History of the Tee

It is hard to think of a bigger fashion success story than the T-shirt. Everyone has one, from the family dog to the prime minister – and no wardrobe is complete without at least a few.

The T-shirt made its debut at the beginning of the 20th century when U.S  Army tailors noticed that their European allies were wearing more comfortable cotton versions of the scratchy wool undershirts their men were kitted up in.

So, to keep things fair, the U.S Army designed their own version of the undergarment and added short sleeves to create the design the object we all know today as the T-Shirt.

To celebrate this non chalant but important invention, we put together a style board for boys and for girls with our favourite t-shirts from this season’s collections at Alexandalexa.com!

GIRLS

1. JUICY COUTURE white sunglasses tee

2. LITTLE MARC JACOBS lilac tee

3. JUICY COUTURE black tee with sequin letter shirt

4. HELLO KITTY hot pink tee

5. ED HARDY yellow tee

BOYS

1. RALPH LAUREN usa flag tee

2. MONEY black tee with gold logo

3. ED HARDY brown gorilla tee

4. LITTLE MARC JACOBS striped tee

5. JUNIOR GAULTIER boxing tee

Little Crew Review

This is the first time we have ever reviewed an iPhone app, as we have been doing our best to remain tech free on theirlittleworld; however, when our P.R gal, Anna, came across this unique app, we had to share it with those of you that love to shop, especially those of you that love to shop online.

The app, called Little Crew, offers daily reviews and updates straight to your phone.

Australian mum Peta, the managing director and developer of the Little Crew app, writes these reviews on items she purchases for her three children, the reviews are based on the customer service that comes along with the product, the quality of the product that arrives and a short story of why the item was purchased and who for.

Peta created the app to make shopping online easier for parents, “We developed the app to create an umbrella for all of the online shops that sell luxury kidswear. The app is something that parents can easily use, trust and rely on, to give them information about kids’ products sold online, as well as the shops that they come from.”

Each article is short and sweet and written in a way that makes the review feel like more like a chat with a friend over coffee, than a tyrpical product review. It is honest feedback, from one parent to another.

We were thrilled to have Little Crew review some of the alexandalexa.com stock, which included reviews on a Juicy Couture Track Suit, Little Marc Jacobs’ Tee Shirt , Cacharel Dress, Torres Dress, Ed Hardy Tee Shirt, Vilebrequin Swim Shorts and Simple Kids Brand Review.

To purchase the app, read some of Peta’s reviews, or suggest a product for her to try, visit the Little Crew website at: www.littlecrew.net – BUT for a limited time only, the Little Crew Review App is FREE! So sign up now!

Viva La Juicy

When best friends, Gela Nash-Taylor and Pamela Skaist-Levy, started their own fashion label with just $200, no-one could have predicted what came next. As their vision grew, so did the fashion phenomenon that is Juicy Couture.

In 1999, it moved into sportswear, with velour tracksuits. Juicy Couture then created a kids’ line, swimwear and accessories line.

To celebrate our one year mark of alexandalexa.com carrying the brand’s kidswear collection, our P.R star, Anna Reid,  caught up with co-founder and creative director, Gela Nash-Taylor to find out how she became such a fashionable mum, what having a Barbie doll double means to her.

With ageless looks and an inimitable spirit, Gela Nash-Taylor is enviable to say the least. Gela and her husband, Duran Duran bassist John Taylor, split their time between sunny Pacoima, California and a beautiful old country estate in Wiltshire, England.

ANNA: Together you and Pamela have achieved worldwide success, what advice would you give to the younger generation in order to achieve their goals?

GELA: You have to have an inherent love and passion for what you do. We infuse everything with a massive dose of humour. Follow your heart and let yourself be inspired.

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ANNA: A lot of our readers are fashion-focussed mums. What is your stylish mum motto, how do you think we should be dressing our kids?

GELA: Fashion is the most obvious form of self-expression.  I dressed both my children in vintage rosebowl finds – Zoe was a Victorian doll or a depression era dust bowl girl… or a girl from the Russian revolution, Travis my son was pure nirvana grunge… always allowing them to have fun and indulge their ever changing style moments, which are a reflection of their personalities and their creativity.

Now all grown up, Gela's daughter Zoe, Gela and Karla Otto from Juicy Couture's Fashion Night Out last year

ANNA: With the success of your new vintage-inspired label, Bird, do you think there is demand for ‘Little Bird’, i.e. for kids?

GELA: Baby bird …so heavenly

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ANNA: Have you encouraged your children to pursue creative careers?

GELA: Yes , absolutely. One is a writer, one a visual artist and another a burgeoning designer… and all are fashion obsessed!

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ANNA: Will there ever be a juicy boys range? What would that be like?

GELA: We have newborn to 9 months inspired by LA surf and English rock

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ANNA: How did you feel about being made in to real Barbie dolls?

GELA: I grew up with Barbies. It is the most iconic doll; we were beyond excited about being Barbies…as were our dogs!

Gila & Pamela's Juicy Couture Barbies

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ANNA: Do you ever tire of the glitz and glamour?

GELA: Never …”live for glamour” is our motto, which is creative and ever changing and always infused with a sense of humour.

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ANNA: What did you both want to be when you grew up?

GELA: I wanted to be an actress. I have always been an over the top clothes fanatic – I have the perfect job!

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ANNA: What would your dream world be like?

GELA: I live in my dream world. I work with my best friend ever day and I love what I do. I think we have made it possible for a lot of young designers to fulfil their dreams too.

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ANNA: Finally, what is your most coveted kid’s piece from the Juicy range?

GELA: The juicy couture tracksuit of course!

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To celebrate our one year anniversary with Juicy Couture, we are offering 10% off your next Juicy Couture puchase until Monday, October 5, 2010.  Just enter TLWJUICY during the checkout process!

Shop the Juicy Couture collection

History of the Hoodie

The hood is a marvelous invention, perfect for keeping off the rain, protecting our little ears, and creating one of the most popular items of the modern wardrobe, The Hoodie.

The Hoodie is an item we all own, and an object of our wardrobe that encompasses all of our favorite adjectives: comfortable, cozy and casual.

The garment first came into play in the Middle Ages as part of Catholic monk’s tunics, which had long decorative hoods or ‘cowls’; however, the history of the specific style we wear today began in the 1930s, produced by the brand Champion, for workers cold storage warehouses.

The popularity of Champion’s design spread quickly and sportswear designers began to develop entire collections based around the clothing item. By the 1970s, the hoodie was a clothing classic, perfect for sports, camping, chilling, studying, layering, styling and so on…

In countries where children need not wear a uniform, it is the perfect back to school wardrobe piece, and for kids that do wear uniforms, it is a great cover-up on a cold fall day, so, in celebration of the back to school season (which is creeping up far to quickly) we picked out 8 of our favourite hoodies for your children from the world’s best kidswear designers:

1. D&G JUNIOR blue hooded zip-up jumper, £102.00

2. JOHN PAUL GALLIANO newspaper print hoodie, £72.00

3. RALPH LAUREN grey and navy striped hooded jumper, £82.00

4. LITTLE MARC JACOBS miss marc Jacobs jumper dress, £90.50

5. HACKETT red hooded jumper, £66.00

6. RARE THE KID grey hooded sweat top, £96.00

7. JUICY COUTURE regal blue velour tracksuit, £124.95 (only tracksuit top pictured here!)

8. DIESEL grey jumper with coloured print, £46.00

If your children love hoodies as much as we do, send us picture to [email protected] and we will post the picture of your hooded cutie on the Their Little Wardrobe section of our blog!

NOW Magazine Mini Style Matches

NOW Mum & Baby Fashion featured Alexandalexa.com and a few of the designers we carry in their ‘Mini Style Matches section of their last issue.

They had:

- Nicole Richie and Joel Madden’s daughter Harlow in our JUIICY COUTURE heart headband.

- Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubry’s daughter Nahla in our RALPH LAUREN blue and white striped top and RALPH LAUREN Beekman Skinny Jeans.

- Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale’s son Zuma in our Fabric Flavours Cat in the Hat romper.

AND 

-Angel, daughter of Mel B and Eddie Murphy in our Ray Ban wayfarer sunglasses and an Ed Hardy tee.

Send us your favourite celebrity kids looks to [email protected] and we can re-create them for you with the alexandalexa.com collection!

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