A pointless and futile fume. Go on, you know you want to.

[colditz]

I saw a pair of wellies the other day, in the little girl's (toddler) section of a shoe shop.

They were white, and covered from ankle to knee in white fake fur!!!

I mean, WHY!? Is it not enough that women hobble themselves with heels to make themselves feel pretty? Do our little girls have to forgo puddles, and mud, and wet leaves, and dirty playgrounds, and all the other things that make being 2 years old fun, because the footwear supposedly designed to keep feet dry in wet weather has to be kept clean? Surely the point of wellies is puddles!

It's not fair on them. No little girl would want to wear 'boy's' wellies, but girls wellies aren't wellies. They are fashion accessories.

it makes me cross, and I know nobody else will care. i don't even know myself why I get so cross, I have a son, a son on the way, and no plans for more

I care colditz
it's grrrr-inducing, isn't it. As a child me and my bro both had 'neutral' yellow/green wellies! do they only sell 'boys'' and 'girls'' these days?

Yes, yes ,yes, it's infuriating!!! You are sooo right, colditz! It's utterly utterly ridiculous; all these frills and laces and fairy princesses drive me up the wall. I have a daughter - and I am having to look twice as hard to find her clothes that she can splash around in than I have to do for ds. I suppose it doesn't help that I just hate all the pink stuff, but when I went to buy her some wintershoes last week, I ended up in the boys' section, because all the girls's shoes had the most ridiculous thin soles (she is supposed to walk in them in winter for goodness sake!)/had weird furry or frilly things hanging of them (picture those in a puddle)/had heels (she's 3!!)/etc. I would have gone for blinking pink if only they could have withstood even a hint of a raindance in a puddle! But no, nothing like that for girls. Grrrrrr.. At least I am lucky anough to have relatives on the continent - there's lots more what I would call 'normal' girls' clothes around there..

There was a clothes shop round here some time ago that sold very expensive 'hand painted' childrens clothes. Ha ha!

Would they have survived the first dollop of dinner down them, followed by a nice hot cycle in the machine? The shop is now closed.

oh come on

they weren't wellies they were boots

there are plenty of sturdy girls wellies around

colditz

you don't even have a girl! Are you pg

but normal parents wouldn't buy those kind of things for little girls

my fume is the sexy goddess wear they make for 6 and 7 year olds

oh and when I only had DS there seemed to be 8 rails of girls clothes to every rail of boys and now I have DD therre doesn't .. what's up with that then?

julen you need to find another shoe shop

I have 2 girls, we live in the countryside and believe me we have no problem buying 'suitable' and 'serviceable' clothes for mud and wet!

Also have plenty of ridiculous clothes for parties and dressing up - its important you know

yes hate the sexy babe things

but there is plenty of other stuff around its not obligatory

I hate all the footballers clothes for boys 'I am so naughty' t-shirts etc

Yes there are girls' wellies around but why oh why do they all have to be pink?!?!?? I know I know if you look hard enough and are prepared to pay through the nose you can find some non-sugary ones, but only if you make a real effort. And finding shoes that are meant for walking has been a nightmare from the start, I can tell you! (Admittedly dd has awkwardly shaped feet, but all the same..)

nowt wrong with pink

its the girls navy

you can always get plain green ones from a 'country store' or farm shop

... {bashfull admittance} .. am loving buying pink for DD [girn]

(OK, maybe I haven't made the right manner of effort.. I do hate shopping so there is probably lots that I don't even know about. I just see red when I see all those fairybabes things (and the footballers' stuff for boys for that matter.) (And yes of course there is nothing wrong with dressing up, but there are limits to my patience with pink) (Having said that, dd is sitting on the sofa at the mo drssed in pink trousers, pink/purple camouflage t-shirt, purple tie-dye dress on top of that, pink pyjamas with cat on top of that ... She got dressed herself.) (Where did she get all that stuff from..>?!?)

(I'll stop ranting now)

I agree that some girls clothes are far too adult, but surely white fake fur is purely cute and cuddly - if totally impractical.

Incidentally my dd1 (12) loves pink in all shades, but is in all of her school sports teams, and gives her older brother a tough time on occasions - nothing sugary about her!

Twiglett, I am with you there. The shops seemed packed with attractive, simple, girls' clothes in all hues when I was shopping for ds...now where have they gone?
Have always had no probs finding yellow (a good hand-me-down shade) wellies even in mud-free suburbia though.
PS Twig, I like pink too. More than I ever believed possible...

If I ever buy DD anything new (very rare) I just default to pink, pretty much as I default to black for myself.

It's just easier, I know it will match most things in her wardrobe.

Where are all the practiccal l/s tops for girls this year, dd1 has grown out of loads and I can't find any to fit ( age 6-7) all too grown up! AND why is there no party dresses post 6 she loves them!

What happened tot he green wellies with frog eyes on? They were cute and good enough to jump in puddles.

I have done the pink default thing this Autumn too. DD's wardrobe is full of different shades of pink/mauve/purple so I know that anything goes with anything (and it makes it easier for dh to get her dressed without consulting me but I spend a lot of time raving about pink and the lack of other colours available for girls.

I bought som eownderful red and primary coloured striped tights in Adams for both dd's but could not understand what they were supposed to go with in the Adams store - full of pink dresses.

I think white furry boots are just silly, but there are many wellies around in all shades. My issue is trying to find dd nice dresses, as although she has only just turned 5 she is generally in size 7-8. Little girl (and she is a little girl!) party dresses just don't seem to exist - they are all horribly pre-teen and tarty.

Alternatively you can make like me and buy your child's clothes at Mole Valley Farmers in South Molton (deep woolly North Devon, but I'm sure there are equivalents in all rural areas; not online, obviously -- you have to live the experience.). A fab place, stocking sheep dip next to bumper packs of bacon, and chainsaw parts alongside frilly valances for the bed.

They do yer basic green farmers' wellies in all sizes from baby size 3 (yes really!) upwards, and clothes kids really need, like cheapo cords, warm fleeces and a comprehensive selection of Muddy Puddles waterproofs. Okay, in the city the children willl look like country bumpkins, but it's cheap, practical, comfy and completely devoid of tacky fashions.

frogs, I love those farm stores, you can buy just about anything (including tractors) all in the one shop!