Ahoy there!  I feel a bit guilty reviewing this t-shirt when it’s almost sold out, but we just love it so much, I can’t resist!

I snagged one of these for Luke and he is wearing it here with his lovely canvas zip offs on the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway.  It’s a lovely bright colour for summer and Captain Kurt himself makes a cheerful and non-threatening pirate print for little boys.  It’s the usual beautiful quality that you would expect from Frugi and washes and dries without needing an iron – one of my favourite things about all Frugi clothes.

I am an organic cotton convert, this t-shirt is unbelivably soft and feels incredibly high quality.  The design is great fun with fab colours and a strong motif.   It  will look great with the nautical shorties or Pirate Jack Jeans.  Clothes don’t normally interest my little boy but he really wants to wear and show off this t-shirt, his preschool teacher had a frugi fashion show this morning.  I can see him wearing this top all summer for any occasion.  As a mother of two boys I often moan that boys clothes aren’t as nice as girls but frugi always have some top items for boys as well as girls.

The Sea Monster T-shirt is my favourite in this spring’s boy range! It’s just the right colour for my Noel, just turned 6, whose clothes begin to be magically covered in chocolate ice-cream dribblings, mud splashings and such from the moment he puts them on in the morning (sigh!)  The seamonster motif is really charming – Noel already calls is his “Nessie shirt” – he likes it because it’s “cool” and I like it because the print is as good as new after quite a few washes -  and because the “monster” is such a friendly smiling creature, such a refreshing change from  the rather dark and depressing  superhero-themed  things which seem to be  the fashion for little boys – and yet not too babyish for a soon-to-be first grader. (I liked the Olli Octopus shirt, too, but when I looked through the Frugi catalogue with him, he said he’d rather have the seamonster, because of the “babyish” factor I think!)

Sadly, it hasn’t been warm enough yet to put my little man into the Combat Cord Shorties, but he tried them on and looked great, it made me long for mild summer days just to look at him! So far I can say that the fit is perfect for him, and I’m glad the waist can be easily adjusted for him and that nothing’s rubbing on his skin - he’s rather on the slim side, so we usually have to adjust his trousers’ waistbands – which are, in most cases, made of elastic ribbon to be fixed with buttons on the inside – horrible, he always has thick red marks on his waist at the end of the day. Thanks, Frugi, for giving thought to such details!

Do I really have to add that both shirt and shorties are supersoft to the touch? Well then, they certainly are! I just love them!

Now, I want you to understand, I am not a fashionista.  My idea of fashion is something that doesn’t smell too bad, can drip dry and where sick stains can be hidden with careful accessorising. In fact, I dithered for a long time about whether to become a Frugi Crusader – would it mean that I’d be expected to understand words like ‘bias cut’ and ‘demi-saison’, or (even worse) use them in reviews? 

Thankfully, my 16-month-old son’s childminder IS a fashionista – or at least, she used to work for Dorothy Perkins, which is close enough for me. 

So when this rather snazzy stripey top arrived in the post, I cheated – I handed it to Mrs Childminder and asked for her opinion. 

I wasn’t disappointed.  She tugged at the seams, held it up to the light and declared appreciatively that it was well-made, from good quality cotton, and had ‘beatnik influences’. 

Hmmm.  I was already in over my head, so in an effort not to appear a fashion outcast, I emailed Lauren, one of the two lovely designer people at Frugi.  Does this top, I asked, have beatnik influences, and if so, what does that mean?  

I received a swift reply.  The top was inspired by the swashbuckling pirates who sailed the seven seas.  Not beatniks, who she said were ‘travelling bums’. 

Now my son, Oliver, is 16 months old, and when I see his cloth-covered rump waddling away from me the phrase ‘travelling bum’ is wonderfully appropriate.  Keen to lean more, I turned to the internet. 

Wikipedia kindly informed me that beatnik is “a media stereotype that borrowed the most superficial aspects of the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s to present a distorted (and sometimes violent), cartoon-like misrepresentation of the real-life people”.  Which didn’t help me a lot. 

The accompanying picture did, though.  Ned Flanders from The Simpsons, with his beatnik parents.

 Look familiar? 

Anyway, beatnik or pirate, this is a great top.  The super-soft cotton washes beautifully and, unusually for organic cloth, with minimal shrinkage.  It’s also one of those magical pieces of clothing which looks better on than off – why does that never seem to be the case with my stuff?! 

The sizing is generous – Oliver is spot-on average weight and height for his age, but this was still quite large on him.  The wide neck means it’s easy to put on a young wriggler, and I think the vibrant colours – brick-red with contrasting turquoise trim – would look equally good on girls and boys. 

The downsides? 

A little niggle about the two large labels sewn in the back.  Okay, they are made of soft cotton, but might they still irritate Oliver’s neck?  In practice, he didn’t seem bothered at all, but more sensitive souls might be.    

My other wee gripe is a very personal one.  This top is part of a co-ordinated range – matching shorties, hats and a hoodie are all available.  If you’re the type of parent who likes to see their child in proper ‘outfits’ this is great, but I’m not.  And, lovely though this top is, it isn’t the type of thing you can just throw on with any old pair of trews, safe in the knowledge that your beloved offspring won’t look as if you dressed them in the dark.  The bold design and colours of this top demand you put some effort into picking out the right bottoms if it’s to attract the admiring comments it deserves. 

Boys Dino T-shirt and Boys Explorer Trousers

I never thought the day would come when I would side with Simon Cowell let alone commend his sometimes questionable dress sense – but when it comes to high waistbands Mr Cowell and I are reading from the same cheesy songbook.

I have enjoyed the hipster revival as much as the next person, but not until I had Michael did I see the folly of the anti-highrise attitude found amongst our Nation’s fashionistas. However, flicking through a girly mag at the doctors the other day I am reliably informed that the high waistband is back. Well here’s hoping that the children’s fashion fraternity sits up and takes some notice. Hipsters on kids don’t work. When did dressing your child in practical, comfortable and (cough, cough) “appropriate” clothing fall by the wayside, in favour of a pair of skimpy, trousers that ride down to the thighs the moment the child moves about? And don’t get me started on hipsters and nappies.

So it was with a great sigh of relief that I opened my parcel from Frugi. Thank heaven for Frugi. The little pair of Explorer Zip-Off Trousers and the matching Dino Tee look the part, but more importantly play the part. The trousers, in particular, are designed with active kids in mind. The waistband, while far from being Cowell-esque, is high enough that it covers everything it should. The zip-offs are a fashionable, but practical style that will see Michael through summer and into Autumn. The design is well thought out, changing a smart pair of trousers into a very trendy pair of shorts. Together, the trousers and the tee make a great casual outfit for everyday wear, however the trousers can easily be paired with a shirt to suit a more formal occasion.
                    

Both the trousers and the tee are made of the softest organic cotton, and the toggles on the trousers waistband gives great adjustability for cloth nappy and disposable wearing babies alike. The Dino Tee is charming and, washes superbly.

Perhaps I am being a little too ready to seek the demise of the kiddie hipster, but as this little outfit proves it is possible to have fashionable, stylish clothes, that are practical and child-friendly.