With the rise of custom kids clothes, baby clothing has gone from one of lifes simple necessities to becoming a global phenomenon.
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Personalized baby clothing is one of the fastest expanding and most important clothing sectors, with an extensive and varied range of products being produced for newborns and toddlers. In , The United States alone has so far generated $7,400m of revenue.
From affordable, low-cost, discounted products to top luxury items, more brands are entering the market to cater to consumers insatiable demands.
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Dear Baby Clothing Manufacturers:
I would like to introduce you to my baby. Really, I would like to introduce you to any baby, because Im beginning to think its been a long time since youve actually met one.
There are three things babies do a lot: poop, pee and squirm. In light of these facts, I would like to discuss your clothing design.
1) Snaps. I understand that snaps at some point seemed like a revolutionary idea. Theyre easier to fasten than buttons. They almost never fall off. Theyre flat so dont leave a mark on the babys skin. You can leave the top snaps closed to keep the baby warm during a diaper change. Bravo, gentlemen! Snaps must have seemed like a brilliant innovation in the late nineteenth century.
But its . Baby gear is expected to deliver comfort for the child and convenience for the parent. The prams of old have given way to ergonomic stroller systems that recline in seven different positions, collapse with a simple but secure one-handed release, and sport SPF sunshades and cup holders for parent and child. The technology is advancing fast enough that a parent feels behind the times if he reuses the old audio-only baby monitor or pocket-style baby sling for kid number two. An outfit with 14 snaps is worse than old-fashioned in this world of breakneck innovation. Its a design flaw.
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Do I have nothing better to worry about? Sure I do. Im worried about climate change and a nuclear North Korea. But as a parent, I spend a lot more time in the trenches of baby fashion design than in the war room at the State Department, and I cant help noticing that you havent noticed some very simple ways that youre making the lives of parents of babies even more tedious and irritating than they have to be. And thats just not very nice of you, because our lives are already full of tedium and irritation.
Im not being lazy here. Were opening our kids outfits at 10 to 12 times a day, and these kids dont placidly hold still with an Imma let you finish. Our diaper change songs dont entertain them through a long and involved robing and disrobing process. Please send help.
Sleep gowns are a great idea, but they havent really caught on probably in part because they dont work well with the five-point harness on every car seat and stroller that separates the legs.
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Ive heard of magnetic closures for pajamas, but some parents worry about babies swallowing the magnets, which is super bad. And even if I wanted to risk it, Ive never seen one of these at Target or Childrens Place. So were back to zippers.
Yes, youll have to pay your workers in China a few more cents to sew in a zipper. You could even add a double zipper, like winter coats have, so pajamas could zip from bottom to top. But I know you dont want to pay for that.
This is an industry where the profit margins are very, very tight, said childrens fashion historian Jo Paoletti. People expect clothing to be cheap and disposable.
And yes, Carters, you have very little incentive to do this, because people keep buying your old, imperfect designs. Paoletti says she remembers feeling, when her kids were little, that you knew she was inexperienced and would just accept this is the way we do this.
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Its a very vulnerable time, she said.
Plus, the average newborns wardrobe is comprised largely of gifts from friends and relations who dont need to do the snapping and unsnapping.
But Im not alone in thinking there might be a better way.
I dont know why they make baby clothes with snaps, said one mom on the Baby and Bump chat forum. I would always buy something that has a zipper over snaps, it is just so much easier. Especially in the middle of the night.
Paul King used somewhat blunter language on The IT Baby: What idiot thought that you could take a yelling kicking sack of baby meat and try and neatly secure it in stripper pants?
A dad on The Parenting Stack Exchange grumbled: Sometimes it seems like infant clothes are custom designed to be difficult to put on a wiggling baby. I find the multitude of snaps to be particularly difficult to navigate, especially when you miss a snap in a long series and then need to undo all of your work to refasten the tiny contrivances in the correct pairings.
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While were on the subject of snaps, can we talk about
2) Onesies. Why must you put a snap crotch on what would otherwise be perfectly functional baby shirts? Because of this, every time the diaper leaks, its a full costume change instead of just the pants. A full blowout necessitates pulling the poopy outfit off over the head (although the expandable neck opening sometimes offers an alternative; thanks for that).
And most annoyingly, the snap crotch cuts off access at the back of the waist. I cant peek inside the diaper without laying my baby on his back (and then again when he rolls onto his belly, and then again when he rolls onto his belly, and then again when he you get the idea. I really cant wait for you to meet him!) In order to do a quick diaper check I have to take off my babys pants, unsnap the onesie, and fully open the diaper, only to find ta-da! It was just a fart.
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My stepmother insists that cutting off diaper access was precisely the point. She claims that caregivers like the snap crotch because it stops children from reaching into their own diapers. Paoletti, the historian, says it has more to do with keeping the shirt tucked in neatly. And true, a T-shirt will ride up, particularly on babies that cant sit up yet. Im sure there are some parents for whom a tucked-in look is a priority. But for those of us interested in function over form, can you throw us a few more crotchless shirts every now and again?
Now if youll design a green dress for my daughter or put a butterfly on my sons pants, well be all good.
Yours for a snap-free future,
Tanya Snyder
Snyder is a D.C. based reporter and parent of two. She tweets @TSnyderDC.
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