Excuse Me, But I Think Your Child Has a Raccoon on Her Head - Winter Hats

Usually I try to steer my children toward clothes I think are cute (or cute on them). But you have to pick your battles, and sometimes you have to give in. I have finally accepted that when it comes to winter accessories, I will let my children pick out whatever makes them happy. So, even though it is a trend that I will absolutely never understand, I have bought my children those ridiculous hats with strings that come down by their ears.

These hats are the trend right now. Believe it or not, even with adults. Anna Sui showed them on her runway and all of the celebrities are being photographed in them. The adult version of the trend strikes me as truly ridiculous. But on kids, they're maybe a little bit cute. If you have a tween or a teenager, these hats are all the rage. Want to buy a hat you know your child will wear? This is the way to go. Trust me. Actually, from a practical perspective, these hats are terrific. The ear flap covers your little one's ears and keeps him warm. As I send a sniffly toddler off to school, I feel a little better knowing his head is being kept good and warm in his silly yet adorable hat.

Target has a pretty good selection of hats for your preschool son. Go with his favorite movie or the classic monkey. The most popular version of these hats seems to be those made by DeLux. They so make a children's size, but if your child is about 9 or older, the adult hat seems to work just fine.  And they make a hat for pretty much every animal in the book. My ten year old has the penguin one. I can barely get her to take it off.  That hats can be found at gift shops as well as boutiques, or at the Children's Fashion Stylist Amazon store.  This is one trend I would give in on.  They're actually really quite cute on.

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Dancing Feet - Toddler Shoes from Livie & Luca and See Kai Run

The scene for infant and toddler shoes has changed radically in the past 6 years or so.  When my daughter was a toddler, there were cute shoes available.  But if you wanted good quality shoes that you could feel comfortable were supporting your new walker's feet, while being flexible enough to handle a kid's active lifestyle, you were pretty much looking at European brands.  We had a closet full of shoes from Primigi and Naturino.

Now there are many more players on the market, and my favorite two lines are domestic.  See Kai Run and Livie & Luca  have the cutest stinkin' shoes I have ever seen.  They are particularly playful when it comes to boys' shoes, which is hard to find.  Move over Stride Right.  These shoes are comfortable enough for a kid to live in, and durable enough to hold up long after your child has outgrown them.

Both brands are available on their own websites and retail for about $40-45 (both also offer a slightly cheaper first walker line, but I like the toddler ranges a lot better - the shoes just look better - and I've generally found that by the time your kid needs to be in shoes the toddler range works just fine).  They can also be found at all of the usual suspects, Zappos, Shoes.com, Endless, Piperlime, the Children's Fashion Stylist on Amazon store, and your neighborhood boutique.  They rarely go on much of a sale, so if you see some you like, I would just go ahead and get them.  (I've even been known to buy the same pair in two or three sizes, since a toddler's foot tends to change sizes every three months or so.)  If you do see them marked down, please let everyone know!

10 Piece Winter Wardrobe For Boys 2-6

A ten piece wardrobe for winter for boys sizes 2T through 6 .  All items can be found in the Children's Fashion Stylist Amazon store.

Kids, get ready to head to Target - Harajuku Mini

Target has done a number of collaborations with boutique childrenswear lines which have more or less flown under the radar.  This one is less likely to go so quietly -- or at the very least, it shouldn't be.  And you shouldn't miss it.  Gwen Stefani happens to be one of my heroes.  She is one of those rare rock stars whose venture into fashion actually merits being taken seriously.  The only other instance of a strong celebrity venture that I think is comparable would be the Olsen twins.  Harajuku Lovers has been one of my favorite children's lines for a while.  I own a bunch of their shirts, my daughter owns a bunch of their shirts (and a few sweatshirts, and a mini skirt ...), and on November 13 an irresistible collection from Harajuku Mini will be available to Target customers.

Target previewed the launch with a selection of bags for back to school which are now sold out.  On November 13 a much broader collection arrives.  In addition to bags, there will be sneakers, an infant line, and even a complete toddler/tween line.  The lookbook can be found online at lilsugar.com.  I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of the styling of the lookbook.  I would suggest focussing, rather, on the individual pieces.  But there are some really precious items.  At Target prices, there should be plenty worth scooping up.

10 Piece Winter Wardrobe for Toddler Girls

A ten piece wardrobe for winter for older girls (approx sizes 5-12).  All items can be found in the Children's Fashion Stylist Amazon store.

Boys - not just Gap jeans anymore

I don't have anything against Gap jeans.  In fact, I've been really impressed with the cut on the 1969 jeans.  They're very cute.  But you don't need me to tell you how to go to the Gap or Old Navy and buy your son some jeans.  That's the uniform.  I can't count the number of times, on the other hand, that I've heard moms and store owners complain that there are no cute pants out there for boys besides this uniform.  It's something of a mantra among moms.  While it's true that the options for boys are more limited than those for girls, I still feel like there are some fun options out there.

I'm all for getting truly funky with boys' pants, but I'll save that for the next post.  The reality is, parents tend to be more conservative when shopping for their sons.  So let's start with the basics.  Color has become the watchword for basics of all sorts recently, and boys pants are no exception.  If you feel most comfortable with your little man in jeans or cords, you can still play with color.  I am blown away by the amazing and rich colors of cords available.

My absolute favorite pants for boys are Appaman's carpenter cords.  The corduroy is phenomenally soft, the cut is adorable, and the green ... come on ... shut the front door.  The more teal green of JCrew's slim fit cords is also really nice, without being too out there for a boy to feel comfortable in them.  If your budget doesn't allow for $42-46 cords, my favorite fall back, as always, is Zara.  Zara's 5-pocket cords have a great fit, and are only $29.90.  I don't love the fit of H&M's cords quite as much as Zara's, but they're even less expensive and the colors are really fun.

Who says color is only for cords?  If you -- or your son -- are feeling a little more daring, Zara also has twill trousers in some pretty great colors.  The blue is an incredible shade.  For a break from Gap jeans, Zara is a terrific resource for jeans in general.  The slim cut jeans are particularly cute.  Lately my littlest one has not been a big fan of skinny jeans, but if your child will wear them, Zara's jeans are absolutely rock star!  Not to be forgotten, I've seen a big resurgence among the boys lately of good old Levi's.  For something really out there - and it's all the rage with the teen boys - Levi's has skinny jeans in absolutely outrageous colors (think bright purple).

So step away from the Gap -- there really are other choices out there.