(no subject)

[rivka]

Dear Direct Marketer,

Thank you for your catalog. I'm not sure what on earth I bought that made you think I might be interested in buying a $50 polo shirt for my toddler, even with the added inducement of a $72 matching shirt for her father.

But as someone who just bought 10 toddler outfits for $17.50 on eBay, I can only say, in closing, hahahahahaha! You guys have such great senses of humor.

Regards,
Rivka

Comments

[ratphooey.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know! I leaf through the Design Within Reach kids catalog with my feet up on the $20 IKEA table I bought for The Baby.

And the vast majority of his clothes (barring gifts) came from eBay.

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

I find the company name "Design Within Reach" wildly ironical. I mean eight hunnerd smackeroos for what is essentially an adult sized Barbie Dream House chair???

[ratphooey.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Within WHOSE reach?

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

Not mine, that's for sure.

Have you seen their latest catalogue? They've got this really scary lookin' "Baushaus" style rocking horse that I think would give any kid the full force jimmy-jams.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Sweet Jesus, I had never even heard of Design Within Reach. $500 for a bassinet they say can only be used until four months? $180 for a crib bumper? $1,298 for a crib that doesn't even have one side that lowers?

...Plus, their furniture isn't even especially attractive. It looks like Ikea. Nothing wrong with Ikea - we have a bunch of their stuff. But we paid less for our massive media unit than they want for a crib bumper.

[ratphooey.livejournal.com]

I don't even buy Hanna Andersson clothing at retail (no matter how much I may covet it for The Baby, I make do with what I can get on eBay), so the DWR catalog is alternately hysterical and terrifying.

[pixel.livejournal.com]

"Once again form completely obliterates function.

Because impressing our friends with how expensive and stylish the furniture in the unique snowflake's room is is much more important than having it be easy to use on a daily basis. So what if it is annoying and ackward and took a huge chunk out of their college fund. All our friends will be so very impressed."

[rivka.livejournal.com]

How much do you want to bet that some poor kid out there has actually been named "Unique Snowflake"?

[tea-dragon.livejournal.com]

UGH- think of the nicknames :) Poor kid!

[ailsaek.livejournal.com]

I have never understood people who spend that kind of money on clothes that are going to be outgrown in six months to a year. Heck, I've never understood people who spend that kind of money on clothes, period. Who in the world needs a $50 polo shirt?

[threeringedmoon.livejournal.com]

I've had $50 dollar polo shirts given to me, and they do hold up quite well. Of course, then one is even more pissed when one spills some red wine on it, staining it irrevocably.

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

For grown ups, I believe in buying quality clothing. It lasts longer. But kids grow out of that stuff before it'd ever get close to wearing out.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Unless you're planning on having seven kids and having them all wear the $50 polo shirt. ;-)

[casperflea.livejournal.com]

I do justify my expensive kid clothing purchases (Lands' End end of season clearance, Hanna Andersson clearance or even better on ebay) by buying unisex clothes that the future kid(s) will wear. And colors that won't stain or show stains.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I just got the cutest Hanna Andersson stuff used, from the mothering.com trading post. A little sleeveless romper with navy and white horizontal stripes! She'll look exactly like an 1890's swimmer. ;-)

But yeah, no way would I buy it new. And it could be handed down to either a sister or brother.

[kyra-ojosverdes.livejournal.com]

Someone gave my first child a Lands' End baby-thing for which I can't remember the name but which was essentially a long t-shirt which snapped between the legs and made little shorts. My second child wore through the knees of the shorts, so I cut off the bottom and hemmed it into a t-shirt. It was also worn by my third child and then handed down to a friend's oldest child. That thing is currently being worn by its seventh kid.

[ailbhe]

Six months? My monster outgrows just about everything in three months, tops. Starts off with all the legs rolled up and the middle cinched in with a belt (or a big bit of elastic, more often) and ends up looking like something out of "Oliver!"

Still, it means the stuff is in *excellent* condition for later use.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Amazingly enough, Alex pretty much wears clothes sized for her age. The vast majority of her 12-month clothes still fit, although the legs are starting to get a bit short. It's looking like the 18-month clothes I'm buying for summer will probably fit perfectly.

It's very obliging of her.

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

Howling with laughter & making a fool of myself at the coffee shop.

Thanks.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

How foolish! Everyone knows that mothers never buy $50 polo shirts for toddlers. The only markets gullible enough for that are Aunties and first-time-Grandmas.

Don't give them my name!

--Auntie 'Weez, who should explain that she does also buy nibling gifts at Value Village sometimes ...

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

You're obviously a terrible parent for not buying your kid everything in the world!

We have some brand name baby clothes - ya know, fancy stuff, like Gap. I love it, but it all came hand-me-down through 3 other kids.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we have some great Baby Gap, Gymboree, and Little Me clothes that came from a consignment store.

I've also bought a few things new from Land's End, because who can resist a mesh polo romper with tiny sailboats all over it? (http://www.landsend.com/cd/fp/prod/0,,1_2_52357_53521_120697_99144_5:view=5,00.html?CM_MERCH=PAGE_53521&sid=8479161291839160030) ...But yeah, I thought I was being extravagant, buying that for $16.50.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Where I teach, we used to have a kid who was obsessed with satin, lace, velvet, and dresses with floofy skirts but also loved climbing, digging in the wet sand, and painting. Her mom could have said, "No dresses at school," or "No painting" (which we wouldn't have enforced), but instead, bought about a bazillion dresses on ebay for <$5 each. I remember her digging in rubber boots in a big wet sand puddle, wearing a midnight blue dress with a satin bodice and velvet skirt that had silver stars embroidered all over it, having a wonderful time.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

That's what we did, too. Imagine a girl in a mid-Victorian mid-calf dress, hanging upside down from the monkey bars.

Machine washable is your friend.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Wait until you start getting "The Wooden Soldier".

You will be simultaneously ded from the cute and fibrillating from the prices.

My favorite was a dry-clean-only $80.00 gold lame dress for an infant. What planet do they live on?

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

But, but, they would match! Or you could get a pink one for Alex and a green one for her father! Trés yuppie!

My sister used to laugh at me for going off on rants about Pottery Barn for Kids, which isn't nearly as unreasonable.

One serious advantage of having a husband who travels to D.C. a lot and changes planes in Minneapolis, is that he has lunch with friends who often take him to the Land's End Outlet store. Yesterday he came home with, among other things, a polar-fleece pullover for our youngest that cost $4.00.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

But, but, they would match! Or you could get a pink one for Alex and a green one for her father! Trés yuppie!

Oh, the same catalog was also all about the matching mother-daughter outfits. Including, so help me God, matching mother-daughter bathing suits. In what universe is that a good idea?

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

I have a friend who would do that when her daughter was quite young, including, I seem to recall, matching bathing suits. Then her daughter grew older and rebelled against the idea, thankfully. Her second child was a boy, whom she dressed in little sailor outfits, and which she got frustrated with when he would run and roll around in the grass.

She is an absolutely lovely woman otherwise, but those matching outfits... not good.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

I make Sarah a sweater every fall and a matching sweater for her Chinese toddler doll. It may not be a good idea, but I liked it when I was a kid and my grandmother did it for me, and I trust Kip & Cathy to tell me when Sarah gets tired of it.