Babies...not skank-hos.

As parents, it is our duty to raise children with integrity, class, and dignity.

Somehow, I doubt pants emblazoned with "Juicy" across the ass and t-shirts proclaiming your infant to be a "hottie in training!" will help your cause.

It may come as a surprise to the people who are reading this blog and know me only as "Braaaa--oh yeah, the guy in the skintight gold hotpants from Samantha's party! Heeeyyyyy!", but I'm actually a pretty conservative kid-dresser. I'm not saying that Harlow doesn't occasionally rock a bejeweled diaper (no, really...it was a present from our friend Cass. Cass is awesome. He bullied his mom into making a TON of cloth diapers for Harlow, all with personal, unique touches. I hope that as the blog develops I'll someday begin to show off Harlow's Awesome Cloth) and a pair of gay pride babylegs (okay, they're rainbow babylegs but CLOSE ENOUGH, PEOPLE.), or that Sophie hasn't worn the tutu she got from a hippie lady at Burning Man with no shirt and a pair of glittery red Mary Janes for four days in a row now, but typically, I like to dress my kids like, you know, kids, not tiny prostitutes.

AND PEOPLE. PEOPLE. IT'S NOT THAT HARD.

Seriously. It's not. Sophie has a closet and two dressers full of cute, age-appropriate clothes, and she has never suffered for it. She's never gone, "Dad, these Hanna Andersson dresses are cute and all, but WHY CAN'T I JUST HAVE A PAIR OF BOOTY SHORTS? That's ALL I'VE EVER WANTED!" So I guess we're doing well, you know?

Now, I'd like to give you a compendium of links to clothes that are age-appropriate and cute. Miniature skank-hos, take note! Tell your mamas and your papas, there's hope!

Hanna Andersson's "It's a Playdress, It's a Daydress" some might say that 38 dollars is a little steep for a dress, but this dress is worn at LEAST 3 times a week (yes, I wash it, although we have 3, in various colors and patterns) and lasts forever. We buy one size up from what Soph usually wears in Hanna because it lasts so damn long. She's been in her oldest Playdress/Daydress since she was two. She's almost five, and it's starting to get a little short, so we're going to retire that one and save it for Harlow. The best part is that it never goes out of style, so I have no qualms with saving it for Harlow, whereas some things get tossed or donated once Sophie outgrows them because Harlow would look like a dweeb in them in four years.

Janie and Jack's "Soda Fountain dress" I am a sucker for little dresses like this, that can be worn as sundresses or jumpers. Sophie has been wearing this one as a jumper with a Gap Kids long-sleeved T in New Babe Pink and some Hanna Andersson microfiber tights. It's super cute and classic.

Janie and Jack's Herringbone Gabardine Skirt  this is BRAND new (as in, we bought it on Saturday), and I love it. She's wearing it right now, with the above-mentioned Hanna microfiber tights and Janie and Jack's Ruffle Collar shirt and she looks so adorable I just want to squish her.

Gymboree's Argyle Heart dress I prefer J&J to Gymboree, but Gymbo sometimes surprises me with their cute pieces like this one. Sophie wears the hell out of this one, over jeans or with leggings. I'm kind of crazy about it.

GapKids smocked dress Sophie's complexion looks great in chocolate brown, but it can be hard to find. This dress is soft, comfortable, and cute.

Jeans:

Mostly, Sophie wears GapKids jeans, although she does have a pair or two from the Children's Place. Our favorite GapKids jeans are the skinny jeans (great for layering), the straight leg and the classic jeans.

Shirts:

We try to keep graphic shirts to a minimum, so separates like Janie and Jack's embroidered collar tops and Gymboree's heart tees (she has a pink, green, and brown one) are adorable and wearable. We also rely a lot on Old Navy and The Gap's plain or striped separates like these and these. She does have a few band t-shirts and things of that like, but nothing with sassy sayings.

Baby:

Most of Harlow's clothing comes from Zutano. I missed Zutano after Sophie outgrew it so we kept lots of hers and bought some more. Some of my favorite new Zutano:

Marigold
Owls
Orange Candy Stripe

Harlow also has a few matching outfits with Sophie. She has a Soda Fountain 2-piece and a Heart Dress to coordinate in.

She recently got this Baby Bird dress from Hanna and we've been dressing her in it a lot, but she's really too little for "clothes".

That's really just a small sampling of Harlow and Sophie's wardrobe, but it is proof that you don't have to skankify your infant.