In today’s world there are nearly as many styles in baby clothing as there are babies crawling about. Parents who want modern clothing can find it at the nearest Wal-Mart, those who desire alternative forms of clothing for their babies can usually find it online, some people make their baby clothing by hand, cutting cloth and sewing together designs from patterns purchased at the nearest Hancock Fabrics location. The choices are nearly limitless and include styles and designs too numerous to mention completely.
Like in other areas of the fashion world, baby clothes designs never really die, they go in and out of style according to the whims of the populace which, in the case of baby clothes, means the whims of the parents. Right now one of those whims is leaning toward retro clothing styles.
The term retro can mean a number of things, but often refers to pop culture of the recent past. While its true that styles influenced by the pop culture of the 1970s and 1980s are becoming popular, there is another retro movement taking place and it leans toward classic or old world baby clothing. Designs that were popular fifty, sixty, seventy, and up to a hundred years ago are gaining popularity with parents all over the country.
For baby boys, billowing “rompers” are selling from a number of specialty shops and websites from around the world to a largely American clientele, as are two piece short & shirt sets and old-style coveralls. Classic designs for girls include mostly flowing dresses and female counterparts to the boys’ rompers.
Most of these designs can not be found in the average American store and many come from Europe and must be purchased online or by mail order. The British web site “Baby Classics” offers these styles and more to their customers, so many of whom are in the US that the company saw fit to quote their prices in dollars as well as British pounds. The outfits are expensive by most baby clothing standards, costing about the same as some of the more extravagant designer outfits for babies, but have found an audience because of the “cute” appearance of the clothing as it is worn by the infants or toddlers.
These extremely retro baby fashions may not be for everyone because off their unique looks and hefty prices, but many parents are jumping onto this classic bandwagon and dressing their babies in the fashions of long ago. Due to the cost and the delicate fabrics you probably won’t see a lot of these designs showing up at the local park for play dates, but don’t be surprised if you’re sitting in church or at some special occasion and see a baby dressed like she’s living in the 1920s.