Transitioning baby to toddler - styling tips required

[SweetieTime]

So I have 14 month old b/g twins and until now have dressed them very much for practicality why is all baby food orange??? rather than fashion. But now they are becoming vertical more often than horizontal I need inspiration on how to dress them.

They have full wardrobe of clothes but nothing I can seem to put together into outfits. Sound familiar??? I see so many trendy toddlers out and about but am clueless how to create such looks. I have turned to magazines for inspiration, as I would have done for myself, but there is no such thing in the toddler market that I have found, please let me know if I am missing something.

I tried Pinterest and although it had some good ideas it didn't tell me where to get things from and I don't have time to be trawling the different shops browsing anymore. I don't want them head to toe in Next but want mix and match looks.

Where do I start? Any tips, advice or links would be greatly appreciated.

You are mad to go down this route. Toddlers are messy. You want soft comfortable clothes that wash easily. They will spend the next few years covered in mud, playdoh, their dinner, flour, water and paint. They will put their bowls of dinner on their heads as hats and it will all dribble down their faces. They will roll down hills and get covered in grass stains, jump in muddy puddles, try and climb down rabbit holes. This is all part of learning for them. Elasticted waistbands are essential for potty training. Bright colours make stains look better. I'd rethink a little!

My B/G twins are no fashion plates but weirdly I found it so hard to buy them stuff that added up to outfits, rather than just a random collection of items of clothes. I think it is just so overwhelming to buy for two kids at the same time, the same age but different. Mine are also quite small so I also had to check the sizes of everything really carefully. 9-12 months in one place, 18 months in another. Very annoying.

My tips. Pick 2 or 3 shops and buy the bulk of their clothes from there. Less sizing issues. More likely that everything will go together. Then pick a rough palate of colours. EG my DTD doesn't suit pastels so wears a lot of navy, strong purples/greens/reds/pinks. She likes leggings more than tights so lots of tunics and jersey dresses. She also likes to choose her own clothes and has done from about 18 months and looks like an explosion in primark most of the time but hey, she's 2, who cares!

DTS is easier as a more standard size - I buy 8 gap tops (long sleeved in winter and short sleeved in summer) then various trousers/jeans/shorts. I find that with boys stuff, it's very easy to get into "middle-aged man" look so if I see yellow trousers or crazy monkey covered joggers, I buy them ASAP. They will disappear and you will be stuck with navy cords for the rest of the year. Which is obviously fine if you like navy cords but a bit dull for a 2 yo who gets all excited at a polar bear on his vest.

Buy 2 or 3 nice warm hoodies/fur lined cardis/bodywarmer plus one decent rain coat and one decent padded coat. Covers all eventualities.

Mine are not particularly stylish in the Harper Beckham mode but their clothes are full of personality and colourful and still practical. I do get quite overwhelmed by the volume of what I have to buy every 4 months and it can lead to mistakes and things that don't match anything else which then languish in the bottom of the washing pile.

Free you totally understand where I am coming from. I think it is the fact there is 2 to buy for. We have ended up with loads of stuff but it is surprisingly difficult to make an outfit. I don't want uber trendy as I know they have to be practical too as Shadows says.

The tip of sticking to certain shops would definitely work for me too. I usually pick bits up from ASDA while I do the shop and then Next for nicer items. I will also be on the lookout for DTS unusual items even if they are to grow into for him.

I buy almost everything from Zara and stick to a vague colour palette so I know everything is interchangable and this helps so so much.
My DS is always in leggings as they're so much softer and far more comfortable when playing and climbing.
Plus now every item actually gets worn! Whereas before I'd buy from all over the place before releasing nothing really matched.

Give it a few months and they will want to choose their own outfits. The carefully coordinated outfits you lovingly chose will be rejected in favour of stripey blue leggings with spotty pink tops, odd socks and peppa pig wellies with everything.

Sweetie, I know, It seems silly that having a boy and a girl to buy for at the same time is so paralyzing but I suppose most people have one kid and get used to buying them stuff that suits them, then 2 years later have another who is just a baby so can go in babygrows for a year and so the buying for no 2 ramps up gradually. No so with us!

It took me ages to stop feeling guilty for buying one thing for one twin without buying something for the other (bonkers!). Now I understand that you need to buy it NOW or it will disappear!

Fred and Noah do lovely little stylish leggings that are often unisex and cool, colourful prints.

I found with girls a pull-on jersey dress with tights was super easy. Also agree with leggings for both boys and girls and also velcro closing shoes for easy on/off.

Jeans or other trousers with elastic waists

Don't know if they have made it to the UK yet but an American company called Hanna Andersson has fabulous, comfy, colorful and hardwearing clothes for kids. Lovely pull-on dresses and sturdy clothes for girls and boys.

www.hannaandersson.com/

In my book pinafore dresses are great especially denim ones with plain t shirts underneath. Jojo maman bebe do great tights. Matalan do great cotton sundresses for about a fiver in summer.

for ds i buy bright colours as he likes them difficult to find. Fruit of the loom t shirts from ebay help.

Hahahahaha
Sorry that is all

H&m is great for boys clothes hat aren't blue and stripey. We have loads of fab tops from there with fun designs on that he boys love. And their trousers often have adjustable waistbands which is great of you have small waisted kids.

I've only got boys but I know what you mean about things that don't go. With my 9 month old I realised I had loads of stripy tops, stripy leggings and nothing goes together. So I got some plain navy and grey jumpers from h&m that go with everything. Really pleased with them, lovely soft Jersey.

I like the boy leggings on young toddlers, try river island, Fred & Noah, h&m.

Instagram is great for toddler looks and they link to the shops (though independent stores can be pricey )

For my 3 year old I love gap and zara. They fit well and wash well. I avoid supermarket trousers as the fit is always horrible on him.

Little Spree is a lovely childrenswear blog. Also have a look at the Zara and j crew websites they'll give you good ideas about putting outfits together. One of the best bits about having a toddler is dressing them, I miss that now that mine have their own ideas

Totally what msbug said. I just buy dd stuff from charity shops mostly as I got fed up buying her nice things that she refuses to wear. She loves big floaty dresses so I let her wear those everywhere (with tights and a jumper under in winter) even though they are now covered in paint, mud, etc. Boho chic maybe? As long as she's dressed I don't see that it matters much.

I would sticking to mainly one shop. I love Zara especially their summer stuff that's coming in. For shoes I love Hampton Classics. You can get them from Trotters for about £15 and they come in basically every colour!