11th December 2007
A Wardrobe of Significant Scrutiny

Cute!When it came down to having a child, my wife and I really didn’t care whether we had a boy or a girl — we just wanted a healthy baby. Well, ok, that’s not completely honest — we both wanted a girl. Why? Neither of us is 100% sure, but we’re pretty sure one factor was clothing choices. Baby girls have TONS of cute clothes and outfits and very few of them look dippy. On the other hand, baby boy fashion SUCKS.

A Quarterback My Kid is NOTWhy is it that if you make boy clothes they have to be sports oriented? Does every boy on the face of the earth have to be a baseball, football, or basketball player? Frankly, I think this is to soothe the “manly men” out there who don’t know what to do with a baby but, by god, if I have a boy then he’ll be a MAN and drink BEER and FART and play FOOTBALL and be a STAR BECAUSE I COULDN’T BE! In short, all the knuckle-draggers that choose to live vicariously through their kids. I am not this sort of father, I assure you.

So, on that note, finding clothes that fit my child and don’t make him look like a beer-swilling asshole, a premature jock, or a complete dweeb is really difficult. The kid isn’t the problem — we got a good model and he’s very flexible. It’s the manufacturers that concentrate on making little girls look cute as the dickens and boys end up being an afterthought.

A myriad of choicesWe do, however, manage. It just takes a bit more work. Our style is somewhat preppy, I guess I would say, although we’re not against cuddly onesies and sleeping bags for comfort, but we tend towards styles by places like Old Navy, the Gap, etc. We’re not a brand-name sort of folk — our clothes are mostly from Wal*Mart — but we like the style which says, “Dressy, but not sporty.” If he wants to play sports when he grows older, fine, but he doesn’t have to be a cute baby and look like he just came from the locker room.

Maybe we’re thinking about this too much and spending too much time going over his clothes, but I want him to look good, ya know? When someone sees my boy riding in his car seat, I want them to think, “Aw, how cute!” and not, “Cute, but what a stupid outfit.”

At least, I hope he thanks us in the long run. I now know more about baby fashion than I ever hoped to, but if he ever shows up at Milan, he’ll at least get a glance. :)


There are currently 14 responses to “A Wardrobe of Significant Scrutiny”

  1. 1 MelNo Gravatar AUSTRALIA (56 comments) said:

    Wow.. I find it really hard at times buying for Lara and often glance across at the boys section thinking how cute their outfits are… Mind you our baby outfits are certainly not all based on sports. I find it really hard to find clothes that aren’t mini skirts and bum shorts and have you seen the summer fashion for oz this year? – please take me back to tree loving hippie days.. half her t-shirts say peace love and happiness :) Maybe i’m old fashioned when it comes to clothing but i cringe when i see children running around in mini skirts and knee high boots and bikini at the age of 1..

  2. 2 JoeNo Gravatar UNITED STATES (16 comments) said:

    I think there are three types of outfits for baby boys– Animals, Cars and sports. Since I am a sports fan I don’t care about any of them. I don’t think however, if your son wears sports clothes that makes him a beer guzzeling asshole jock. I think discouraging him in sports is just as bad as parents who pressure their kids to play sports.
    now that Logan is three, it is harder to find clothes that don’t make him look like a skater punk. I don’t like that look. But for me he has told me he wants to play football when he turns 5. I have never pressured him but I think since I play football video games and watch footballon sunday’s it is in his culture and blood.

    Joe’s last blog post..Isn’t Emma Pretty

  3. 3 Nathan PralleNo Gravatar UNITED STATES (151 comments) said:

    Mel: Interesting — I agree with keeping kids conservative for quite a long time; no need to make them look older than they are. Curious how fashions switch between cultures, isn’t it?

    Joe: Right — exactly. I don’t care if my kid grows up and WANTS to wear sports clothes or wants to play football — I’m all over it. But I just dislike clothing that assumes that they’ll grow up doing or liking something in particular, when who knows?

  4. 4 Marie CNo Gravatar UNITED STATES (1 comments) said:

    I agree that your choices for boys are limited to
    transportation, animals, and sports, but what else are
    small man-babies supposed to be interested in? Where are the
    hot babes on bibs? At any rate, you guys got him some good looking
    stuff.

    Why don’t you go buy a cute little dress with bows or a shirt with
    kitties and rainbows and put him in it for a day. You might have fun.
    ;)

  5. 5 alyndabearNo Gravatar AUSTRALIA (25 comments) said:

    I actually LOVE baby boy clothes. When my cousin had her first, we shopped for ages looking at all the cute little things. Jeans, shirts, squee.

    Sadly for girls these day.. they’re being skankified (for lack of a better word) from the time they hit about age 1. Have you SEEN some of the little girl clothing that is around? Scary.

    alyndabear’s last blog post..Over My Head.

  6. 6 BarbaraNo Gravatar UNITED STATES (14 comments) said:

    You are tooooooooooo funny! But you are alos so right! I had (have) a boy and I could not stand all the sports-themed clothes. I could handle cars but not sports. I have photos of him in some pretty stupid outfits but they were all gifts. Since we live in CA, there are lots of “surfer” clothes which were okay but still….

  7. 7 TaraNo Gravatar (15 comments) said:

    Well they make cute pink Yankees outfits for baby girls too, but you have to seek them out.

  8. 8 Nathan PralleNo Gravatar UNITED STATES (151 comments) said:

    Marie: Hahaha….a dress. Nice. Maybe lederhosen.

    Alynda: Oh, I can find some lovely baby boy clothes, but they’re not nearly as prominent as great girl clothes. I do, however, agree with your assessment that there are an incredible amount of baby/little girls’ clothes that look like Britney fashion, which is just horrific. My child will NOT be dressed that way, no matter what sex they are.

    Barbara: Cars are ok, planes are better. We’ve learned the subtle art of, “Oh, he wore that a few times and then just grew out of it so *quickly*! Thanks!”

    Tara: Well, now, I do differentiate between sports clothes and team clothes. I don’t mind my kid wearing some team-oriented clothes, as long as they aren’t Packers. :)

  9. 9 KatyNo Gravatar UNITED STATES (22 comments) said:

    I never noticed baby boy clothing selections until you brought my little newphew into the world, however, since then I obviously pay much more attention to it and want to honor your guys’ wishes to not have your child in sports, etc. I hope that after Christmas you are pleased with my selections and have followed your wishes!

  10. 10 Nathan PralleNo Gravatar UNITED STATES (151 comments) said:

    Katy: Well, I don’t mean to make it sound like we’re putting out a Congressional mandate on the subject, but we know what we think is cute and snazzy and what isn’t, so…we just want the little guy to look good, ya know? I don’t think we’re worried about your fashion choices, you’re almost always conscious of it and I have no doubt that something you’d pick out would be very cute. :)

  11. 11 RaivynNo Gravatar UNITED STATES (7 comments) said:

    Ever consider Hot Topic..? If I had kids, that’s where I’d be shopping for them.. but then again, my kids would probably be running around with dreads or mohawks or something. Anyway, you can find t-shirts, onesies, etc. with funny phrases on them, among other things at HT. It’s a nifty store, not just for the hardcore.

    Raivyn’s last blog post..Halloween, Mom’s Birthday, and COOKIES!

  12. 12 Nathan PralleNo Gravatar UNITED STATES (151 comments) said:

    Raivyn: Actually, no, I hadn’t thought of HT. I guess I didn’t realize they would carry kid’s clothing. I’ll have to give them a shot because I like the store, even if I usually can’t find anything that fits me in particular. Thanks for the suggestion!

  13. 13 nicheplayerNo Gravatar UNITED STATES (130 comments) said:

    I make all my daughter’s clothes using empty pizza boxes, dryer lint, and dental floss. She can get all fashionable when she gets a job.

    nicheplayer’s last blog post..Ava “reading”

  14. 14 ChanNo Gravatar INDIA (1 comments) said:

    Its very interesting. I will agree that the keeping of kids clothing choices. Baby girls have TONS of cute clothes and outfits and very few of them look dippy. On the other hand, baby boy fashion SUCKS.

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