I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Carter’s. I received a complimentary gift card to facilitate my review and thank me for my participation. Cute children and opinions are all mine.
My girls are nothing if not fearless fashionistas. While their momma is perfectly content in a solid rotation of v-neck tees, jeans, and TOMS that smell like they’ve been worn all summer, these children of mine treat getting dressed in the morning as a ceremony for the super fabulous.
There is combing through closets. There are accessories. There is lipstick application and ballerina-like twirls in front of the mirror. I’m not allowed to touch their hair, but aside from that, getting dressed is a sacred ritual that is not to be messed with.
Ellie has even started quietly creeping out of bed like the bite-sized ninja she is and dressing herself fully (lipgloss, armful of bracelets and all) before shaking me awake and asking in her best Valley girl voice if she looks beautiful—where does a four-year old pick up a Valley girl lilt in the first place?!
As summer vacation rolls to an end, I started thinking about what this fashion obsession would mean for the school year. There is no way these opinionated ladies o’ mine will go from the absolute freedom of summer to a rigid wardrobe without a battle. It’s already been made clear that there will be no makeup and there will most certainly be daily hair brushing by mom. But the whole picking out their outfits and forcing them into submission thing? It’s not really worth the struggle for me.
These girls already see getting dressed as expressions of who they are. As long as it’s appropriate, why take that away from them?
Still, I’m not about to leave it completely to chance. When we go back-to-school shopping I make sure that the final pieces coordinate for the most part so that they can be mixed and matched however my little divas happen to pull them out.
When Carter’s offered to sponsor a back-to-school shopping trip, I jumped at the chance. Cute, colorful and totally on trend, their inventory had us oooohing and ahhhhing and pulling way too many things off the rack (luckily for my wallet, they have some amazing sales going on).
(Notice how they make themselves completely at home as they shop?)
Now, I’ve always thought of Carter’s as a go-to for newborns and infants. I had no idea they carry up to size 8! Unfortunately, Samantha is too tall for 8s at this point—but she did pick out a pair of size 3 sneakers with no laces, which made me confident that she’ll actually wear them.
Our mini diva got to revel in shopping mostly for herself (something which happens very rarely since she has so many hand-me-downs from big sis).
Ellie picked each of these pieces out herself (along with a necklace, another pair of shoes, and a sweater), while the saleslady laughed her butt off at how opinionated this little firecracker is. I was constantly pulling out something I thought she’d love only to have her look it up and down with her eyes all scrunched together before telling me exactly what she didn’t like about it. Other times, she would squeal with absolute delight at a piece she found (there was a whole lot of oh. em. gee! going on) and I would have to run to her before she pulled six of them in the wrong size off the rack.
I can’t even begin to tell you how thrilled I am that these pieces can be mixed and matched however she likes without it looking like she got dressed in the dark.
She put a couple of outfits together when we got home, adding a ring and some hair clips for extra flair saying (and this is a direct quote) “I need some jewelry to, like, rock my outfit out a little.” I’m pretty confident she’s the funniest human on the planet.
Carter’s is running a Count Me In Preschool Sale through 8/31 with up to 50% off of everything in the store and some crazy good two or more doorbusters including $6 leggings, long sleeve tees, boys terry pants & slogans.
Since I love you so much, I’ve got a little coupon here that will give you 25% off your purchase of $40 or more through September 7th.
The post Back-to-School Shopping for Fashionistas appeared first on Cuddles and Chaos.