Key Summer Trends for Key Kids

From Guest Blogger - Roo Oxley

With the sun finally getting his hat on, it’s time to start thinking about appropriate summer wear for kids. With so much choice, variety and fashionable clothes catered for children on the high street, it can be easy to kit out the kids for the summer.

As a young mum of two myself, and having been in this game seven years, I have some words of advice; do not dress your children in fancy, structured and smart apparel. Children get messy! And dirty! They play! This may seem obvious, but there is a definite trend in parents attempting to dress their children to appear as mini-me’s and dress them as carbon copies of themselves.

Yes, we all want our children to be cool and have them as matching fashion accessories (*joke*) , but parents tend to forget what our own old-skool childhood is all about-playing in muck, sand, chasing outside and soaking everyone and everything with those goddamn water balloons!

In my experience, it is still possible to dress your kids in a casual and trendy way, without making them look like they are constantly attending a garish and over the top wedding. Children need to be free to move, not stifled in too mature shirt and ties or stiff dresses.

Here are a couple of my suggestions:

Boys

For boys, a simple pair of shorts from a shop like Primark will still look cool, but also practical. You can buy a set of two colours for about £7 and you can get them in a variety of on-trend colours, such as bright blue, ginger and aubergine.

Team these shorts with a classic polo, yet buttoned all the way to the top; Gap, Next and Asda all do excellent ranges.

Havaianas!! The coolest, yet most comfortable way for any self-respecting boy to stomp around on his manner; too easy!!

Finally, to complete the look and appeal to your little (dizzee) rascal’s inner rock star- a pair of aviator shades, available for £1 (yes a quid!!) from Primark also.

*Do not spend any more money on items like shades, hats and caps because your boys will lose them FACT! *

Girls

For all the little girls, aim for free moving clothes such as summer dresses as opposed to jumpsuits (they look great but are the most highly annoying and impractical piece of clothing known to mums- have you ever had to quickly undo one in time for the little cherub’s toilet requirement??!).  The girls can still look pretty and fashionable by wearing simple cotton dresses, but with modern prints. Try Next, Debenhams and Gap).

To be extra en pointe when it comes to looking trendy, bring out the girls’ boho side, and pair up gilets with the dresses, or get some flowers and entwine them in their hair (flowers free from garden).

If she is more of a tomboy character, then you can always toughen up her look with some edge whilst remaining pretty at the same time; add a fitted denim jacket to a floaty white cotton dress with some battered Converse.

Alternatively, stretchy leggings and jeggings are the quintessential item of clothing for little girls which you can purchase from literally everywhere. They are even more ideal if your daughter is potty training, as opposed to faffing about with a fancy, petticoat laden dress!!

For all children, the most important item for summer is sun cream. All supermarkets and local shops sell it. I use a factor 50 on my kids all year round (purely to keep their skin as young and wrinkle free as possible, and the added bonus is that I will use it also- great anti-ageing routine and killing two birds with one stone! #improvisation

So to summarise; make your child’s movements free and unrestricted, do not push your own style identity on to them, and most importantly, have fun with them! So what if clothes get muddy or get ripped holes in it; clothes ought not to last forever, your memories should however.