My mind has been a bit preoccupied this week with things that aren’t clothes (goodness it must be something terrible!) and I’m finding that my usual love of clothing chat isn’t just flowing off the tongue. Or off my fingers, as it were. It’s frustrating because I have so many things in mind that I want to write about but I just can’t find my groove.

So today, I am just going to write about Rory’s trousers. Hopefully my fingers will get warmed up again and these happy trousers will free up my mind and lift the clouds.

 

I blooming well LOVE these trousers. They are pink. Really, really PINK!!!

They are from the “girls” range at Zara Kids. So my boy is wearing them. And he ROCKS them.

So why are they girls? And why, for that matter, are the Zara camouflage trousers in the “boys” range? My daughter would look awesome in them.

Stereotypes, still. It happens with toys too. Why are the tea sets mainly pink? Why are there so few male dolls? Why are so many buggies and cots pink or flowery? Why shouldn’t a boy want to push a pram and feed a baby like daddy? Where’s the family based role play for boys? Having said that though, why shouldn’t boys push a pink pram? They can, of course, but I do think toys like this in what are considered to be unisex colours are severely lacking, since it seems to me that large parts of the market still struggle with going against the stereotype of the toys themselves without battling with the colour to go with it as well.

In the political and commercial world, stereotypes are being smashed and equality is the buzzword. Gender equality is an important part of society. So why not for children? Surely understanding that we are all equal is an idea to be explored at an early age? I don’t understand why children’s clothes, and toys especially, are still so gender stereotyped. It makes me quite angry, disappointed and sad.

Rory’s colouring really suits pink. Simon (Rory’s daddy) is really not sure about him wearing pink, but let’s me get on with it (albeit not always graciously!). It lifts his colour, it’s striking and I love it because it makes him stand out and look a bit different to all the other boys. Simon has a fair and understandable worry that I might take it too far and do things to make him stand out… But start to make him look stupid.

I get this. Particularly since I have a rather impulsive nature and I do like to be different. So I am keeping a careful eye on my silliness level…

But pink on a boy is not silly. Pink on a boy is fine. To me it is bold and confident.

Centuries ago pink was a boys colour – like purple. Now people assume Rory is a girl when he’s dressed in purple. I’ve been told it’s a “girly” colour. It is not. It used to be the colour of royalty, and emperors. It’s a regal colour. It is not girly.

Everything about girls vs boys clothes gets my goat. Why are there so few boys clothes compared to girls? Why aren’t there any polka dot boys clothes? What’s girly about dots or spots??? Why is the fancy tailoring all on the girls stuff? I mean, I’m not after frills and bows… But smocking, collared rompers, shaping that used to be in the vintage styles… Where did it go? (And actually frills and fancy bows used to be boyswear too many moons ago, and the girls stuff was largely plain.) And why is it always cars and dinosaurs and boats and dogs for boys, and yet girls get everything else on their clothes AS WELL AS cars and dinosaurs and boats and dogs? Although I have to say I remember feeling rather frustrated even when I had Kaitlin that there was so much flipping pink for girls when I wanted to dress her in lots of other colours!

One day I hope someone will finally redress the balance. Many WAHMs are making unisex clothes. Small business and newer niche fashion boutiques are heading back to vintage styles for boys. Zara are pulling out lots of fluorescents for boys this year, as are Next. Little Bird by Jools at Mothercare have a lot of bright unisex colours and retro styles that can be worn by both boys and girls. Scandinavian brands have been doing unisex clothing for a while. I always feel compelled to buy clothes that are for boys but step away from the stereotype, so we have very little blue or brown or grey at all for Rory. A few companies are trying to change things a little now. But it’s still a million miles from perfect.

I want both of my children believe they can wear what they like. They can look good in all sorts, even if it’s not necessarily what everyone else might wear. I want them to feel they can be individual, and break the mould if they want to. I want them to fly free, be good people, follow their dreams and not care what anyone else thinks.

So in this house, my boy rocks “girls” colours. I team them up with contrasting “boy” colours. And I think he looks super cool. 💜