I was intrigued when a friend passed along the link to heelarious.com. It’s a site that sells high heeled shoes for infants 0-6 months old. Absurd.

But it’s not quite as ridiculous as it sounds. The shoes are completely soft and collapse with weight. They are decorative and true “sitting shoes”, not meant for walking. They’re available in a variety of colours and retail for $35.

I laughed at this idea. My first department as a fashion buyer was babywear and I wondered whether I’d have bought in heelarious shoes as part of the store’s collection. I don’t think so. These peds (on the left below) look a little witchy and vampish. Perhaps they could be cute as part of a Halloween costume along with jail-bird striped stockings, a black frock, pointy hat and broomstick.

The invention is creative though. And in moderation, high-fashion clothing can be very cute on babies and children. I remember making a dear little Levis denim jacket part of my Autumn Infants range one season. It was utterly adorable. But our child would not sport her first fashion heels at this age. If baby had to match Mummy’s black patent heels, she’d wear the little flats on the right below.

I run into loads of Mums taking kids on shopping sprees at this time of year. I suspect that treating kids to new clothes before school starts is common. Perhaps even an American tradition and a fun bonding opportunity.

The concept of wearing civvies to school is completely foreign to me. I wore a school uniform for both Primary and High school. As much as I disliked my uniform, it made life easy. I  knew exactly what I had to wear each morning. There was no clothing rivalry because everybody looked the same (for the most part anyway). As soon as I grew out of my uniform, my parents bought the next size up without pause. My individual school style was stifled, but I made up for that after hours. We dressed up to the nines every opportunity we got. Walking across the road to hang out with a neighbour became a major fashion event.

School must have been a different experience sans the uniform. I’d love to hear what it was like expressing your individual style at school. How did you feel about what you wore, and how did  your peers make you feel about your style? Is there really variety, or is it just a new type of uniform as most kids make every effort to conform with their cool outfits from AE, Abercrombie and Fitch, Old Navy and Hollister.

If you live in the Northern hemisphere, you may have noticed that retail stores are full of autumn merchandise. The first item that retailers tend to replenish going into the winter season is jeans. The best assortment of size, length, wash and style is available right now. This does not only hold true for women, but for men and children as well.

Some stores will offer denim specials at this time of year, to help move huge volumes that have been bought in. If jeans for the family is on your shopping list – now is a good time to buy them.

I would like to introduce you to a fantastic blog: “Cute little Clothes” is also an online children’s boutique. Not only are the clothes and accessories absolutely adorable, but the shopping experience is easy to navigate. If you are looking for something exclusive for your infant, toddler or pre-schooler – this site has a lot to offer.

The blog also offers links to other sites which are well worth a look:

• Mommies with Style
• Mom Finds
• Daddy Drama

Enjoy perusing and happy shopping!