When I was pregnant with Honeybun, I amassed quite of collection of gender neutral baby clothes since we choose not to find out our baby’s genders before they are born. But a few weeks before her arrival, I decided to go buy one special boy outfit and one special girl outfit for the baby to have when s/he met his/her family those first few days. I hadn’t done much clothes shopping myself before that (I had very generous friends and family) and I remember walking through the store, browsing the baby section and thinking “It has to be a girl, it has to! Boy clothes are the worst!”
And I was lucky, I got my girl. And then another and I loved every second of dressing them in their little dresses and tunics and leggings and skirts and sweaters.
And then I got my boy. And the clothes still sucked. Everything in the baby boy section is so boring! The colors are dull and don’t vary much and everything looks like a cross between an old-man with elastic waists and a college kid with screen printed t-shirts.
I was very lucky, again, for the generosity of friends and family and had to do very little shopping for my little dude in the beginning. But over time I managed to find my baby-boy-dressing-groove and began getting complements on how cute/nicely he was always dressed and now that I know what I like him in, I’ve been able to build his wardrobe into a respectable collection I actually love.
So, here’s my tips for how to dress a baby boy as cute as a little girl:
Newborns:
Let’s be honest, all newborns are pretty much the same. Doodle spent his early days wearing the same onesies his sisters did (though I did keep him out of the pink and purple socks) as well as a few all-in-ones. When we did go out, he had a few cute striped onesies that I had matching pants for.
Older Infant:
As he got bigger, I discovered how awesomely adorable he was in rompers. Either the overall kind with straps or the all-in-one shortie types with collars were my favorite. They were easy to put on but looked more put together than a simple onesie and cotton pants.
Young Toddler:
Once proportions change and his body shape became more that of a toddler and less of a baby, I started putting him in proper pants as often as possible. Jeans, khakis, anything NOT made of stretchy knit fabric made a huge difference in his overall appearance. Paired with a nice patterned or striped shirt and he was the cutest kid on the block!
Older Toddler:
Lately I’ve gotten really hooked on plaid shorts and collared shirts. I think he is just too cute walking around in his patterned shorts and coordinating “big boy” shirts!
Bonus:
You can always put boys in your favorite fan gear and they’re super cute!
Nice idea..But i always follow mix patterns. Pattern mixing is a fun way to add visual interest to an outfit. Play with the scale of the patterns, but try to stick to the same color palette to keep the outfit from becoming too busy.
This is a great tip, Stacy! It’s something we’ve started playing with as Doodle’s gotten older and wants to pick his own clothes. I let him pick so long as the colors are in the same general family.
Your Baby Collection is Amazing, I always want to have same Collection for my upcoming Angel.
Thanks, Alisa!