Jean-ius style

So last week was all about girls and their tights. I felt a bit bad about being so girl focused, so this week I'm going to take on something a bit more boyish, or at least unisex.

The inspiration for this post goes like this. The other day I was walking home from a lunch meeting through some parkland quite close to our apartment. The canal was frozen over and covered with snow, like icing on a big cake. The trees were completely bare of leaves and the sky was a steely gray - creating the impression of a rather naff Christmas card. As I came over the final hill- thanking the lord for my gumboots and anticipating a nice warm cocoa- I almost fell upon a group of boys using the slope for some afternoon sledding! 

All bundled up with their mittens and scarves the children were tossing themselves down the hill with the energy of small, pink faced bolts of lightening and then running back up with little breaths choofing out of them like steam trains. It was a truly exhausting sight. And yet I was also more than a little jealous. (PS I am going to find my own sled this week.)

Needless to say, no one was wearing tights. For sledding you need something much sturdier. Something like jeans. They don't tear, they're nice and warm and they don't absorb water (too) quickly.

 Ok, I know that last week I was all down on jeans, but sometimes there is nothing better than a good pair of jeans to get you through an afternoon of raucous outdoor fun. And even though they can feel a bit like a uniform in winter, the wonderful thing about jeans is that they are so darn versatile. They can be for slopping around the house, or getting good and dirty outside or even making a high fashion statement.

And if you do it right then your little sledding monsters can look stylish as well. But remember, we're after comfort and style, not K-Fed.

To illustrate my point you can start with the basics from somewhere like H&M Kids. In Australia Cotton On Kids is a good equivalent, they produce all the latest styles cheap as chips for the kids to run, in, sled in and in not such a long time from now, grow out of.

But jeans can also make a statement if you want to have fun with them. Check out these pimped up Levi's with acid wash that looks like something from The Wedding Singer. Warning: these are only for people 14 and under. If you're conceivably old enough to have worn acid wash jeans on the first trip around the fashion merry go round then they are not for you. They are also not for taking your child to lunch with grandma in, or meetings with prospective schools etc etc. These are the birthday party and disco material.

Finally, we have the classy jeans. The investment piece, if you will. There are no trends or tricks with these. They're just nicely cut and finished with no embellishment. You know you can bring your little man out to dinner wearing these ones from Stella McCartney and, if he does not drop spaghetti sauce on them, he will look just like one of Brangelina's brood. 

If you're lucky and your kids don't grow too fast they may last a couple of years before you need to invest in a new pair...

Next week... Some Danish Christmas cheer!

Take care,
Claire