I was tested this week. I think it’s the first time I have felt really tested since BNN began. I didn’t start 2013 a mad consumer. I’ve never been too interested in brands or status due to stuff. Occasionally it gets me (did I tell you about the Fred Bare cowboy dress I bought Little Fearse for $10?) but mostly I’m more interested in a bargain than a brand.
On Friday a friend took me into two brand name children’s wear shops. Just about every item melted my heart. Knitted jumpers with cute forest animals on the front! Beanies with bunny ears! Ruffle bum footsie pants! Paddington jackets! Onesies with cat prints! Oh, the possibilities.
I had to go to a special place in my mind, promising myself a ‘window shop’ of the children’s clothing section of Ebay when I got home. I can go without trendy or ‘must have’ items of clothing for myself so easily. My style is, well, let’s call it “easy wear with a dash of vintage”. I wear a lot of hand-me-downs. I don’t have to think much about what I put on. If it is comfortable and weather appropriate I’m usually happy. But Little Fearse? You just have to add a ruffle or a pair of ears to almost any of her outfits and she goes from baby to bawwwwwwwwwwwwwby. And I can’t resist the ‘aww’.
See what I mean? Awwww.
Mostly Little Fearse has been dressed in hand-me-downs from her male cousins and a few male and female friends, though she has had the very good fortune of also being lent the most amazing clothing from the above friend who loves buying designer. There is really no way I can repay that generosity because she and I both know that I would never buy those clothes myself, and yet I love them so much. It’s through her willingness to buy them that both Little Fearse and my melty heart benefit.
Luckily we have found a way to make an exchange – I’ve started cooking her meals, something I love doing and she doesn’t. I love the way the world provides symbiotic relationships like this, don’t you?
Ahh community,
Mama xox
The Fearse Family 