I bought Lyra a little yellow M&S raincoat complete with rainclouds and colourful raindrops around this time last year. I remember Rich baulking at the price (£36…not actually that unreasonable…eye roll!) but she has had so much wear out of it that even he has to admit now that it was an excellent buy. So when I noticed this season’s version I thought it was only right that I came on here and raved about it.
The yellow version was brilliant because it managed to somehow fit Lyra perfectly for a year, despite her having a growth spurt. What I love most about it is the fact that it’s so distinctive: we went to Eurodisney recently and I knew that if we happened to get separated from Lyra I would be able to spot her yellow jacket a mile off.
I picked up the rainbows version when I was in M&S last week and it’s just as pretty and even more practical, due to the fact that this one has both an inner and outer jacket. It’s waterproof, wipe-cleanable, and perfect for travelling in: the inner jacket is padded so can be scrunched up and used as a pillow.
The rest of Lyra’s wardrobe/dream wardrobe is looking just as colourful…
Summer Dresses
Lyra and I are both big fans of the Little Bird range at Mothercare. They’re a little pricier than your supermarket buys/H and M but the quality is brilliant and the designs are always so eye-catching and different from anything else on the high street. This Little Bird dress is great for twirling in apparently. This Mothercare dress is super reasonable, and this M&S frock is both sweet and stylish. I like the fact that with these kind of dresses, they can be worn as tops over leggings when they’re too short to be dresses.
Summer Sandals
The sandals that we’ve bought for Lyra year in, year out are the Star Games sandals from Clarks. They’re perfect for the park (bendy enough to be worn on climbing frames), and for the pool as they’re waterproof. Lyra calls them her ‘swimming shoes’. I’ve just picked up a red pair for Jenson. I’ve also heard excellent things about the Salt Water Swimmer sandals (also waterproof and helloooo rose gold!). The Boden fruity sandals in the header (with a lemon on the right foot and a strawberry on the left!) are cute as a button, and you’re probably also going to want to know about that jungle print dress.
Cover-Ups
The snuggliest hoodie that Lyra owns is this flamingo number. It washes really well and most importantly – in her eyes – it’s PINK. At the risk of sounding like a four year old girl myself, I think this unicorn hoody is ace … and the beautiful embroidered details on this cardie are just the sweetest.
Party Dresses
The party frock that Lyra’s been donning to her friends’ birthday dos this spring is this Multi Spot dress from Next. It’s the best because it’s capable of disguising blobs of face paint, smears of jam, blobs of cake, and all other party-food-messiness. (But it’s not just for parties. She was even painting in it this weekend). And how blinking’ gorgeous is the selection of party dresses at Boden at the moment? I’ve included two below but could quite easily have picked ten.
Have you bought any bright bits for your kiddos recently?
What’s the best piece of clothing you’ve ever bought for your little ones?
I bought that same raincoat for my little one last year – I think I got size 12-18 months, and it still fits her even though she’s just turned 2! Brilliant buy, she loves it, and hopefully we’ll be able to keep it going a little while longer.
Love a lot of these other picks, and would love to get those boden sandals but unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, given the price) her feet are too small for them!
Ahh snap! Such a good buy! x
Em I’m 33 and I love most of this for meeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Ha ha Bunny! Well I know they do the Salt Water sandals in adult sizes… 😉
I’ve got some tan ones – bought last year for the eye watering price of £59.50 and didn’t really wear them! Keep meaning to do the wet and wear thing to make them more comfortable. Will be taking them to Spain next week.
There’s a Boden warehouse sale near me on the 20th of June and I am determinedly not buying her anything until after that so closing my eyes and going lalalalala at this post… 🙈
Lucy S let us know what you get. The Birmingham one wasn’t that great apparently (so maybe you should just read this post 😛 ) x
I love my saltwater sandals but struggle to justify them for my two girls. Instead I got these rose gold sandals from next which were a bargain at £14 each: http://www.next.co.uk/xo71064s3#969885 (I just wish I hadn’t seen the yellow ones as want them too!).
For rain jackets I love Hayley. They are expensive but wear really well and last from spring all the way to late autumn.
Love the spotty dress from next and the stripes mothercare number… but I must stop buying clothes for my girls. Their wardrobes are ridiculously full….
Although in my last dirty enabler moment you have to check out the summer dresses at Prinark. £4.50 odd each in liberty like patterns with the cutest criss cross back… I may have bought every pattern for both girls! Oops! x
Ummm not in my Primark. What age?
They definitely start from 2-3 and I think go up to age 7? I’ve just added a picture of my youngest in one on Instagram (kizzi2002) if you want a peak x
Those Next sandals! CUTE!
And I clearly need a trip to Primark! Those dresses sound beaut.
OK. So you know I don’t DO colour but I do love fashion chat for kids so here I am.
Aside from the fact I was having a meltdown and bought the spotty number from Next and actually like it.
I’m more of a white company traditional dresser so this year my daughter has this one which was around a tenner.
http://www.next.co.uk/g892680s1#572369
We had Saltwaters last year. We’ll have them again this year. They are perfect for narrow size D/E width feet (we can’t buy normal high street brands who fit a F-G width fitting) as you can adjust the width along the foot with the sweetheart style. The traditional saltwater looking ones aren’t so good. If you want to save a bit then I’d recommend the Harper style from Clarks which are lovely and timeless.
Obviously my son is dressed like he just lost his boat. I miss Lottie’s posts about clothes for Hector. I loved her style for him.
That Next dress is lovely. Thanks for the tip re Saltwater sizing…I wonder if they’d be too narrow for Lyra who has inherited my wide feet (lucky girl).
I think it depends on the style. The sweetheart ones have a buckle top and toe so you can tighten. The traditional ones you’ve featured are wider.
Narrow feet are horrific. Such a pain so we end up spending a fortune on narrow European brands because you can’t buy on the high street.
I’m all for saving money but I’ve always been brought up that shoes should be properly fitted. I blame my Mum
I share your pain, my daughter has d width feet and it’s a nightmare, dragging a very disappointed three year old round every shop going and still coming home with no shoes is not fun! I eventually found F width but very adjustable sandals in Clarks which seem ok, assumed saltwater would be wide as mine come up quite large, will try them for her next year! If you see this do you have any tips for canvas shoes? They all fall off. Drives me mad that shops are incapable of catering for narrow feet.
I swear by those clarks sandals for everyday wear for P in the summer. We picked up a pair on the clarks outlet site for our recent holiday,
But for “best” she’s been rocking a pair of palmairas in silver glitter.
She first had a pair when we holidayed in Menorca and stumbled across a beautiful leather shop selling these traditional shoes.
Now I get them from https://palmairasandals.com (and may own a couple of pairs myself, they are sooo comfy).
I also couldn’t resist treating her to some gold leather sandals for her in Rhodes town.
Us too Lou, Lyra’s been in hers this afternoon. Those Palmairas are gorgeous! X
I lived in my bright yellow salt water sandals when pregnant over summer; absolutely wore them to death and they’re still going great guns. I’ve been hankering after the rose gold ones for ages.
O still isn’t walking at 19 months 🤦 so I’m going to get her a pair when she does – it’ll be worth the wait. So do I get her yellow to match me or get us both a rose gold pair?!
Definitely get you both the rose gold, after all, you’ve saved loads of money by her not starting walking at 10 months so not needing expensive Clarks shoes all this time!