Seasons change so change your clothes..

Thanks to Lise's suggestion I'm here to chat about clothes!

Ethan is 2 and 3 months now and perhaps a little on the short side for his age group. As a result I've only recently gone through his wardrobe and draws to sort out his clothes. Bag up the ones that are too small and move in the age 2-3 clothes. It's always bitter sweet this task. Of course, now he's older it happens less often, when you have a baby they're always growing out of their clothes! It's sad to say goodbye to them but it's always exciting to have new ones for him to wear.

When I got pregnant I knew I would find buying clothes for my growing bump very exciting. At first I was very restrained. I didn't buy anything until I was way beyond the 20 week stage. Once it started though, it spiralled. I shop on eBay a lot and as I discovered it's a fantastic place for picking up some more unusual baby clothes. By the time of my due date I had bought clothes to take my child (I didn't know the sex) up to age 1 give or take a few items. Luckily the style of clothing I like could suit a boy or girl. I don't mean to offend anyone out there but I'm not a baby pink/Disney kinda girl so I didn't purchase anything like that. I like bright bold prints and colours and it'd the the same for a boy or a girl (although if I did have a girl I would buy some gorgeous Boden or Next dresses!!). Anyhoo... the whole buying ahead of time thing started then and has continued since. I currently have age 2-3 cloths hanging in Ethan's wardrobe and in his draw. I then have age 3-4 and 5-6 clothes stored at the top of his wardrobe. Hopefully all I will have to buy are shoes/school uniform (when the time is right!). I have gone as far as to have bought coats, socks, PJs, wellies, swimming trunks and waterproof trousers. I'm addicted to shopping, what can I say!? I don't buy a winter/summer wardrobe. I dress Ethan like I dress myself, mixing and matching things throughout the year (t-shirts over long sleeves etc.) I find it's easier that way. Of course, I do have to buy Ethan shorts and skirts/shorts for myself etc. but you get the idea!

I spent a little time in Ethan's room tonight taking a few photos of my favourite things in his current wardrobe. I'll go through them one buy one..

I love Fairisle and wintery knits - these two are a great example. A very snug hooded top from TKMaxx and a cute Monsoon number which I got on ebay for a few quid.

Next up, I always think it's nice to have a couple of smart-ish things for your tyke to trash..sorry, wear! These have come in handy for weddings and parties but sometimes I put Ethan in them anyway, because they're only clothes aren't they!! I spent £16 on the London themed shirt at Monsoon, but only because my Mum gave me the dosh and Ethan needed a shirt for a wedding and I don't do plain and boring. The waistcoat was an ebay special for £3. The robot shirt is by In Their Nibbs who's prints I love (they do gorgeous Gruffalo print PJs and vests which they don't seem to stock anymore but they do pop up on ebay at times. Anyway, their stuff is cute http://www.theirnibs.com).

Look how cute the London print is!

If I can, I like to dress Ethan in some vintage/retro items. I'm lucky. My Mum saved almost everything from my childhood including many of mine and my brothers clothes. This jumper was mine circa 1984. These slightly flared dungarees I picked up from ebay. They were bought in Boots originally and are from the late 70s. Too cute!

Anyone who knows my taste in childrens clothes will already know I love the Skandinavian/Nordic designers. Here we have two of my favorites, a pink Katvig bird print top (ebay) and a Smafolk car print top (free from Bebaboo - one of the sites I love to shop on when I'm a bit more flush https://www.bebaboo.com/).

Two more tops I love, a Polarn.O.Pyret number which always looks very sleek - I know that's an odd way to describe a top on a child, but it does look like that! The second one is Plastisock and is very psycodelc. I'm always reminded of that bit in Sesame Street with the pinball machine animation, you know "one two three four five, six seven eight nine ten, eleven tweeeeeeeeeeeelveeeeeee"

Here, lets jog your memory in case you're not sure!

Just a few overall shots of Ethan's clothes now - tops, dungarees, coats and grobags hanging up, top shelf is the age 4-6 stuff and then his draw. He's a lucky boy... he has loads!

So, there you have it! Ethan's clothes for the next year or so... Now, onto me!! After the lovely if freakish heatwave last week, we now appear to be firmly settling into Autumn. The temperature has definitely dropped and I have dug out the tights and warmer clothes. I love tights. I'm not joking. I can't even be bothered to count how many pairs I have. To give you an example, here's my tights draw. Yup. A whole draw full of the things!

I think the reason I love the tights is because you can use them to change an outfit really quickly and you can make a dress/skirt usable in winter as well as summer. They are a great way to add colour as well without having to be too over the top or if you're not too confident with colour (not everyone wants purple and blue hair like me!).

I love winter clothes so I always get quite excited at this time of year... I love fairisle and knits (just like on Ethan!). Luckily they've been in fashion for the last couple of years so this has been perfect for me. I bought this little number in Primark recently.

Next up let me introduce you to my £5 dress selection. All of these cost me £5 (each..on different occasions and from different shops). I love them all, mostly because they were bargainous!

Mini skirts. I love them! I'm short, so this length of skirt is the best on me. I'm pushing 30 but I'm hoping I'll be able to get away with mini skirts for a long while yet because other lengths swamp me. Thank heavens for tights! They do hide a multitude of saggy sins. These three are bargains - stripes are in again this season as are knits so these three should do me well. The stripy one is from the H&M basics range and the other two are Primarni.

Ladies, lumberjack style shirts are also in this season. This one is H&M and personally I think it looks fab with skinny cords.

Lastly, to finish off my outfits I love jewllery. I'm known among friends for always having big bright and wacky earrings but I do like more understated (but still original) bracelets. This one was handmade by this lovely lady . I had it inscribed with words from Desiderata.

My other love is my charm bracelet - I've got a troll bead chain and lock and beads from various places. I love it because it holds such meaning for me.

So, there we go! A long post.. sorry about that! But hopefully it gives you an idea of what we'll be strolling around in this Autumn/Winter!