smaller

small threads- spirit hoods

Animal hoods for the very individual child - magic clothes that transport the wearer- in this case to somewhere slightly wild. Spirit hoods for kids and babies ...and now Spirit hoods for adults too.

small threads- suoak

Elly Geana-Park brings her experience as a designer in Europe nad Asia to her new line for kids - Suoak  Suoak uses fabrics primarily from Japam and Switzerland and is produced in New York. Her designs are sweetly serious and slightly formal but always fresh and comfortable enough for playtime.

small threads- minimaximus

Miniimaximus make super cool and ethically produced t shirts for kids- designed by artists and kids! We love their ethos and their products. Even better- they are having a big sale.

Website

Shop

If you or your kid are interested in submitting designs to be considered for future T-shirts you can read all about how to go about it here.

small threads- shoes on...lets go

wellies from Joules

white mocassins from Atlanta Moccassin

'unbreakable' soft brown suede velcro boot and red suede lace up boots from Kicker

Zephyr shoe for toddlers at Stork

small threads- nixie

Look at Nixie's one of a kind vintage fabric designs- lovely. The whole collection is- as usual- made from vintage or sustainable fabric.

small threads- for the boys

I love finding new designers making stuff for boys. Aven is new on the scene and has a super cute line of boys clothes- cool and a little bit tough but still very wearable. 

 Aven website

small shop - marilyn tov

We have always loved Marilyn Tov and have featured her delicate designs in several of our favorite Small magazine shoots (here and here).  Marilyn's clothes are all made of the most beautiful fabric and immaculately crafted, reflecting the chic yet comfortable elegance she associates with her childhood in Paris. Marilyn now lives in New York and all her clothes are produced in the US, however she ships all over the world.

Finally you can get all of her lovely designs at her new online store. In celebration of the opening she is offering Smaller readers 50% off all old stock and 20 percent off her new season. Just put in the code word SMALL when you are checking out.

Marilyn Tov

small threads- older kids

Three great online shops that stock clothes for the older child. All three have a great selection, but here are a few of our favourite bright spring frocks.

The Liberty fabric Kinsey dress from Peek....Aren't you Curious? This shop has a great selection for boys and girls.

The Pocket Party Dress in green from Uk store I love Gorgeous Each dress comes in several different colorways so there is tons of choice.

The Suffolk Dress from One Sunday. This shop is based in Australia so if you are going into the northern hemisphere spring it is a great chance to pick up some summer dresses on sale. There range is truly charming- elegant yet fun.

 

small finds- hand knits

Misha and Puff are a brand new company producing handmade baby woolens. The whole collection is so  cute and made start to finish in New England.

Anna, a former stylist,  started knitting for her newborn and loved the way the items looked on her little one. Once she decided to put together a collection she knew I couldn't knit everything herself so looked around locally for knitters  in massachusetts and maine. Anna told us "It is really important to me that all pieces are knit locally and start to finish by the same knitter.   Employing people in my community is a big part of this and in  keeping things close it allows me to remain connected to the process of making.   I love that all my knitters LOVE to knit.  If not knitting for me, they would be knitting anyway." 

 Most of the pieces are knit in all one piece with as little seaming as possible so they drape and wear beautifully and are especially good for babies who wiggle and twist and grow so fast. 

Keep your eyes on her blog for a list of stores that will be stocking Misha and Puff

Blog

Website

polarn o pyret - winter sale

If you are stocking up for next year or going into fall in the southern hemisphere polarn o pyret always has great basics and layers and a cool scandinavian style. They have a big winter sale going on now.

small threads- winter water factory

We love Winter Water Factory and have used their designs in many of our shoots. They are having a great 30 percent off sale in their on line shop and have also brought out beuatiful bedding available at Land of Nod

small threads - hucklebones

have you seen the gorgeousness that is at hucklebones?

small finds- tights and socks

....because it is so hard to find good ones in great colors!

kids (and adult) socks from Stance

multicolor tights (and very cute slip on slippers!) from Collegien -all made in France but iwth free shipping if you order 4 pairs.

small threads - brood baby

While scouring Etsy for accessories for our upcoming photo shoot I came across Brood Baby, organic soft handmade knits for baby. If I was expecting the Baby Cacoon and bunting would be at the top of my registry.

 

Brood Baby

small threads- summer is always coming somewhere

  


If you are south of the equator, summer is just around the corner. There are some beautiful swimmers out there for you to choose from.

Simone swimsuit by Mini Rodini here

Dagmar Daley bikinis on sale here and new season here

Flora and Henri swimmers on sale here

Agnes and Valentine two tone swimmers on sale here

Pako Pano polkadot one piece here

One piece flounce swimmer by Zimmerman here

 

small threads- in the woods

Blair dress from A Bird Baby

Audrey dress from Little Bean

Eloise dress by Dagmar Daley

wood print tote- Kit and Lilli

small threads- cool kid

scarf

dress

leggings

coat

boots

small threads- jacket weather

 

Tomboy: Indian Quilt wrap jacket

Bobo Chose: hooded jacket

Nico Nico: georgi sherpa poncho

Talc: Bear coat

Petit Nord: vest

Finger in the Nose: gold vest

 

small threads- design your own sweater

It is so hard to find good sweater for kids let alone organic, beautifully designed, ethically produced sweaters at a great price. All the products at Toto Knits are ethically made by a group of single mothers in Kenya. The knitters are paid by the piece which allows them to work as much or as little as they like- allowing single moms to make a living and still put their family first. They have great  classic and unique designs- I especially love the monkey sweater pictured above.

Best of all Toto Knits have a feature which allows you to design your own dream sweater and they are offering Small readers 20 percent off the usual 35$. Shipping is free until the end of October.

so...simply pick the style, size, shape, color and special accent that suits your child and your individual design will be produced and shipped to you anywhere in the world. I think this would be a fun thing to do with your child.

Click here to start designing your own sweater ....and if you don't feeling like creating your own you can see their other designs here.

Don't forget- the discount code is SMALL

small threads- mila-moo

Mila-moo is a new independent line of sweet, retro dresses in Liberty fabric (my very favorite fabric), all made in England. I love finding designers who make clothes that are suitable for the not overly sophisticated 'tween'. Beautiful and stylish but still fresh and innocent.

Website

Blog

small threads- ola and olek

I love these shots from the Ola and Olek 2010 season. This year they have some cool seventies inspired outfits.  You can pick up some of her designs pictured above from Blue Caravan- the ethical online market place for emerging and independent designers.

small threads- boys swimmers

 

Stella Cove starburst trunks

Bobo Choses swim bottoms

JCrew board shorts

Polarn O Pyret  board shorts

Kids Case swim trunks

 

small threads- really bright

I tend to wear all muted tones and secondary colors but I really wish I was able to pull off these kind of bright colors. These are my favorite companies that make clothes fromt he colors that make your heart sing.

Kit + Lili (Bright prints for kids and women)

Pink Chicken (Bohemian dress for girls and women too)

Dandy Dodo (A new company out of England - super patterns and unsual shapes too)

Polka (found at Little Pinwheel)- always colorful

Cupcakes and Pastries Great party dresses in bright jewel tones

small threads- vik prjonsdottir

Vík Prjónsdóttir is a collective of Icelandic designers thatare rejuvinating the wool and knitting industry in Iceland. They have collaborated with an old knitting factory and are producing new and innovative wool products for kids and adults. The products are all made in Iceland and reflect Icelandic traditions but often in a new and unusual way. This seal suit is bit warm for the northern summer but imagine how cosy it would be to slip inside this in winter. You can buy it at Birkiland (an online Icelandic design store)

small threads - Pantoffel & Co.

Love, love love these shoes from Pantofféll & Co handcrafted in Poland. The best part - Pantofféll & Co. pledge to donate monthly 25% of our profits to Abandoned Soul Foundation.

small hands- damselfly

We have a new sponsor who would want to tell you about even if they were not a sponsor. Faith of Damselfly is truly passionate about her new business. Every piece is hand made in England using the 'whole garment' system and the gorgoeus items are evidence of the involvement of 'petit mains' rather than factory piece-work.  Faith concieves and constructs really special clothing, utilising the talents of local seamstresses. Only the best quality fabric is used and each piece has a specialty hand finish, like the silk ruffles or the embroidery you can see on the coat above. They are really heirloom pieces (but also amazingly affordable for a special piece). 

The clothes are beautiful, the photography and the website is beautiful and the passion for the work is really beautiful.

 

 

Shop

Website

Blog

 

small shops- SilasJules

SilasJules is the new line from the people behind Dig Og Mig -a little store in New York's West Vllage-specialising  in Danish kids clothes.

If you have not yet bought summer shoes for your boy or girl you should definitly check out SilasJules for their lovely imported Danish sandals. You will probably be sidetracked by the gorgeous liberty print dresses and shirts and flouncy skirts- all made in Manhattan NY. I am loving everything in this line.

small threads - anniel shoes

 

I am working on our issue 18 fashion illustration story and came across these shoes by Anniel and had to do a post about them. I love the liberty and polka dot prints.

Anniel available at Smallable.

Small Magazine will now be 6 times a year. Issue 18 will out the end of June. We have a few more changes on the horizon so stay tuned.

 

small threads - Ode

I am dreaming of summer dresses today. Love these from Ode, a collection for girls 2 - 6 years old inspired by childhood travels and from family living in a village in India called, what else, Ode.

small threads- upcycling

Quirky and cool upcycled fashion- all hand made in the USA by Tag You R It.

Cute totes and messenger bags for kids by Merah Muda.  Each bag is unique, made in the USA  from clothing salvaged from second hand shops and garage sales.

small threads- little miss y

We love the styling and photography of this Belgian line. Fia designs and sews by hand all the clothes for her brand Little Miss Y. You can order by emailing Fia directly (info[at]little-miss-y.be) or order on line at Pepatino (.....lots of other great European styles in this shop too)

Winners for last weeks Winter Water Factory giveaway are Byanna Mills (boys) and Erika Jane (girls). Congratualtions! Please get in touch with your size and address. (Winners selected by random.org)

small threads- annie larsen

These hats are for adults but I think they would look great a bit over sized on a kid. Annie Larson's website is full of bright, hand assembled and uniquely patterned wooly sweaters, scarves, skirts and other knits. So fun!

small threads - misha lulu

I am dreaming of spring today as our whole city has been shut down for two days because we are covered in ice! Here are a few images from Misha Lulu's spring/summer collection. As usual their photography is amazing, but yet again Karen consistently designs each collection with an originality not seen in any other clothing range. You can always tell when a collection is influenced by a feeling of the heart rather than following trends. How amazing is that "I love NY" dress and patchwork hat?

Misha Lulu

small threads - rose desbois

I am still happily pouring over all the new spring collections for our next issue and had to share with you a few images from Rose Desbois. We have photographed this french collection before and the quality and attention to detail of these garments are fantastic. I love the light and whimsical pastel color palette they chose for spring.

 

Rose Desbois

small threads - petitbo

Just a few things we are obsessing over from Petitbo... 

Those vintage chucks are to die for!!!!

 

 

small threads - Tutu Du Monde

 

It's my favorite time of the year when we start to see all the designer spring look-books in our inbox. This is the best part of working on the mag...I get to pour over each beautifuly styled page and start making a list of what I am going to feature in our next fashion editorial. First up on the list are these dreamy dresses by Tutu Du Monde. Designer Andrea Rembeck is the mastermind behind these hand-made, hand dyed one off couture garments inspired by an old world feel, crafted from soft cotton, tulle and silk topped with feather sequins and beads. Expect to see Tutu Du Monde in the next issue of Small! I will continue share with you all my favorite spring 2011 collections over the next couple of weeks!

Tutu Du Monde

 

small threads - Ann Frances

I've had this postcard from Ann Frances pinned above my desk for sometime now and every time I look at it I fall in love with these classic heirloom dresses even more. I could concept a whole Small shoot around these dresses. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Ann Frances is a couture bridal company that launched their flower girl collection this fall. Each dress is constructed of Swiss batiste, French laces and Swiss embroidery. I wold love to see these worn as day dresses, paired with sandals or ballet flats! I would also love one in my size...

Ann Frances

small threads - latest love

I found this shop on Etsy yesterday when I was looking for items to feature in our Small Something collage for the winter issue. I had obviously wandered off track and started thinking about the stories we are shooting for winter, found my self looking at clothes and luckily stumbled across Made by Muku.

Made by Muku is the product of two artists working together inspired by their 10 month old child. Their fabrics are soft, the designs full of movement and the colors are muted and beautiful.

Made by Muku etsy shop and website

Small Threads - little to big

I have noticed a trend with some our favorite designers now making adult clothing! Hooray! These designers are doing it so well they make me rethink the idea of mother/daughter dressing.

Shampoodle

Rikshaw Design

Makie

Kit + Lili

Pink Chicken

Mim-Pi

 

small threads - Mudslinger

 

Here we have another fabulous independent clothing collection designed and manufactured in NYC called Mudslinger. The biggest challenge as a shop owner is finding great looking boys clothes that are current, well made and well priced. These are silhouettes I can see a boy (or Girl) any age wearing. The Navy Yard Striped tee paired with the Slim Denim Trouser is perfection!

 

Small threads- cool costumes

You can find some of our favorite handmade Halloween costumes in the Fall issue of Small. There were so many more we wanted to share with you that we will keep featuring them here over the next month.

First up from Ouef- Halloween costumes with staying power. There woolly hats are cute all winter and its always fun to wear a tail. Pictured above are the 'little devil' tail and hat and the 'wild thing' tail and knitted crown. Team them with a leggings and long sleeved tee, or a one piece suit and you are ready to go. All Oeufs products are eco-friendly and hand made sustainably under fair trade in Bolivia.

small giveaway- NamheeNYC

In this weeks giveaway we are pleased to introduce NamheeNYC's brand new accessories line. This package will include a hairband, bracelet, ribbon pin and bird brooch. 

Namhee has been creating inspirational and unique furniture and home ware for some years now. You can also spot her beautiful chairs in Small Magazine's summer issue film, CITY MICE. 

Namhee Lee's designs are totally whimsical and completely functional making them so easy for us to love. Each piece is created meticulously by hand, and each piece is given the commitment and love necessary to create something truly one of a kind.  The concept behind her new accessory pieces is simple- everything is hand sewn or hand made with carefully selected, 100% cotton fabrics.

All you have to do is leave a comment telling us what inspires you about Namhee's designs and you will win a hairband, bracelet, ribbon pin and bird brooch. 

One lucky reader will be picked at random and notified by e-mail.  The winners name will also be posted on the blog the following Monday. Our winner last week (picked by random.org) was comment no.66. Congratulations to Jay Willis!

small photo- lookbooks

We receive many lookbooks here at Small which we look through to see the new collections when we are trying to put together outfits for our shoots. Some of the books are so beautiful and so eye catching that we wanted to show them to you. Here are a few of our recent favorites.

 

IKKS

LuckyBoySunday

Buisjes en Beugels

Hucklebones

Dandy Starr

Les Zigous  a small snow hand made collection (bottom left)

Ada Ada Ricky's gang search for the horizon

Small Finds - Feeling Green

A few eco-friendly items that have been catching our eye!

Organic Striped Dress by Serendipity

Big Whale Placemat and Circle of Life Plate by Smiling Planet

Green Recycled Chair by Starfish

Bird Wall Stickers by Love Mae

Lightning Tee By Acme

Organic Monkey by Franck & Fischer

Small Threads - Sunhats

Clockwise from top left:

Straw Hat by Noro

Polka Dot Sunhat by by Album di Famiglia 

Embroidered Flower Sun Hat by Gap

Sun Hat by Kangol

Boat Check Player by Kangol 

Liberty Flower Hat by Eponime

Plum Ribbon Straw Hat by L'Esprit de Luna

Red and Blue Floral Sun Hat by Angela Devine

Small specials - Belle Heir

Belle Hier has the most gorgeous collection of antique children's clothes. We have featured them in Small shoots before and everyone on the set fell in love with their timeless quality.  Belle Heir was 'created out of a love of fine vintage and in appreciation of the care, quality and attention to detail that once went into the construction of clothing: hand-stitching, smocking, pin-tucks, pleating, embroidery and button-work.' The clothes they source are often hand made but are surprisingly sturdy, and perfect for special occasions or as an heirloom piece that can be passed on for generations.  If you enter the code word sunshine at checkout you will get 15 percent discount -valid to the end of July.

Small finds- French Style

...some of our favorite French designers...

Talc

Luco

Bonpoint -top and shorts

Petit Bateau

Zef -black dress and bikini

Oona L' Ourse

KetiKeta

Les Petit Chose

Isabel Marant

Thank to Jasmine - our associate editor!

Small Threads - Summer Stripes

Clockwise from top left:

Scarf by Bobo Choses

Simona Smock Stripe Dress by Dagmar Daley

Swimming Boxer by Petit Bateau

Angel Wing Peasant Top at Little Pinwheel

Flip Flops by Havaianas

Mini Owl Kit at Little Pinwheel 

Small threads- a little bit country

vintage bunting

plaid shirt

denim pants

pinafore

corduroy hobo pants

cardigan

skirt

kid sized cowboy hat

boots

Children’s Club Fall/Winter 2010 Collections

Here are a few standouts from the Fall/Winter 2010 collections shown in NYC.

Rock Baby Rock - A modern collection of knits and denim made in LA. I loved the boy’s range of striped sweaters, soft denim and hoodies with graffiti in bright colors.

Cacharel – From the iconic French clothing line started in 1962, the kid’s collection is rich with colors of cranberry and navy crafted from luxurious silk floral and velvet fabrics.

Bequita – This is the debut collection from Bequita. Created from organic cotton and clearly inspired by the East and designed with close attention to detail. The Chinese knot closures are handmade and each piece is intended for play, to be mixed and matched and layered.  

Nellystella - It’s simple-Nelly Chen designs clothing that she would wear herself. My favorite piece is the black blazer for girls. It’s layered over the ditsy floral dresses and rompers in this collection.  

Blu Pony Vintage – A truly vintage collection of clothing inspired by the 1930’s and uses the same sewing tradition of clothing made at that time. Vintage silhouettes with beautiful chambray, linen and plaid cottons.

Bear Feet Shoes - Started in 1985 in Austin, Texas, and still made there today from natural and organic materials. Leather and suede Mary Janes and desert boots in bright-jeweled colors.

Velvet & Tweed - Tina Schreiber does a fantastic job of mixing traditional silhouettes with a modern twist.  Girls dresses perfect for any fancy party in classic cut but in a bright dotted berry pattern and a traditional pea coat for boys in a bright colorful plaid.