Lilly & Sid Summer Range 2014
The lovely people at Lilly and Sid asked us to review some of the clothing in their newly released Summer Range for 2014.
I had a slight concern about saying yes to their offer of sending us some clothes to try. What if we didn't like them? What if the children looked awful in them? It being the first time anyone had asked us to do this, a review that said, 'actually the children hated the clothes and they looked awful in them anyway,' would have a been a disaster.
I'm pleased to say that the clothes were absolutely lovely.
We did have a few issues with getting them on. Our son will wear just about anything put in front of him, particularly if it's new. He therefore took to trying out the clothes enthusiastically. Our daughter? She's a different matter.
She wailed, she stomped, she sat on the floor and crossed her arms. She was left alone and put the dress we had been sent on quite happily.
Our son tried a 7 to 8 year old two piece combination of three quarter length shorts and t-shirt. The t-shirt had a maritime themed design, 'Under the Deep Blue Sea'.
The shorts are blue and white striped with a blue star design.
He's not particularly big, being in the smaller half of his class. The t-shirt is a perfect fit and will probably only just see the early part of the Summer out given his current rate of growth.
The shorts were just right too, but have more room for his growth. I'd therefore suggest the t-shirt sizing is at the smaller end of the scale and would personally look for the next size up when buying for him next time.
Our daughter's Summer dress had a red and white striped body, with blue collar and a really pretty layered skirt with butterfly and bird design on it. The layers of the skirt also had red and blue edging, matching the body and collar respectively.
Again, she's on the small side for her age. This three year old size was a perfect fit for her and so when I buy from Lilly and Sid next time I would also go for the next age size up.
As you would expect, all three items are beautifully made from thick cotton fabric.
So, the kids have worn these clothes all afternoon. It's been a lovely day here, although the air remains cool as you would expect for March. They've been quite comfortable wearing these outfits though and haven't complained about feeling cold nor asked for anything to cover them.
I must say, whether the clothes had anything to do with it or not, out children have played harmoniously together all afternoon. No fall-outs, no selfishness, appropriate play and no tantrums, well at least not with one another.
They're a funny pair, quite happy, despite their age difference, just hanging out together. This afternoon 'hanging' being one of the operative words as we relocated and placed new safety matting underneath their monkey bars.
We also went through their normal set of games; hide & seek, flying around the garden pretending to be aeroplanes, plenty of trampoline and monkey bar use and even a tea break where our son read a story to our daughter.
Again, I found myself wondering whether the children had been abducted and replaced by alien impostors!
Anyway, the clothes kept up with the pace, retaining their shape and style despite some pretty hard wear, which is more than I can say for some of the children's supermarket bought clothes.
We ended the afternoon with our son taking his bike and our daughter taking her scooter down our lane. It doesn't have a very steep gradient, winding as it does through woods down to the river.
My role is to walk along behind with the dog and pick up any stray croc, flip flops, bikes of children that come loose on the way down.
Coming back is a different matter of course. Cycling or pushing your scooter up-hill is so much harder. Much wailing, gnashing of teeth and eventual pushing bike or scooter over to berate it for its poor performance is involved.
The dog and I tend to look on with bemused resignation at these antics. Following at a safe distance until we eventually reach home.
At least today I was able to also admire my children in some really nice clothes. You'll notice I said 'when' and not 'if' I buy some Lilly and Sid clothing next. I'm really impressed with the clothes we were sent and so will definitely be adding other items to the children's wardrobe for the Summer.
Final word should go to the children. What did they think of the clothes? Our seven year old son thought they were "cool and really comfortable."
Our three year old daughter's answer to the question, what do you think of your new dress was: "where's my tea?" The fact she is currently refusing to take the dress off probably tells you all you need to know.
Thank you Lilly and Sid for sending us such lovely things to try.
