Category: fashion

Lands’ End provided me with some uniform items to facilitate my review. Obvs.

Y’all know I love kickin’ my big kids out the door to school each August. Feel free to judge me, but we are all happier on the school schedule. And what, pray tell, is my second favorite thing about back-to-school time?

THE LANDS’ END BACK-TO-SCHOOL UNIFORM REVIEW!

I love, love, love Lands’ End school uniforms. You’ve heard that from me before, and it’s still true. I have tried some other uniform brands, and Lands’ End out-performs them all, particularly in the polo shirt and jumper area where they are just a million times better. Their pants, shorts, and skirts are also absolutely fabulous. Before I show you the pics of my adorable children in their darling uniforms, I’ll tell you my favoritefavoritefavorite feature of all Lands’ End uniform items: they all come out of the washer and dryer looking FANSTASTIC! No curled up collars, no rolled up skirt bottoms or shrinking pant legs. The jumpers come out of the dryer wrinkle-free and gorgeous. They are the best!

This year, I wanted to try a couple of items I’d never tried before so I could really test out some more uniform quality. That’s why I chose this long-sleeve uniform dress for Sophie:

I absolutely love it! The mesh polo fabric is the same quality I’m used to in the shirts, and the design and style is adorable! Plus, the length is just perfect. And I love the way her school logo looks on it.

Another new item I tried for Sophie were these darling brown Girls’ Unit Mary Jane shoes. They are pretty much perfect. They are so easy to get on and off, yet they stay put. They suede upper is easy to keep clean-looking and Sophie also thinks they are super comfy. They work great in class or on the playground.

Of course, since I l-o-v-e the Lands’ End school uniform plaid jumper with all my heart, I had to get one of those to review as well (you know, to check and make sure they hadn’t changed the quality.) I also got her a red short-sleeve mesh uniform polo to go with it. And the result? Uniformadorable!

As I mentioned before, the jumper washes and wears beautifully. And it’s very comfy – Sophie loves wearing her jumpers.

I love every little detail about this outfit.

And now, for my big boy – I’ll be honest, boys uniforms aren’t as fun for me as girls uniforms are! But I do love the way Lands’ End has SO many color options. At my kids school, they can wear a few colors (navy, white, light blue, and burgundy) without the school logo, but ANY color WITH the school logo. Joshua’s favorite color is orange (so is mine, as a matter of fact!) and I was so glad to be able to get him a shirt in his favorite color. I chose the interlock polo because Joshua likes the softer feel of the fabric. They wear really well, just like the mesh polos. Doesn’t he look too cute in orange??

Of course, I love the Lands’ End uniform pants – the Stain & Wrinkle Resistant Iron Knee Chinos are the BEST!! Joshua has yet to wear a pair out! They’ve outlasted him and survived to be handed down to friends. I love the way they come out of the dryer and look so nice (as I’ve mentioned), and that they are available in slim sizes with adjustable waist for my skinny kiddo.

Joshua’s favorite bottom is the shorts version of the Stain & Wrinkle Resistant Chinos. They also are available in slim with an adjustable waist and they too wash and wear like a dream. And they keep my boy really comfortable during these hot first weeks of school.

I think my favorite part of this outfit might be the shoes! These Landon low sneakers are sooo cool! They work great on the playground and also look dressy for other occasions. I love the details on these shoes – breathable mesh and dressy leather upper, and the orange stripe is a nice-looking touch, too. Joshua loves them and so do I!

At my kids’ school, they aren’t allowed to wear jackets, sweaters, or sweatshirts in class unless the outerwear has the school logo on it. In the past I’ve gotten them Lands’ End fleece with the school logo, which they love because they are so lightweight but keep them warm even on very chilly mornings, but they are a little warm for indoors.  So, this year I decided to get them a hooded zip-front sweatshirt with the school logo. It will be a fabulous fall jacket and the can keep it in their classrooms during the winter if they get a chill during the day. And they are So! Darn! Cute! See?

I’m super-excited about them! They’re such a nice, heavy-weight quality and they’ll be perfect for weekends, too.

Ok, now I’ve told you what items I reviewed, let me show you a few of my other favorites that I ordered for the kids with my own money. Please note these are all for girls, because…there are just so many more choices for girls!

I love these chino skorts. These are almost all Sophie wore last year. I love the way they have shorts attached so they’re modest, but they look so dressy and cute like a skirt! They work great with tights, too, and have an adjustable waist. They came out of the dryer looking great, too! She wore the HECK out of them, because I didn’t get any shorts for her last year and she only had a couple pairs of pants. And yet, they were all in such good shape I was able to pass them down to one of Sophie’s friends for kindergarten this year.

This plaid A-line skirt is just darling. I love the button detail at the side, and like the jumper in the same fabric, it washes really well. It’s just below the knee so it’s nice and modest, and it looks great with Sophie’s polo shirts. Last year, I bought the pleated version for her, which was also adorable and of great quality. It held up so well I was able to pass it on to Sophie’s friend as well.

Lastly, before I close, I want to mention that the reason you don’t see any backpacks or lunch boxes in this review is because the kids’ Lands’ End backpacks and lunch boxes from last year are still in PHENOMENAL shape! So, they are using them again. I think Joshua will need a bigger one next year for middle school, but I bet Sophie will use hers for another year. They are the BEST!

Thanks, Lands’ End, for letting me review your great uniforms once again!

Do your kids wear school uniforms? What are some of your favorite items?

Remember when Emily and Kate had a super-amazing adventure at Nike headquarters in Portland last year? It was during that time that Emily fell in love with the Nike Free shoe – and luckily, since I’m riding her coat tails, my kids have recently had their chance to fall in love with these shoes, too!

Nike gave Emily and me the opportunity to have our kids design their own NIKEiD shoes – these are Nike Free shoes that you get to custom-design yourself as far as colors and features go. Joshua and Sophie LOVED the design process, and it was really simple. (Jonah got to have Mommy-designed shoes, fortunately, his Mommy has excellent taste.)

Here are a couple of screen shots of the design process – you can change all the colors of every part of the shoe, from the laces to the heel loop. It’s so much fun! Joshua and Sophie just had a blast choosing colors, changing their minds, and finally settling on a design. And yet the process went very quickly, too!

And here are the amazing shoes my kiddos came up with!

Please note that you can design what it says on the tongue, and Joshua wanted to make sure everyone on 4th grade knew WHAT WAS UP!

 

Nike Free shoes are excellent for plotting Ninja moves. FYI.

And now here are Sophie’s shoes! I did have to convince her to leave orange out of this design. Sorry, I pooped on  my kid’s creativity. For the sake of MY EYES.

 

 

I really love the way hers turned out. They are so…Sophie!

 

And finally, here are my Jonah-Jo’s shoes. I couldn’t get a great shot with him in them as he is less willing to pose than my big kids!

 

I love them so much! He looks so cute in them and he seems to be really comfortable in them.

 

 

We loved designing our NIKEiDs! Both of the big kids wore theirs proudly on their first day of school, and they got compliments on them wherever we go. Plus, they are helping the kids’ feet feel good while they’re being active or sitting in class like angels.

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Oh hi, this is Emily now! As Jenny mentioned, Kate and I became obsessed with Nike Frees when we were on the Nike campus a year ago April. We both got a pair while we were there, and since then, we’ve gotten her another pair, and I’ve purchased two other pairs for myself! I wore them as I trained for and completed a three-day 60-mile walk last year, and they did me right!

Here’s my beloved Nikes about 30 miles into the trip.

But anyway, this post is supposed to be about designing shoes from NIKEiD, right? Sorry – I just really, really love those shoes!

So – Kate had designed a pair of Nike Frees at the Youth Athlete Summit, and she wore the heck out of them for months and months until she outgrew them. She was beside herself excited by the prospect of creating another pair!

Unfortunately, I failed to hit “submit” on her order and didn’t figure that out for a couple of weeks, so her shoes aren’t here yet. They’re getting ready to be shipped, though, and they are very cool looking! (And bright! Shield your eyes.)

I video taped her designing her shoes, but the video is 12 minutes long and I can’t figure out how to edit it, so I will spare you! But the process was easy and fun, and the only reason it took 12 minutes was because she just couldn’t decide on a color scheme! (So, clearly, she went without one.) She thought having “K8” put on the tongue was extremely awesome, too. Thank goodness her beautiful name has a text abbreviation (enter sarcasm punctuation point here).

Sam’s process was much quicker – he decided he needed some Super Man shoes, so it was red, blue, and yellow all the way for him.

From a practical standpoint, I love that the little-kid version is velcro. And, according to Jenny’s retired-preschool-teacher mom, his teacher will love that too!

NIKEiD is a fun way for your kids to express themselves this school year. I highly recommend checking it! You can see more cool designs people have created on the Nike ID Tumblr and on their Facebook page.

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Nike provided us with these shoes. The opinions – and colorful designs – are our own.

Clothes shopping for a nine year old girl? It’s hard.

For starters, clothes that are made to fit nine year olds are often – how can I say this delicately? – wildly inappropriate. Add that to a kid who is rather (and by rather, I mean extremely) picky about how clothes look and feel (my Kate likes to be comfortable!) and, well, you’ve got your work cut out for you.

When Kate needs clothes, we often head to Kohl’s. Their girls’ department has a wide selection, and she can find things she likes from dressy to sporty. Of course, I like the price – Kohl’s is always having killer sales.

Kohl’s is definitely one of our back-to-school shopping stops, and I’m happy to partner with them on Mommin’ It Up. They sent us a $100 gift card to help us get started, and Kate and I had a blast picking out some clothes for the fourth grade.

Check out some of our finds!

As you can see, Kate found a bunch of cute outfits that are both cute and comfortable (her priorities) and quite appropriate for her age (my priority!) – and the price was right. She is particularly picky selective about jeans – she doesn’t like them to be too tight or constricting, and they must be soft! – and we’ve found that the Mudd jeans at Kohl’s work great for her. In fact, she was wearing Mudd jeans from Kohl’s when we got to the store! We picked up a couple more pairs for her on sale for $20 each. Score! She also found a couple long-sleeved shirts that are super soft but have added detail (the peach one has lace sleeves and the green one has sequins on the shoulders) that give a touch of style without going over-board on the girly-ness (Kate won’t have that!). They were each on sale for $9.99. I only wished they had them in my size!

Kohl’s is also a great place to pick up the basics – we made sure to stock up on underwear and socks while we were there as well!

While Kate and I enjoyed a girls’ night shopping trip, we often shop at Kohl’s as a family. It’s nice to have a one-stop-shop for all of us. I am also slightly obsessed with their kitchen section, but that is a story for another day!

Overall, our trip was a big success – Kate has a great start on her fourth grade wardrobe, and I didn’t have to break the bank. Check out the picture of our receipt below – thanks to the in-store sales and 15% off for being a Kohl’s card holder, we saved more than we spent! I’d say that is a win.

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Kohl’s provided a gift card to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.