Lucy's Style

"This shirt hurt's Mommy" my daughter says as I take out my choice of shirt for the day. Before I can get too worried and inspect the shirt for hidden weapons, she rummages around and brings out another, "this shirt is cute, that shirt hurts".  Ah, I see, her sensibilities are "hurt" by my option.  Funny girl.

Dressing a kid is a learning process.  I love it and hate it. First off, when it comes to sizing I have to put it down to a science and formula that seems to be ever-changing. My daughter is very tall and lithe, so fitting her is really hard.  I have to decide what is more important, length or width.  I will give you a bit of information on the different stores I have gotten to know so far:

Target and Old Navy: Short and Lean (the "lean" tends to vary to wide here)
Gymboree: Short and Wide
Gap: Long and Lean
Children's Place: Long and Average
JcPenney's and Macy's: Average
Walmart: Short and Average

As you can see the only store that fits Lucy's proportions is the "baby gap". This is great, except that I only shop there when they are having amazing sales (remember, poor here) and I can't limit myself to one store anyway.   The way I solve this is by deciding what proportions on outfits are okay.  Shirts can be loose if they are paired with a skinnier jean or legging, pants or skirts can be blousy if I pair them with a tighter shirt.  (These are rules I use for dressing myself too except that her's is more out of necessity then figure flattering.) Also with length, it's okay to have a longer, bigger shirt over tighter bottoms or a shorter and wider top if it's a jacket. For example, shirts can come from Children's Place as long as they can be with some leggings from the Gap, etc.   

Dressing kids is also about having fun!  I love pairing colors and patterns together that normally I would be too intimidated to do on myself.  I don't really like to look like I'm trying to be a preschooler;). Putting a cool stripe with a floral or mixing all sorts of textures and bright colors can be so fun.  I also have to hold back a little bit because I have gotten the comment before that "she did such a great job dressing herself today"...yeah.  So it's a balance definitely, but I love to stretch myself with what I put on her, why not?!

If I let my daughter dress herself though she would look like a homeless clown.  This is why I have to make her think certain outfits are her idea.  "You love this shirt, huh?" or "let's try this different shirt with that and you go look in the mirror and see what you think" or "Ohhh, this shirt is purple and these leggings have flowers!" Thankfully my switching tactics and positive projections have worked so far.  If nothing else they will give her a good foundation to look back on when she get's her brain back after college;P.

When I first had Lucy I just thought all babies dressed alike and that you could buy whatever size as long as they were that age because all babies were roughly the same shape.  That couldn't be farther from the truth.  Kid's looks go well with different styles and body types can be so different then the clothes you try to dress them in.  I have also learned that dressing a kid is a great opportunity to express not only your own style (in an avant-garde sort of way) but also your kid's.  My daughter is very artistic, she loves different colors and has very adult looks so I like to bring that out in her clothes.

{This is my first fall outfit for Lucy, the sweater and the boots were a bit of an investment but even kids get investment pieces and how could I say no to that sweet sweater, lot's of sales and couponing on this outfit! Sweater: gymboree $20, tank: old navy $5, skirt: oshkosh outlet $3, tights (seen above) gymboree $4, boots: children's place $25, headband: Bella's Boutique $2}