It is an inescapable fact that we are defined by the way we dress. It’s true that what’s inside counts more than appearances (or at least it should do) but we all make snap judgements about people based on their clothes.
Until recently, I didn’t realise that this also applied to babies. Everyone ‘expects’ girls to be dressed in pink and boys to be dressed in blue, even in this supposedly enlightened day and age. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve been approached in the street by strangers who peer into the buggy and say ‘Ooh twins! Boy and a girl’ or ‘Ooh, double trouble. Two boys!’. Only one person has ever actually said ‘Twins! Both girls, yes?’ and I nearly hugged her.
It’s my own fault really. I don’t dress them in sugary pink. I actually got told off by a lady when I was out shopping for not dressing them in pink when she got confused as to what gender the girls were. I wouldn’t dare to assume the sex of a baby but there you go.
In any case, I don’t deliberately dress them in blue or green just to be awkward. R tends to wear bolder colours in funky styles because I think she can pull them off. G tends to wear paler colours at the slightly girlier end of the scale because they suit her personality. I’m making the most of choosing clothes for them while I can because I know they are going to rebel at some point! For example, if they wear jeans and tops R will wear a stripy t-shirt in bright colours and G will have a top with patterns or a motif of some kind. They even have different coats. G wears a red duffel coat and R has a green parka with a little butterfly motif on it. This explains why everyone thinks R is a boy I guess. That and the fact she looks quite bald, bless her!
I shall set my stall out here. Here is my list of dislikes, clothes wise for babies:
1. Outfits with slogans on. E.g. Princess, Angel, jailbait, cutie-pie, mine’s a pint, When I grow up I want to be a builder/footballer/ballerina/dog walker/alien/astronaut/bee-keeper/stripper. However, I do like tops with song lyrics on, such as Daddy Cool, Everybody dance, etc., which wouldn’t necessarily be to everyone’s taste
2. Putting things in girls’ hair when they don’t actually have any, e.g. headbands, alice bands, hair clips clamped on to tiny wispy tufts of baby hair, that sort of thing.
3. Anything in hot pink veleur, especially tracksuits
4. Anything overly frilly
5. Knickerbockers with dresses, especially if they are frilly as they make the babies’ bottom look like a doily or tea cosy
Baby clothing is very much an ‘each to their own’ topic so I’m bound to have offended someone with my little list! However, as I said earlier we don’t get to choose our children’s clothes for them for very long so we may as well make the most of it, regardless of our tastes. I am going to scream if anyone else leans over the buggy and asks about my twin boys though