You know a celeb has style when they dress their kids in Wes & Willy t-shirts. Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale show off theirs at Thanksgiving. Sporting the World Tour long sleeve tee, Gwen and Gavin’s boys Kingston and Zuma are on their way to a turkey dinner in one of the coolest t-shirts available this fall. See all the pics at CelebrityBabyScoop.com.
We all have them. Worn in and frayed edge tees that we beat around the house on a Saturday morning in. Plain white crewneck, a v-neck with a sports or band logo, everyone has a fav. We all have them and kids love them. Mine in particular love to throw on their favorite sports tees and head out for pick up games in the park. Kids wear them everyday, but do you know when the t-shirt began? Here are a few tid-bits of trivia on the beloved tee.
Do you have a long-lived and loved tee? Do you have a favorite shirt that you just can’t part with (or some one else’s you can’t get rid of)? Share your story here, we would love to hear from you!
Full Elastic Waist: Often referred to as pull-on-pants, elastic waist are a great option for kids who have trouble with buttons and snaps. They are cut looser and kids seem to like the comfort. Make sure whatever brand you buy, that the fabric covers the outside and inside so your child doesn’t get pinched as the elastic expands and contracts.
Adjustable Waist: A more recent development, the adjustable waist takes the finished, fitted look of basic fixed waist jeans and allows for minor waist adjustments. This is done with an elastic band on the inside of the pant that either snaps or buttons into place so you can tighten of loosen the waist of the jeans.
In the first two posts in this series, I talked about the quality and comfort of fabric and the detail and durability screen prints. Embellishments are another aspect of high quality children’s clothing. They are used to decorate and enhance any garment. Although “embellishment” is commonly used to refer to gems, studs, or rhinestones, I use it here to refer to an appliqué, patch, or any addition to the clothing that makes it stand out from the rest. Here are a few examples of clothes that Red 21 Boys/Pink 21 Girls carry with embellishments that make the piece pop and your child show off his style.
Patches
and Screens: One of the things I love to see on kids’ clothes is the use of
different textures. The Pitching
Ace T-Shirt by Wes and Willy is
one that uses this combination and does it well. What really makes this crewneck design jump
out is not just the patches, but the complimentary colors on the screen
printing and stitching as well. Take
away any one of these, and the design loses something.
Contrasting Stitching: Whether it is the hem of a pair of denim or
an appliqué on a long
sleeve tee, contrasting stitching makes the difference
between an ordinary extraordinary design.
You can find contrasting stitching on many styles by Wes and Willy who has won numerous
awards for their boy’s line. The bright orange stitching on the navy peace sign
on this fall’s Peace
2 in 1 Raglan makes the appliqué jump off the heather background.
Contrasting stitching and the paring of patches and screens are just a few of the many ways designers of kids’ clothes make their styles stand out from the crowd. If you have a good example of an embellishment let me know. I’d love to share it with the Red 21 community.
Every kid loves a great printed tee. Whether it’s a skull and crossbones, baseball glove, or their favorite superhero, they love to wear cool screen prints. Now, since screen printing has become less and less expensive, almost anyone can set up a screen print shop and sell their shirts locally or online.
A few blogs ago, I wrote about the weight and comfort of fabric in high-quality children’s clothing in comparison to cheaper clothes that you find at some of the major department stores. While fabric is the backbone of any good piece of kids’ clothes, the quality of the print is also where there is big difference between brands.
When I was growing up, I remember Fruit of the Loom’s
Underoos. These were the boy’s
briefs and undershirt in the colors of their favorite superhero with his emblem
screened across the shirt. There was
Superman, Batman, and even Aquaman (although I don’t think he was too popular).
The problem always was, however, that
after a few months of wear and wash, the logos faded, cracked, and began to
peel away from the shirt. Soon, instead
of having the Man of Steel’s insignia on your chest, you went to bed in red and
baby blue undies – not very tough.
While most screen prints today are not nearly this fragile, you can see and feel the difference from a brand like Wes and Willy and a lesser one. Wes and Willy uses screen printing ink that outlasts the constant wear and wash - if you can peel it off him long enough to wash it - of any boy. I have yet to see any instance of a screened tee that has faded before a child has outgrown it. Not only are they durable, but the vivid colors they come up with for their prints show that the Wes and Willy artists put time into their designs. Combine that with the texture of the prints and it’s not surprising that my sons’ favorite shirts are from their line.
So next time you are in the boys section of a department store, pull out a few graphic tees and look at them side by side. Compare the weight of the fabric, the density of the ink, and brightness of the colors. Above all, ask yourself or your son (if you can manage to get him to go clothes shopping) is it a cool print that he will want to wear? Take the best of these and see how they stack up to a tee you picked up at Red 21 Boys. I bet you’ll be surprised at the difference in quality you get with Wes and Willy.
Feel free to share your thoughts here about your shopping experiences- your disappointments and big wins; your favorites and your kids’ favorites.
