So far, our plan to just get the kid a couple of great pieces of clothing each season, mixed with the cheap staples, and the grandma gifts and such [which never seem to stop, so many party dresses!], has been working great.
One dress that we got her this summer is from Tea Collection. I've been calling it the abuela dress, because with her pot belly and her little stick legs, she looks like a Mexican grandma on fiesta day. All she needs is to start making me some tortillas.
Anyway, it's a white version of this chocolate-colored dress. Tea also has some serious turquoise shirts and stuff, but those look less like an abuela and more like a backup singer for Fischerspooner. Tea Collection's stuff looks great for both boys and girls {when she was 1, she had a sweet pair of brown boys' cords. And before that, we had some good pajama stuff, too.] but honestly, shopping online for this kind of stuff is a pain. I gave up trying to find the exact dress she has again. And the manufacturers' websites are usually buried in the search results under piles of fake etailer links. Oy.
Tea Collection, for "little citizens of the world," does the "portion of profits to charities" thing, too [teacollection.com]
Tea embroidered dress, $50 [theredballoon.com]
I am a huge fan of the Tea, and always manage to find something on clearance for the following season. Recently on one such occasion, I was in a little posh baby shop on the Upper East Side, and the owner told me her clientele were "over" Tea, now that you can buy it "anywhere, even Lester's"! Hell, I'd buy it from KMart - the stuff looks good. And thanks to her clientele being over it, I was able to get it at practically KMart price.
The dress is so cute. I really like like Tea collection also. Thanks for the post.
you can get this a peanut butter and jane, on hudson at jane st, i think it was 48. almost got one for our 3 month olds first wedding but decided to invest in teeth numbing gel instead
[probably the best choice. -ed.]
First, don't you think 3 months is a litte young to get married? Second, you are dooming the marriage from the start by calling it her first, implying there will be a second...
Oliebollen.com also has Tea Collection available for sale online (http://www.oliebollen.com/searchResult.aspx?CategoryID=192). My son has a few of the 70's inspired orange and brown/aqua and brown shirts from a few seasons ago (I bought ahead on sizes when they went on mega discount sale) and we always get compliments on them.
Sign up at teacollection.com on their "stay in touch" list and they will send you an email before their sample sales, which happen 2-3 times per year. Get great stuff for 30-50% off - and you don't even have to live in the City :)