There is no doubt that The Cosby Show was one of the best television shows ever made and I never missed an episode (in the pre-Tivo days this was a big deal).  I have many favorite Cosby Show episodes, but the Gordon Gartrelle episode is just so great because I remember designer shirts like that!  Way back when we first met, my husband used to wear Gordon Gartrelle-like shirts.  Hair laid and faded, pager in his pocket, boy you couldn’t tell him anything–he was The Man!   Like Theo, he really shouldn’t have been spending so much money on clothes (he was a college student!), but also like Theo, he was dressing to impress the girls (Me!).   Enjoy this episode for it’s comedic genius and to relive 80′s “designer” fashions.   Hilarious! 

© 2008 – 2009, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

My daughter is very opinionated about what she wears.  Luckily, she has good taste and we agree on just about every fashion decision.  While I want her to dress fashionably, I also believe that she should be able to run and play and be a kid without worry that she will mess up her clothes.  So that means mostly funki tops, jeans, cords, skirts & tights, loose dresses and gym shoes.  And everything must be machine washable!  Over the years, I have found particular stores and brands that consistently deliver wearable and fashionable clothes for kids.  Here are some of my favorites:

Mini Boden: The little person’s version of Boden, this UK based company has fun clothes for kids.  I have found that their clothes are sized to last more than one year and the quality holds up well after years of washing.   I would say that 80% of my daughter’s fall/winter wardrobe comes from Mini Boden.  She has several pairs of the cords, some skirts, dresses, tights/leggings, and many long-sleeved tees.    Here are some of her favorite Mini Boden fashions, the ones that she picked herself and excited to wear (she is in LOVE with the red peacoat, so maybe she’ll actually keep a jacket on this year):

Two moms created this line of kids’ clothes and since they have been in operation, their company has taken off both online and at trunk shows across the country.  Lark and Loon sells soft, playable tees, drops and leggings that kids will want to live in.  And their designs are commissioned by artists, 100% cotton and made in the USA, so it’s all good.  While most of their tees are unisex, I especially love the tees that I have seen the boys wear because it is so hard to find cute boys clothes:  

While I tend to shop for my daughter at local boutiques and online, I also hit the mall to see what’s special there.   Gapkids always offer good quality for the money, but often their fashions are hit or miss; sometimes they have cute lines and and sometimes they don’t.  Right now they are on point with the Junkfood tees!  My daughter has the Hello Kitty and Girl Power tees, but I’m also loving the old-school Batman and of course Speed Racer:

As I have said before Lucky Brand is one of my favorite brands and both Girly and I were excited to discover that they have very cute and funki kids’ clothes–often exactly like the adult clothes.  We had a really good time this summer buying a few matching tees and sweatpants.  *FYI: their clothes tend to run large; I got a size 5 pants this summer for my almost 7 year old.  Here we are dressed for fall:

Shoes: that’s the one area that Girly and I may argue about.  Let me say that I HATE shoe-shopping with either of my kids.  Usually my husband goes too, just so that we can share the torture.  On our “things-we-hate-doing-as-parents list”, it’s right up there with going to Chuck E. Cheese.  My son is not so bad anymore because since his foot is getting larger, he has more choices and he has become more fashion-savvy.   He used to be the absolute worst; we would shop for an entire Saturday and come home with nothing.  Again, he’s not so bad now.  But, Girly, her problem is that there too many cute shoes to choose from and she loooves to shop for new shoes.  But sometimes the cute shoes are impractical for the everyday life of a kid and this is where the battle lines are drawn.  I refuse to get her shoes that she can’t run in or that will look terrible after a few rough days at recess.  She also has narrow feet and often cannot wear many of the trendy styles, like ballet flats.  All of this makes for some long afternoons in the shoe department.  I rarely buy her shoes online because she really needs to be fitted each time; I mostly shop at Nordstrom for her shoes.   But for those of you who can avoid the hell that is back-to-school shoe shopping, Zappos.com has a large selection of children’s shoes and a liberal return policy.  We have purchased Geox now for a few years and these shoes are not only fashionable, but practically indestructible.  After a whole school year of rough and tumble play, these shoes look exactly the same as they did the first time she put them on.   This is the pair she got this year, along with some Mary Jane’s when she wants to dress things up a bit: 

Along with her Mini-Boden silver high-tops, a pair of nice boots to wear with dressy dresses and her Uggs, she’s good to go.  

Will this relatively stress-free shopping experience with my daughter continue as she gets older?  Or will we become like the pairs that I see in the mall, the teen rolling her eyes and texting her friends that her mother is impossible, while the mother repeats “pick your battles” under her breath to herself and decides how much she is going to give on this one but not the other.   Oh, sometimes it isn’t pretty, the altercations I witness in the junior department.  But sometimes I see a mother and teen daughter walking hand-in-hand, jabbering away like girlfriends, swinging bags of agreed-upon purchases and I say, “that will be Girly and I.”   

© 2008 – 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

1. Real brewed iced tea with lots of ice.  Here in the south it is taken for granted.  Elsewhere, I ask.
2. Lemon bars. 
3. The beach: the air, the ocean, the sounds of the surf. 
4. Real lemonade.  Made with lemons, sugar and water.  That’s it!
5. A crossed-off To Do list.
6. Laughing out loud until I am crying and can’t speak.
7. Going to an art museum.
8. Curling up with a really good book with hours to read it.
9. Watching the baby gorillas play in the zoo.  They are frighteningly human.
10. Taking a walk on a sunny fall day.
11. Seeing dolphins at the beach.
12. Sitting by a roaring fire.  Just thinking and dreaming.
13. Fresh flowers in my house.
14. Afternoon English teatime at a fancy hotel.  English Breakfast Tea, little sandwiches, scones and real clotted cream.
15. Roasting marshmallows and making S’mores.
16. A big, bright, full moon.
17. Key lime pie.  Made with real key limes and a homemade crust. 
18. Hot cocoa made with real milk, gourmet chocolate (no Swiss Miss here!) and topped with tons of thick whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
19. Going to Disneyworld/land.  It IS the happiest place on earth.
20. Hearing my favorite song in the grocery store.  I unabashedly sing along.  And dance.

© 2008, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Some of my fondest childhood memories are associated with candy.  I used to visit my grandmother every summer in Alabama and went to church on Sundays.  During the break between sunday school and church I would take my offering and walk to to MIss Sue’s candy store.  Miss Sue was OLD–she had to be at least 90.  She didn’t move behind her counter, but trusted you to get the candy on your own and then pay her from her spot on the stool.  I don’t think anyone ever cheated her; she looked like she might take you out if you did.  Not that you needed to steal; back then a kid could get a bag full of candy for not a lot of money.  

And then there was the Candy Lady.  Every urban city has a few and Chicago was no different.  This was an enterprising neighborhood woman who sold candy to the neighborhood kids from a small room off her back porch.  She was always a stop on my walk home from school.  My Candy Lady also sold french fries in a brown paper bag for $1.  Sugar and grease…wholesome afterschool snacks!

Here’s a partial list of some of the old school candy that I remember.  Most of these are still available at Dylan’s Candy Bar in NYC or online at websites like Nostalgic Candy.com.

From my recent trip to Dylan’s Candy Bar. Yum!

Dots – I love these!  Truthfully they taste like plastic and sit in my stomach like a rock, but they are one of my favorites.  Except for the yellow and green ones; I try to give those away. 

Hot Tamales - I still eat these and they are hotter than ever.

Mike & Ike’s – The fruity cousins to Hot Tamales.  

B B Bats Taffy Pops – The strawberry ones are the best.  Make sure you still have all your teeth after eating one of these!

Candy Button Strips – My dad used to bring these home to me after work.   I could never eat them without eating the paper also.

Boston Baked Beans - I did not care for these at all.

Charleston Chew – I don’t remember if I actually liked the candy, but I remember the commercial clearly:  ”Charleson, Charleston, is chocolately nougart….that’s why they call it the biggie.”

Fun Dip – So fun and tasty!  But really unsanitary…licking and dipping…licking and dipping again.

Mary Janes – Another teeth-breaker.   Of course now I can’t eat this candy without thinking of Rick James.   And I don’t necessarily want to do that.

Bit-O-Honey - Was there a secret alliance between the candy companies and dentists?  

Chick-O-Stick – Admit it!–They tasted like wood.

Red Hot Dollars – Not really hot, but sticky, gummy goodness!

Bottle Caps – I choked on one of these and never ate them again.

Pixy Sticks – There was an art to eating these; if you put your mouth on the paper, it was all over.

Necco Wafers – One word: yuck.

Lemonheads – I’m not a big fan of hard candy, but I liked these little babies.

Chuckles – They remind me of waiting room vending machines.

Pop Rocks – Besides Fun Dip, Pop Rocks were the most fun candy to eat. Do you remember the urban legend that the kid from the Life commercial died mixing Pop Rocks with soda?  That pretty much killed the brand for a long time.

© 2008 – 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Like I said before, I’m not a shopper, but my new Ugg boots just arrived from Zappos (overnight) and they are sweet!  I was debating about getting some new ones because I already have the Classic Tall in chestnut, but these metallic pewter boots are so different (and oh, so cute).  Don’t wait to get yours; Zappos.com and Nordstrom.com only had 2 left in my size and they are back-ordered elsewhere.  As I have said in a previous post, when they are gone, they are gone.  By the way, although the boots were a few dollars more on Zappos, shipping was free and I didn’t have to pay tax, so their price ended up being the least expensive over-all.

I was doing some shopping today, and I saw that Doc Martens are back in (mainstream) style!  Hello!  Took me right back to my  Melrose days in L.A!  First Minnetonka moccasins and now Doc Martens?  Am I that old that I am starting to see fashion repeats?  But, unlike the moccasins, I won’t be wearing Doc Martens this time around.  Brings back memories though; my mom HATED those boots!  Despite her opinion, you couldn’t tell me I wasn’t fly in my Doc Martens and Cross Colours shirt, even though my feet hurt by the end of the day; those shoes were heavy.

I also saw that like every other designer, Coach has gone “urban” in their new shoe line.  Their logo’d gym shoes look like a cross between the Simmons girls’ Pastry line (which are really cute–if you are under 20 years old) and old school Air Jordans.   They definitely had a certain consumer in mind when they made these.  But it wasn’t me.

So, although I’m not a shopper (fashion-forward cultural anthropologist, that’s what I am), I will keep my eyes open and hip you to the latest things I find.  And if I happen to find some groovy threads for myself in the process, all the better!

© 2008 – 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.