Thursday, April 26, 2007

A plain pain

It's been a long time since I've had a rant about baby clothes however I suddenly feel the need.

I have trawled the stores looking for some plain, solid-coloured tops that don't have fluffy bunnies or little trains that say 'toot toot' on them and I have come up empty handed. Annoyingly, I inherited some perfect, hand-me-down t-shirt body-suits for him in the right colours which he has now grown out of and nobody at the store whose label is stitched into them seems to know or care if they still do them - however the sales girl said 'we always get asked if we sell plain ones'. I have a vision of sales girls just like her the length and breadth of Britain being asked for plain baby clothes and then right after they pop their gum, forgetting to pass it along to anyone who counts.

We parents of course have to shoulder some blame, I mean, if enough of us emailed companies demanding plain clothes for babies (to go with their gumshoes? I digress) we may get them. The trouble is that we know for certain that by the time the company responded, ordered the clothes and put them in the shops, we won't need them any more, we'll be too busy buying the latest trainers and video games and working four jobs to keep our offspring in burgers, iPods and extra sugar. The colour of their shirts will be the least of our worries. So, about thirty seconds after the gum gets popped, we walk out muttering under our breath and clutching a bag of stripey clothes with little bunnies on them.

And, where do baby clothes go once they've had their time on a baby's butt? Mine are going into a hiding place where D can't throw them out until I go through The Change or he agrees to another baby. Is that where they go? Cellars and attics and holes in the bottom of the garden Just In Case? I had a load of hand-me-downs from a mate which I have now handed on to another friend so presumably some baby clothes do the heavy lifting while others spend the majority of their time polishing their pop studs and living a life of leisure in a comfy box.

There must be an enormous un-tapped resource of baby clothes hiding out in the world, lurking in trunks and plastic storage bags, occasionally being fingered in a somewhat nauseatingly nostalgic way by Mums wishing to recapture the past when their dear little bundles of window-smashing joy could do nothing more strenuous then fall asleep with a little sigh. Perhaps there's an underground baby-clothing railroad where the good pieces get shipped off to form their own brave new world in which no baby will ever poo on their linings again.

A lot of baby clothes find their way onto eBay I've noticed, but these tend to be the more exhibitionistic clothes such as bundles of designer clothes and lots of fancy shirts with, er, stripes and trains on them. The humble, plain coloured t-shirt is clearly not exciting enough to enter the arena of online sales and so I am now seriously considering buying some cheap white ones and dying them myself.

Until then my baby will go naked but for the 50 factor sunscreen... and a few bunnies.

.

26 comments:

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St. Blogwen said...

The US version of the Lands' End website has plain coloured baby clothing. But I checked, and the UK version does not. Rats. Sorry. (One can order from the States, if you want to mess with customs charges . . . )

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IndianaJones said...

I so get this. It has been so frustrating to find my girl jeans that aren't flared and covered in applique flowers. In my hometown their is this lovely little company called Cotton Caboodle and I use them exclusively for plain t's. They are great organic cotton and have interesting colors. Also both my nephews wear them and they have held up under much boyish rough housing. Here is a web site that carries them, I'm not entirely sure if they ship to the UK or the cost but it is worth checking it out. Good luck!
http://www.psychobabyonline.com/site/epage/26837_533.htm

Carly said...

found you on blogs of note. love your baby.

put those teeny clothes directly into storage. your husband will praise your economical foresight when baby #2 comes out naked.

She's like the wind said...

Great read once again. I run an embroidery company and I have suppliers of plain tshirts and tops. I sell on ebay but only school wear as I don't keep the baby wear in stock. But after reading this perhaps I should get these onto ebay check out www.stores.ebay.co.uk/NHP-Embroidery-Services.

I offer 100% cotton baby T's in Dusky blue, mint, powder pink, red & white 3/6, 6/12 & 12/18 months. £2.99. Also 100% unbleached organic cotton baby T red and natural, same size as above £3.90. Also toddler t's and polo shirts in navy, red, pale blue & pink & yellow up to 24/36 months. Layered tops, sweatshirts & fleeces. All plain. Please contact me and I will be happy to help. nicola@nhpservices.co.uk

b.kiddo said...

I think you have some deep thoughts about where these clothes go. I think maybe a basement????
wink
http://singlegirlinboston.blogspot.com/
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mamalasky said...

Have you tried visiting old navy for some plain colored baby clothes?

HollyBerry said...

i like how you write.. you're very sincere and honest, and your verbiage is sarcastic but appropriately funny. my best friend just had her first baby. i bought her some onesies that she really wanted and he's already out of them! and yea, its probably best to keep the baby clothes somewhere you know you'll be able to access them again... never know if a second baby might show up, but you'll be prepared and VERY HAPPY THAT YOU WERE if one does.

mydailyinspiration.blogspot.com said...

I think i have all the hidden baby clothes ...

Stacy Wilson said...

I totally agree with you about not being able to find solid t's. My son is now 5 months and I have gotten some cute pants that have patterns on them but he can't wear them because I can't find any plain tops. So it is I guess.

Keeping It Real said...

I hung onto all my babies' clothes until I decided we'd reproduce no more. Then we hauled the lot of them to the nearest Salvation Army. Betcha a baby thrift store will have a good supply of these plain shirts yu'r yearning.

Veronika Lenz said...

Reading this reminds me of the days when I would patiently explain to my ex-wife that it was complete and utter madness to spend £30 on an outfit which would be worn perhaps twice by a child not old enough to even have a sense of its own identity, when the exact same outfit could be bought for 50p at a car boot sale. Yes, I did say "ex-wife".

Anonymous said...

Judging from some of the posts to other blog entries here, and judging from the blogs and web pages maintained by these people, the primary reason why both maternity and baby clothes are issued in such utter and apalling taste is because the vast majority of people in the western world actually have appalling taste. Those with any modicum of taste whatsoever are required to pay the MoronTax: 20-50% premium over retail for items of some taste and quality. This tax is required because the vast majority of the vile unwashed population is satisfied with mass produced, poor-quality and hideous products simply because they are too lazy to learn about anything better. Good looking baby clothes can be made just as cheaply as shite ones. Capitalism: The sword by which we choose to live and die.

Anonymous said...

Top Tip: Unpick the seams on your baby clothes and sew them together as a flag for the TeenAid Abstinence Movement. Message: F*ck around in high school and suffer the pale, miserable, spouseless, vacuous, doughy, veined, Wal*Mart, bunny-filled consequences.

PS. Check out MY Blog at http://I-have-no-life-no-friends-no-writing-talent-nothing-to-contribute-nothing-meaningful-to-say-belong-to-no-community-and-live-my-hapless-days-buried-in-banal-mediocrity-so-bother-other-bloggers-by-trying-to-drum-up-faint-interest-in-my-pathetic-offering-spamming-other-blogs-that-I-barely-skim.blogspot.com

Bonnie said...

I can't believe you are writing this! Its like it came from MY head! These were my thoughts exactly when C was little. When I went back to America a couple of years ago, I seriously stocked up on solid colored Hanes t-shirts from Target and Wal-Mart and also found some great ones at Old Navy. One summer in London I bought a pack of white"Ladybird" vests from Woolworth's and dyed them black.

Sparx said...

This is the trouble - there's no Old Navy's in the UK and for some reason, no plain tops. It's the bodysuits I want - we've got plain t-shirts but they ride up and expose his belly when he crawls. I may go for the dye bath yet.

Brenda Starr said...

Funny blog. Funny that I also just gave away all of my son's baby clothes--he's seven. It is like I was holding onto the baby by keeping his clothes. I cleaned out my basement (yes in plastic bins) and let go of his babyhood.
I also have a question: How did you get blog.com to name you as one of the blogs to watch? Did they just pluck you up?
Thanks, Laurie

Sparx said...

Hi - They just plucked me up from cyberspace. No idea how or why but I'm very greatful to all you people for reading and leaving the odd nice comment (and the nice, odd comments!)

Ladybird said...

I guess it is easier to learn not to worry about things - about how untidy the house looks, where the missing cutlery is, where one of your baby's shoe is - once crawly-to-be-toddler starts his exploratory journeys across the house.

darth sardonic said...

i cracked up completely at this one. we are most assuredly never having more kids, and yet we have four or five outfits that are stored with our keepsakes as a result of my wife doing the Stand/Eye Bat/Little Girl Voice that she knows i can't withstand.

and not sure where i actually get them from, but i have several shirts with star wars, or evil and hungry-looking dinosaurs, or skateboarding people emblazoned on the front. of course, my kids are also older, not sure what we put them in when they were young. probably stripey stuff with cute trains.

now i must go kick my own ass.

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Mrs Frog said...

H & M do plain tees is good colours. Also the supermarkets to sets of plain tess for about 6 pounds.

Frogeatstown

www.frogeatstown.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Look at the American Apparel website. It would be cheaper for you even with the postage because of exchange rates!