As close readers [my wife] know, this 2004 takedown of the Maclaren Kate Spade stroller represented a formative moment in Daddy Types history.
There's never been a starker tradeoff of features/function and fashion, and I think it's kind of cruel of MacLaren to put men in the position where they have to choose between protesting a clear fashion choice or pushing what's essentially a tasteful, middle class version of the Precious Moments stroller.And the raw, feminine silliness of Maclaren's fashion and design colabos have been a hard sell around here ever since.
Well, that's all changed now. The Dylan's Candy Bar Maclaren stroller is awesome. But not just because it finally abandons the forced fashion/performance tradeoff whereby a mid-range stroller is tarted up and sold at the high-end model's price point.
The DCB Maclaren is based on Mac's lightest--and pound for pound greatest--stroller, the Volo, and it's only $150, only twenty bucks more than a standard Volo.
But that twenty bucks is worth it, because the DCB replaces the current Volo's padded seat with the throwback, black mesh seat, plus a seat cover. Which, thankfully, is removable, because it's turquoise with lollipops on it.
I can't figure out why Maclaren did away with the mesh seat on the Volo; it's certainly kept us from replacing our five-year-old model.
Now as for the candystripe canopy, I don't know. i guess you fold it up. Or take it off. Or buy a black one and swap it out. Or just roll with it. It probably matches the pockets of your Bonobos khakis anyway.
buy the Dylan's Candy Bar Maclaren at Dylan's, $150 [dylanscandybar]
