out of their wrappers and a pen with no ink to make it mom ready. Let’s go.

Favorite Kid Shops Round-Up and How We Shop for Kids

February 13, 2017 By Kelle

Since it’s award season and everyone’s talking about–well, besides politics–what people are wearing, I figured it was a good time to do our own “Best Of” awards for kid clothes. Where do you shop for your kids?

To be honest, I could easily write at least a 7-chapter book on shopping for kids’ clothes, with topics ranging from the delight of little details (Peter Pan collars! Applique! Hand stitching! Hold me BACK!) to the psychology behind parental influence on style and personality through dress, but I’ve shaved off about 6.5 chapters for this post and will simply leave you with our favorite places to shop. After ten years of shopping for kids–wait, who am I kidding–I was buying clothes for my imaginary kids long before they existed. Okay, after a lifetime of studying children’s fashion and implementing practical application of practices for dressing real life kids who don’t want to wear knee socks and saddle shoes every day–or, say really want that glitter “GYMNASTICS OR BUST” shirt–I’ve figured out a shopping system that works for us: eclectic wardrobes. There’s a little bit of everything, and I try to embrace my kids’ personalities and individual styles when buying things while maintaining shopping standards that are important to our family–quality, versatility and price. Lainey’s older and makes most of her own selections that, yes, include “PIZZA IS MY LIFE” shirts and leggings that say JUSTICE in the largest font known to fashion, but she also still loves a lot of classics and shops where Mama’s been shopping for her since she was little.

Everybody shops for kids’ clothes differently, but I will say this. If you stand by the rule that kids grow too fast, no way are you wasting money on a $30 t-shirt, good for you. If you love Spanish brands, children’s fashion is your jam, and you stayed up until midnight for the new Bobo Choses line to drop so you could scoop up that $80 romper because you love it and can afford it, good for you. If your kid looks like she stepped out of a fashion editorial every day, good for you. If your kid is running around in a stained Ninja Turtles t-shirt and never takes off those amazing light-up Spiderman shoes because he thinks they give him super powers, good for you too. If you let your son wear whatever he wants and have zero influence on his closet because he’s an individual and you celebrate his creative choices, you are amazing. If you say no to the pink Dora decal shirt simply because you hate it, you know what? You’re amazing too. If you buy all your kids’ clothes at Goodwill so you can give more to charity, YES! I LOVE YOU! If you have so much fun playing dress-up with your kids and choose to support causes and buy brand new beautiful things for your littles, YES! I LOVE YOU TOO! You do you. I assume everyone’s momming as best as they can. And as long as no one’s holding their screaming kid down, demanding “DAMMIT, YOU WILL WEAR THIS HEIRLOOM BLOUSE!”, I think the kids will be alright.

For us, there’s no doubt a lot of my kids’ clothes are a reflection of things I love–color and stripes, for one–just like my kids have picked up a lot of other things I love like crafting, Michigan and beautiful sunsets. The things I love are also reflection of my mom and the way she shopped for us, and I love that she passed down her love of handmade clothes, good cotton, floral prints and neck bows.

Have I used my selling powers to make my kids want to wear things I love? Sure. (“I saw Taylor Swift wore this shirt once.” IN THE BAG. YOU’RE WELCOME.) But I also embrace the things they love that I don’t and make room for mismatched and glitter because I have a feeling if you resist too much, that’s all they’re going to want to wear. Plus, I love celebrating their bloomin’ little fashion senses.

I’ll stop rambling…other than to say, I love little people clothes, and I cannot lie. There wasn’t a day I woke up when they were babies that I didn’t get excited about carrying them into their rooms to pick out what they were going to wear, and I still cuddle up with my kids at night and think about silly things like, “I love these pajamas so damn much.”

With no further ado…shop faves

First of all, I follow my favorite brands on Instagram, and I shop when I see sales. I shop when Hanna Andersson offers 40% their entire site, when there’s a promo code for Mini Boden and when Janie & Jack clearances out their swimsuits. Following favorite brands on social media and taking advantage of sales and offers saves us a lot of money. We also cushion our closets with consignment buys (we love our local Once Upon a Child) and inexpensive fun finds and basics from Target (their Cat & Jack line!), Old Navy, H&M and ThredUp. I love some high end brands and European designers for kids, but I choose not to afford them. I do however splurge on quality classics that will get worn a lot, pass down to siblings and–if really remarkable–saved in the Cherish Bin for grandkids and/or keepsake quilts.

As for favorites, I’ll break it down to categories.

Quality Classics

1. Mini Boden: By far, my favorite kids’ brand, full of bold color, fun prints and personality. That little rainbow dress above? We must have worn it once a week last year. And it still looks great. Their summer lines are always my favorite.
2. Hanna Andersson: Comfy classics with Swedish style roots. I swear, Hanna clothes can go through 5 kids and still look the same as the day you bought it. Their playtime dresses are so versatile.
3. Mabo Kids: I discovered Mabo Kids last year, and I’m obsessed with their organic cotton basics–amazing quality. The foundation of my kids’ wardrobes lies in the black and white stripe Mabo tee. We have one for each kid.
4. Osh Kosh B’Gosh: Classic overalls that never go out of style. When in doubt, go with Osh Kosh overalls.
5. Zara: I have a hard time going on their site because I want all their kids’ stuff. Cutting edge trends, super fashionable.
6. Alice & Ames: Classic, comfortable quality twirl dresses your daughter will never want to take off.

Gap and Crew Cuts also have great closet staples for kids and frequent sales.

Vintage Style/Unique Handmade

1. Vindie Baby: Their dresses are so beautiful for little girls.
2. Hum Stitchery: The mini trouser skirt (in a variety of colors and patterns) is everything.
3. Berits Lila: I found this shop when I purchased Nella’s birthday dress from them one year–beautiful hand made pieces with retro style.
4. Lee Marie – Clothes only go up to 4T, but I couldn’t leave this one off. Her retro printed overalls are so much fun!
5. Muny Design – My favorite things in Dash’s dresser are from Muny. They’re keepsakes you’ll save forever.

Fun & Colorful All-Over Prints

1. Winter Water Factory
2. Duns Sweden (ships from Sweden, but gets here fast)
3. Izzy and Ferd

Graphic Tees

1. JollyGood Apparel: Love their camp shirt, “Happy Trails” and “Makin’ Memories” tees.
2. Savage Seeds: Powerful messages, simply stated.
3. Passive Juice Motel: I’ve been a Passive Juice fan for years now. Hilarious pop culture references, great art and fun throwbacks to the 80’s.
4. Wee Rascals: Historical heroes celebrated in a hip way
5. Hatch for Kids: From Bob Ross and Ferris Bueller to Biggie, Hatch has it. We love their “Read to Me” tee.
6. Out of Print: The classic children’s books you love, turned into tees. From Frog & Toad and Madeline to Corduroy and Harold & the Purple Crayon.
7. Peek Kids: Progressive, powerful messages celebrating kindness, love, art and science.
8. The Bee & The Fox: Simple design, classic font. Pair them with toddler bell bottoms for a nice 70’s flair.

Pajamas

1. Shop Plain Jane: The softest, sweetest simple nightgown for your girls.
2. Hanna Andersson: Organic cotton long johns (and short johns) that stay soft wash after wash.
3. Tea Collection: Amazing quality, cozy snug fit.
4. Hatley, particularly their Little Blue House brand which is our go-to pajamas for summers in Michigan. So many prints for cabin life–fishing lures, black bears and camping gear
5. Mini Boden: I watch for their nightgowns to go on sale and snatch them up when they do.

Swimsuits

We wear swimsuits a lot in Florida, and it’s one of our favorite things to shop for. With pool chemicals, sand & saltwater and little butts that scoot across pavement, I love finding brands that hold up against the wear.

1. Mini Boden
2. Hanna Andersson
3. Janie & Jack
4. Kortni Jeane
5. Lolli Swim
6. Vindie Baby
7. Jessica Rey Swimwear
8. Zara Boys (love their euro short suits)

Jeans

1. A&F Kids Watch for sales. Best flare jeans ever–they fit Nella like a glove.
2. Dudley Denim: Deconstructed edgy denim, frayed edges, cool
3. Old Navy Skinny Jeans (super slim for my beany kids and come in fun color pops) and Gap

Cool & Edgy Pieces

1. Little Edge Threads
2. Forever 21 Girls

Socks & Tights

1. Amazon–these retro stripe tube socks or our favorite rainbow stripe knee socks
2. Hanna Andersson
3. Mini Boden
4. Duns Sweden

Shoes

My kids live in the first three, the Florida classics trifecta:

1. Saltwater Sandals: (we get ours on Amazon). My most favorite shoes of all. We wear them year round here. They’re classic, they go with EVERYTHING. They can get wet. They pass down from kid to kid in great condition. They’re timeless. My favorite are the original loop strap in red, but we’ve had every color, and Dash wears the single strap ones.
2. Keds: Let’s put it this way: If I were the mayor of Kidtown, I’d give every kid a pair of red Keds upon citizenship. Red Keds with dresses, red Keds with jeans, red Keds with popsicle-stained shorts and dirty skinned knees in the summer. The definition of childhood.
3. Native Jefferson Slip-ons: The key? No buckles, no straps. They can put them on by themselves. And they’re waterproof. Plus super cute with that little contrasted toe kick.
4. Zara: They have beautiful leather sandals in unique designs in the summer and timeless leather boots in the winter. And everything else in between.
5. Livie and Luca
6. Converse high-tops
7. For everything else in between, we love Zappos, Nordstrom & Amazon

Also, you can find the kids’ sneaker round-up I did last year here.

Whew. Okay, that’s a lot. Did I miss a favorite shop you love? Tell me!

You know what the irony of this post is? All this time talking about kids’ clothes, and Dash just darted out the garage door NAKED. Gotta go.