Children's Clothing

Tori Spelling is not exactly known as an icon of taste and style. Which is why I was so surprised to love the pieces of her Little Maven line. Apparently, Tori goes in for silkscreened fool-the-eye patterns. They’re all over Little Maven, including ones with scarves, purses, and very cool old-fashioned suspenders.

Spelling, or whomever’s designing for her, also has a nice eye for colors. They’re just off-kilter enough to be interesting, but not screaming/jarring like Hannah Andersson’s or the eye-gouging palates at Gymboree. There are a lot of comfortable high-quality knits, and upscale touches, like enclosed seams, piping, dress linings, and very soft fabric tags. Prints are often inspired by vintage designers, like Missoni or Marimekko. There’s a general casual beachiness to the clothing, and it washes and wears very nicely.

Unfortunately, the distributor that dealt with Little Maven, Hartstrings, went out of business last year. Little Maven’s website has been under construction ever since. Plenty of pieces are still out there in stores, however, and online. Best Dressed Tot has a bunch, as does La Bella Flora Children’s Boutique and, as always, eBay. Worth seeking out.

Velvet for little girls, so very lovely for the holidays. And so very impractical. Velvet is as soft as a kitten and as warm as toast. But it’s even easier than pure silk to ruin. One spilled glass of water, one dropped handful of hummus, and the dress is a goner, for this holiday and every one subsequent. Oh, and it wrinkles like crazy and can’t be ironed. Good times!

Ditch the difficult velvet in favor of full-plush, washable velour. Polarn O. Pyret’s Washable Holiday Dress is fully fashioned, with smooth seams and non-pinchy armholes and waist. With its puffy sleeves, ribbon belt, and full, long skirt it looks for all the world like a typical don’t-sit-don’t-eat girl’s holiday dress. But this dress has a secret: the minute it gets messy, you can throw it right in the wash. Your girl will be wearing this holiday dress, in cherry red or royal purple, for a lot longer than the month of December.

My Washable Holiday Dress, $50

Holiday outfits for baby are certainly not in short supply, but most of them are of the stiff-and-scratchy variety. You can get them on baby for a few photos, but then they’ll have to go if you don’t want to listen to baby grizzle all day. Do baby (and yourself!) a favor and settle on something comfy and cute instead.

Sozo offers its Holiday Bunting and Cap Sets in three designs: Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus, and (pictured) Christmas Elf. What is bunting? Think Sweepea. Baby’s little head and legs will be cozy, covered, warm, and just totally fetching.

Fits newborn to 6 months.

Holiday Bunting and Cap, $30

Thanks to Jason Segal’s resurrection of the Muppet franchise, Generation X-ers have been able to pleasantly hear bits of their own childhood pop culture repeated by their very own children. Imagine, kindergarteners rambling on about Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear rather than Dora and Spongebob!

Encourage this Muppet obsession with a pair of Adidas Superstar 2.0 Kermit Shoes, the almost punishingly stylish new sneaker. There’s a men’s version too, in all green, but this one settles for white with deep-green stripes, “The original hip hop” and a pic of Kermie emblazoned on the side, and, best of all, Kermit’s iconic collar cascading over the shoe’s tongue.

Adidas Superstar 2.0 Kermit Shoes, $50

If “new phone” is on your gift list for a child this holiday season, SafetyWeb might be a good add-on. For $10 a month (or $100 a year), SafetyWeb riffles through publicly posted information on your kid(s): profiles on Facebook or other social networking sites, Tweets, game portals, and other places associated with his aliases and email addresses. If SafetyWeb sees anything that might be problematic, it’s immediately noted in the personalized report available on your child.

What kinds of things are problematic? Oh, angry words, racist words, anything associated with sex, drugs, or alcohol. SafetyWeb also notes who your child befriends, so if a 45-year-old man suddenly befriends your 13-year-old girl, you’ll know about it. SafetyWeb also finds and displays all publicly available photos of your child, just in case there’s one or two floating around out there you won’t like.

For users with family plan phones, SafetyWeb even includes phone usage in the report. You’ll know the top five numbers your child called, and how many text she sent. Darned useful information if you’re trying to monitor what your child’s up to in that big digital world.

Getting small kids into dress-up clothing can take longer than the length of the party he’s attending. Fancy clothing tends to be scratchy and ill-fitting, stiff, full of weird seams. This soft unisex blazer makes a perky topper without all the drama.

Put it over khakis or jeans, holiday skirts or nice pants. The crisp white piping lends an upscale note, while the traditional styling makes the jacket look well at parties, weddings, and other events for which something a little nicer is called for. The arms are generously cut (no shirt sleeves will get rucked up underneath), seaming is flat, and there’s no back-of-the-neck tag to itch.

Soft unisex blazer, $56

If there’s a point in the parenting universe with moms who buy padded bikini tops and mini thongs for their very tiny kids, Saintly Tees might be at the furthest point from it. This earnest company exhibits its Christian values with its (small, but growing) line of baby and toddler tees with Scripture and uplifting messages.

“He fills the hungry with good things” reads one shirt; “God made me. God loves me” reassures another. Even for non-pious parents, these sentiments are sweet, and the muted colors and simple, anime-style cute graphics are charming to the eye.

Saintly Tee’s ethics extend to its product sourcing: They use only fair-trade shirts and do not source from companies that offer immodest clothing or have marketing campaigns with values that conflict with Saintly Tee’s (Hi, American Apparel!). Kind of nice, that.

Saintly Tees, $13-18 each

Sleep sacks sure are nice for winter infants, but what happens when the kid makes a poo diaper in the night? You’ve got to roll him over, unsnap or unzip the thing (in the dark!), pull him out of there…by the time you actually even get to the diaper underneath the layers, dollars to doughnuts he’s screaming already.

Gunapod solves these problems with a variety of clever closures. One big zipper goes from armhole to armhole, sorta like zipping baby into a big sleeping bag. You could take baby’s bottom half out and change a diaper, or you could leave restless legs out to kick, or you could just leave a ventilation hole, or you can zip the whole thing up snugly for cold nights.

On the shoulders and at the neck, three big flaps hold everything together so even if you leave the zipper all the way undone, baby is still covered.

Gunapod, $30

It’s pretty small in the grand tapestry of parent problems, but it sure can be hard to snap up one of those little infant snapsuits. Especially if the infant in question is shrieking. Especially in the middle of the night. Especially if you can barely focus your eyes in the same direction from exhaustion.

Magnificent Baby onesies, pajamas, and gowns have a neat, hidden surprise: tiny magnets inside the cloth that hold everything neatly closed. You just sorta paw at it with one limp, ineffectual hand and everything lines up and snaps shut. Ka-zam! You will feel like you have parent-fu!

The one downside of Magnificent Baby’s wares is that the patterns are kind of blah. This elephant print pajama set is part of an expanded line of prints that’s selling out everywhere; indeed, this particular print is only available in the newborn size. If you can hack the less-exciting prints (and who sees them in the dark of a nursery?), Magnificent Baby’s other stuff runs up to 9 months. Nine solid months of changes. Sigh. Kind of sounds like a lot.

Magnificent Baby nightwear, $44

Dad kinds of gets shafted on the old Daddy-and-me gear. Whereas there’s a Mommy-and-me version of just about everything you can imagine, from aprons to dolls to jewelry, manufacturers assume that Dad just wouldn’t be into having a little version of himself walking around. Um, duh! So wrong. Why do you think Dad smiles after all when the kid traipses around in his shoes?

This tee set from the UK’s Twisted Twee Ltd. is cute without being cloying. Show the world which one’s the big cup o’ stout and which one’s the shortie with this baby-and-daddy set that proclaims Pint and Half Pint. Squee! It’s available in baby sizes up to 24 months, and Dad sizes up to extra-large.

Citrus Dad and Baby Pint Twinset, £32