Borrowed from the boys (and girls) – fashion swaps for trendy kids with Little Spree

We don’t normally dress the same….

Lately, I have been finding myself searching out clothes for Miss Marnie in the boys section. Not that I want her to dress like a tomboy – anything but – I love girly clothes on her. But, I’m finding myself increasing annoyed with all the ‘fussy details’ and stereotyped pieces.

Yes, I like pink. And red. And yellow. But, just because she’s a girl don’t mean I have to dress her like a Barbie doll. I like simple, classic pieces for myself so it makes sense that I would want to dress Miss Marnie that way too.

A few of the things I avoid are jeans with flower motifs on the pockets, T-shirts with big ‘girly’ prints and jumpers with frilly sleeves and the likes. The boys department offers clean lines, plain basics and embellishment-free everyday pieces. I hoped I wasn’t alone in this and was pleased to discover fellow stylist and blogger Sarah Clark felt the same when dressing her adorable 4 year old twins: Tabitha and Marlow.

On her brilliant style blog Little Spree her daily fashion picks are amazing and have caused me to have a little (big) spree one too many times also. Sarah often talks about dressing her son in clothes from the girls department (and just doesn’t tell him!) – but, you’d never know because she has such an eye for choosing  fantastic pieces.

So, we’ve teamed up for a fashion special to show you our favourite style buys from the boys department for girls vice versa. Therefore, opening up a whole new shopping destination for your mini fashionistas!

BORROWED FROM THE BOYS – Boys clothes that are great for little girls  

by mamasVIB

1) NANTUCKET CANVAS SHOES £14.99 TROTTERS I guess these summer shoes are quite unisex – but I opted for the navy over the ‘girlie’ white and baby pink colours. Much more practical and lets face it stylish too!

2) DENIM SHIRT FROM A SELECTION FROM £9 MOTHERCARE Miss Marnie’s first ever denim shirt is from the boys department. They seem to be a better shape and offer a more relaxed, and therefore cooler fit. Plus, they don’t have any flouncy/embellishment/printed type motifs on (one of my pet hateson girls clothes!)

3) FISHERMANS RAINCOAT £35 JOJO MAMAN BEBE I love these classic raincoats – and Miss Marnie has this one stashed away ready for Autumn. There is a red and pink colour way also – but I love the more ‘boy like’ yellow colour as its more traditional, looks great with equally bright wellingtons and reminds me of our Cornish holidays.

4) HEATHERED SWEATER £17.95 GAP I always choose boys sweaters and knitwear over girls. The colours are more muted, the shapes are more boxy and there is never any frill or added ‘girly’ fuss. Miss Marnie also has a plain navy jumper from Gap that just seems to go with everything and give her look a more fashionable edge – especially when worn with her girly skirts or tutus.

 5) T-SHIRT WITH POCKET £4.99 ZARA KIDS Now I don’t hate pink! I just don’t like overly ‘bubblegum’ or princess pink. I know I may be fighting a losing battle soon – but the bright stereotyped girls colours are a real turn off. I much prefer raiding the boys rack and opting for subtle less sugary pink tones like this fab tee.

6) SKINNY JEANS £11-£12 NEXT These skinny grey jeans are a current fave – but I also go to Gap boys for Miss Marnie’s jeans. The washes, colours and shapes are better – and they are much more fashionable than girls tapered legs/bootcut/fussy styles with her ballet shoes or pumps. Think of how much you love your ‘boyfriend’ jeans and do you see where I’m coming from?

7) FINE KNIT CARDIGAN £4.99 H&M Again, like with jumpers, cardigan are often more simple and classic looking. The colours are always bold too – no wishy-washy shades that look dated.

8) DENIM JUMPER SHORTS £14.99 ZARA KIDS I love dungarees on girls. They are brilliant daytime clothes and with a lovely blouse or stripe top underneath they look fun and playful. Again, I head to the boys section because the girls styles always have some sort of embellishment/added fabric/motif that I cannot bear….. Surely, I’m not the only one?

 BORROWED FROM THE GIRLS: Little girls clothes that are anything but girly for boys

by Sarah Clark from LITTLE SPREE

 

1) STRIPY BOATNECK £10-£12 BODEN MINI I often prefer the cut and fit of girl’s tops and t-shirts to boys as they are generally narrower and shorter, which I like. One of my pet hates (one of many!) is long, baggy tops of little boys. I’m sure I’ve got years of that to come when he’s older, so I’m making the most of it now!

2) SLUB COTTON T-SHIRT £9.99 MANGO KIDS Love this for the same reasons as above. I’ve just ordered this, but it hasn’t arrived yet. I love the colour.

3) STRIPED TROUSERS £17.99 ZARA I recently bought these for Marlow to wear in the Summer as they are a lovely lightweight cotton. They aren’t skinny as such, they are more of a tapered leg. I love them, and they look really expensive They will look great with a simple grey marl tee.

4) JEANS WITH PAINT SPOTS £19.9 ZARA KIDS I really like this as an alternative to jeans. The distressed paint-splash effect adds a different element, but it’s not too much. Again, like the Gap jeans (see below), the fit is slimmer.

 5) NAVY STRIPE SWEATER £18-£24 NEXT Another stripe! Marlow can never have too many as far as I’m concerned. I like the details on this sweater – the wooden buttons, the slightly hand knitted, homespun feel…

6) STRIPED JERSEY CARDIGAN £19 COSThis is on my ‘to buy’ list for Marlow. It’s officially a girl’s cardigan, but I find that a lot of Cos’ things are quite unisex anyway. I always love a stripe. This will be handy in the Summer when you don’t necessarily need a jacket, but you need something.

7) PARKA WITH APPLIQUES £35.99 ZARA KIDS To me, this could be a unisex jacket, but again, the fit is slimmer and cooler for boys.

8) SKINNY JEANS £17.95 GAP I’ve been buying these jeans for both Tabitha and Marlow for a couple of years now, and they are still my favourites. They are skinny, but not too skinny, and I like the wash of these mid-blue ones. I don’t like baggy jeans on little boys. The denim is also really lovely and soft, so they are comfortable to wear. They also have a metal slide fastening instead of a button, which he can undo easily, making those endless (and rather hasty) trips to the loo drama-free (and totally independent, which he loves).

Sarah with her equally stylish son Marlow

** Special thanks to Sarah for her time, super fast email responses and brilliant buys – It’s been great linking up!