Overalls

This entire outfit comes from Shuma's gramma. OK, at least half of his clothes come from gramma, and I'm really grateful because I really prefer Canadian clothes for this age. Not that Japan doesn't have great baby clothes, but Shuma is more of a toddler and toddler clothes here are exactly like older kid's clothes: boring (unless you're talking about girl toddlers, in which case there is no shortage of frilly pink princess wear).

Anyway, I especially like the overalls. These are his first Oshkosh B'Gosh overalls, and after trying several other types I can see why they're so popular. I'm not into brand names and designer labels, but these are very well made, good fit, and they stay on. If gramma doesn't send more I will just have to buy a bunch on my next visit. (They have Oshkosh here too but believe it or not they don't have overalls for baby boys, at least not at the ones I've been to. Girl overalls, with a skirt instead of pants? Tonnes. Those are big here for some reason.) But enough about overalls, what I really want to show you is this:

Look at that hair. Still no haircut, and it may just never happen because look at that hair! Yes, he does get mistaken for a girl occasionally, but it doesn't seem to offend him. Besides, if I need to cut his hair in a particular way to signal to the world that he's a boy then there's something wrong. I mean, he's wearing overalls!

Comments

[dawn]

I love denim overalls on my little mover too. What's not to love: they coordinate with any onesie, they stay on even when he crawls on his belly, some of them have snaps for easy nappy changes...

And I too have to take issue with clothes makers; they really don't do cute clothes for boys. Almost all the boy baby and toddler clothes in the high street shops look the same as what the teenagers wear.

I know, overalls are perfect for toddlers. Although my husband doesn't get it, I've had to explain three times that the legs have snaps and you don't actually have to take them off for each diaper change.

Boys clothes are just awful, and that's one thing I like about Japan- at least for babies the boys clothes are just as cute as the girl's clothes. No fear of colour or pattern.

-Amy

[Sylke Kramer]

He is so very cute and I am loving the dungarees too!

Re the hair: people also occasionally thought that my son was a girl because of his curly blonde shoulder length hair up until he was three - despite the fact that he was wearing 100% boys clothes. It doesn't matter, it's only a reflection of their expectations that have been shaped in the past. They soon enough realised that this was a boy when he would go on about vehicles and nothing else... :) It never bothered us nor my son. He's now nearly six and got to an age where it is a bit more important for them to be like their friends, so the hair is a bit shorter, but that's OK. Enjoy it while you can! :))

It's really eye-opening to see the way people identify certain characteristics with certain genders. Also, I love the word "dungarees"!

-Amy

[Kelly]

But I see lots of girl babies in overalls. :) It's not just a manly thing. But oh well. Shuma is adorable in them!

Here in Japan girls do wear skirt overalls, but the pants version is just not popular.

-Amy

[222]

Hisashiburi desu ne!!
It's been a long, long time!!

Look at this blog!!
Where's the food gone!??
Are you eating babies now?
;)

This truly is a blast from the past.

:)

Yuck, my baby is composed of 50% cheek fat and 50% poop, so he's off the menu.

-Amy

[NL]

De bonnes grosses joues à croquer !

NL

Those cheeks are getting slimmer and slimmer though, we better enjoy them while we can!

-Amy

[David]

My brother didn't get his first hair cut until he was 4 years old. Everybody thought I had a twin sister.

Hehe, that is so cool.

-Amy

[Laura]

I also have been having a hard time finding clothes in Japan that fit my 11 month old son properly. Everything seems to be way too short and far too wide. The bottoms especially have extremely short pant legs that always seem to leave his leg exposed up the calf. Thank goodness I brought a few outfits from Canada, since they are the only ones that seem to be properly proportioned!

Though there is maybe a bit more selection in Canada, the boys clothes there are still boring :( I have two boys and have been lamenting the lack of cute clothes for four years now. The girl's section is always twice as big and 10x more interesting. Maybe it's good that I don't have a girl since I would be wasting a lot more money on kid's clothes!

Yeah, they tend to like their babies fat here, and that's reflected in the fit. Not all pants are too short though, so keep looking. I've bought some stuff at Akachan Hompo which fit well. And of course there's imports- try H&M. And for too-short pants try baby leg warmers, they're great!

And yes, the baby clothes here are pretty cute, but that stops at about 80cm. Any bigger and it's just mini versions of ugly kid's clothes (which are themselves just mini versions of ugly adult clothes).

-Amy