Whatever happened to loungewear? Amy and I are on a personal crusade to bring back loungewear starting with Baxter. No, no, no—we’re not lazy. We, like most parents, love the screaming, squirming, anxiety and angst that come with outfitting our baby in the latest fashion.
I’d espouse the virtues of a Hugh Hefner lifestyle, but let’s face it, when your loungewear has crayon-coloured dinosaurs, or little zoo animals, or ‘Daddy’s Sidekick’ embroidered on the front, sensual encounters isn’t your first thought.
Loungewear is comfort and fashion—formal and casual melded into one. I suppose the aesthetics of leisure suits and loungewear affects my every fashion decision. So why shouldn’t it affect Baxter’s? Speaking as a child of the 70’s (born in ’66), I was heavily influenced by the ripple effect of the hippies. My parents wore some far-out garb, although they were as far from hippies as you can imagine. But my mother’s ‘fashion forward’ sensibilities extended to us kids. Our far-out, mom-made garb, often matching and from the same fabric, was a real head-turner, especially when travelling. Picture the Bond clan in matching lederhosen and traipsing along Alpine footpaths. You just don’t see that anymore.
Trouble is, babies quite rightfully dislike complex clothing. They don’t like getting into it and they don’t like getting out of it. When my mother-in-law was visiting, she scoured Baxter’s drawers for any outfits that would fit, match in some darling way, and be seasonally appropriate. Slim pickings.
You see, Amy and I believe the sleeper is the ultimate baby attire. Cozy, quickly on and off, easy to layer and simple to transition to nap time. It is to us, the modern baby’s leisure suit. Good for a baby on all occasions. The principle disadvantage is the built in booties. You see when you have an ‘extreme-growing baby’, it’s tough to get him into any outfit before it becomes a scuba suit. In the case of his Christmas sleeper, modifications were required to enable its usefulness throughout the course of the holidays (see picture, and no, he’s not begging for spare change).
Happy Holidays everyone! Thanks for reading and thanks to my editors for indulging weekly.
Tagged under: Parenting,dad blogs,baby blogs,parenting advice,dads,dad advice
Category: entertainment
