Confessions of a Hanna snob...

[mom to little e]

I swear the truth must be told. I think I am turning into a complete Hanna Andersson snob!

I went shopping yesterday (see my "ISO jeans for women who have had babies" posting in the lounge...) and went into every store that had kids clothes (looking for sizes 18 mos). I went into Children's Place, Gymbo, Gap Kids, Old Navy, and Osh Kosh (and a few others I can't remember). I walked in, looked around, and walked straight out. Didn't buy a thing. I am SO not into the current fashion trends for toddler boys!

I don't like the overly layered look (doesn't seem practical for everyday); don't like the overly "logo-ed" look, either. Spring is coming and everything was dark green, brown, etc., etc. When I would look over at the girls clothing, I could see TONS of cute things. Bright, pretty, colorful, appropriate for an under two-year-old. Boys clothing just seems to go right into the "little man" stage and I am just not into it. He is only 15 mos. and I still want him to be dressed cute and sweet as I feel a baby can be.

And so my wallet growns at the fact that we have no code and have to pay extraordinary shipping charges...

Is there any hope? Can't my son have cute clothes, even though he is a boy?

Maryann (slightly tongue-in-cheek and please, no offense intended to anyone)
Momma to Ean...the little love of my life!

[meshell]

LOL! ITA! Ok, we haven't even had our baby yet and now that I've discovered I feel like there is no going back! DH and I went shopping today as well, and one of the first stores we went in to was Hanna. He took one look at the prices and I thought he was going to fall over. I think he's jaded since we were at Costco last week and they had Carter's onesies for $5.49 each. He didn't understand the appeal of Hannas.

So I got frustrated with him (the last thing I need is him cutting us off Hannas before the baby is even born) so I explained to him that while I would not be amassing a ton of Hanna clothes for an infant, I think that they are classic and a good value in the long run for toddlers and little boys/girls. I promptly marched him all around the mall to all of the other shops so he could compare the quality, clothing, prices, and designs (can you tell I REALLY wanted to make my point?) Since we were at a mall in Newport Beach, CA, (where most, if not all, of the shops were all high end, one store sold baby juicy couture outfits! - thank goodness he hasn't seen the prices at Old Navy and Target) it was easy for him to see that there were a lot of other childrens' clothes out there for close to the same price, but not the same quality. I also tried to make the point that all the other stuff out there was really trendy and didn't make children look like children.

So, I think I made my point, or at the very least he agreed with me since I'm in my last trimester and I'm a little crazy. Nonetheless, I'm softening the blow for later!

[MeredithsMom]

LOL. Before DD was born DH and I bought some (cute) things at a Carter's outlet. Then after Meredith was here I got more into Gymbo, Hanna, and Janie & Jack. Yesterday we went to an outlet mall and visited the same stores you did, mostly--Gap, Children's Place, Carters, Osh Kosh, etc. NOTHING did it for me.

DH said "uh, oh, guess there's no going back." At least I DO like some Gymbo and their sales make the clothes very affordable. As for J&J and Hanna, though, I just suck it up. I'm going to start buying fewer quality items and see if that works.

[C99]

No, I totally agree w/ you. I've been drawn into places like TCP and Gymbo because of all their bright, colorful stuff for girls, only to turn around and walk out because there was nothing or almost nothing comparable for boys. I agree: I don't want my 2-y/o dressed in boring polo shirts and khaki shorts. He has the rest of his life for that! I will say that I was impressed w/ the colors (if not the styles) of the Talbots Kids spring/summer line for boys. Though, to be truthful, not much above size 90 the Hanna catalog knocks my socks off either.

[jess_g]

I love Hanna too mainly because the baby styles like zippers and oneses come in bigger sizes. I still dress my son in one pieces sometimes and it drives me nuts that most companys end the baby clothes in size 9 or 12 months. My son wore those sizes when he was 9 months old, but after that he was still a baby! I just bought about 6 zippers from Hanna and love them. I also bought some clothes for me and love those too. I am lucky to have an outlet about an hour away so I can shop in person. I think I am getting obssesed too and will be making the trip to the outlet a lot this summer when the weather gets better.

Jessica.

[babymama]

When DS was younger than 9 months or so, it was easy to find lots of cute baby stuff for him at many of the stores you mentioned, but as he gets older, it's harder to find babyish clothes (he's now 15 months). So that's the appeal of Hanna to me. I think it would have been way harder to justify when there were more options. Also I find that the zippers really are unique. I've looked for alternatives everywhere (size 18 months) and I can find some that are similar, but none w/o feet, w/ such sturdy cotton, AND w/ a zipper as opposed to snaps. My budget couldn;t handle an all Hanna wardrobe, so we get plenty of clothes at Target, Old Navy, TCP, LE Overstocks, etc. But the Hannas are really fun!

Lydia
Mama to Santiago, born 11/16/03

[writeleigh]

I agree Lydia- it was far easier finding cute boys stuff when Liam fit into newborn sizes. It gets harder. I do like some of the "boutique" brand boy's stuff, though usually do not pay full price for it (buy at end of season sales or ebay).