shak-shuka

Frugi-licious Kids Wear

This past week our store had a sale on baby and kids clothing, and we've been very busy bees! Lots of wrapping, sorting, organizing and packing - with most packages containing at least one item from the Frugi brand, and given the quality, I'm not surprised. The only problem with having an online boutique is that you miss the element of "touch", so you're not able to really experience the fabrics - the way they feel against the skin, the way they drape - it's really a pity, as Frugi is top-notch when it comes to quality. I've seen A LOT of organic fabrics in my day, and Frugi is the cream of the crop. Not only does each piece of clothing look adorable on, but it wears like iron and you can easily see it getting passed down generations....and generations, and generations. They should call it "Organic Ironclad Kids Wear"!

To make Frugi even more eco-friendly (they are pretty hard to beat, being organic and fairly traded), each item comes in beautiful, simple packaged sleeves which are biodegradable and compostable. Really amazing! It's great to see companies going above and beyond the eco call of duty: from the way they produce the cotton, to the fair working conditions, to the materials used to make the garments and the bags they send them in, Frugi's thought of it all! If only all companies could be this clean and green, the world would be a much better place.

Available at: www.shak-shuka.com

Petunia Picks Good Gift Sets

Spring may be in the air, but I think there's something in the water because every woman seems to be pregnant (not me)!! I guess it's not such a big surprise, as that's just one of the many signs of new life around our neighborhood: the new little ducklings learning to swim for the first time in the canal in front of our house, the sock-free sandals people are wearing, and poor female dogs in heat. That last one isn't as pretty, but it's a sign of spring!

With all of these babies being born, it leaves me scrambling for the perfect "welcome to this crazy world" gift. Putting a gift together is sometimes difficult, because you don't know the taste of what the mother or father likes, so you're left in a baby gift limbo. Petunia Pickle Bottom (crazy name, I know) is a brand from the US that is most famous for their decadent diaper bags carried by the likes of Selma Hayek, but now they're also famous for their organic gift sets. These sets are ingenious for those of us who want to give something unique and beautiful, but also gentle on the earth. PPB (Petunia Pickle Bottom) makes onesie gift sets for boys or girls, and undeniably cute sock gift sets too. The sock sets are practically edible they are so adorable, and I have to keep myself from squeezing my daughter's huge feet into them, even though they're made for tiny babies (not suitable for a 18mos old, BTW)! 

So let the baby birth bonanza begin because I'm armed with my Petunia Pickle Bottom gift sets!

www.petuniapicklebottom.com

Now available at: www.shak-shuka.com

Kids Keep It Soleful

Ah spring!!! One of my favorite parts of spring weather is the freedom to wear comfy sneaker and opened toe shoes. Lately I have been brave enough to sport sandals (even though the weather was a wee bit too cold for it), I am really picky about the types of shoes my daughter wears now that she is a toddler running machine. 

Choosing shoes for a child is really difficult: do you go for functionality, style or both? Can they really co-exist? And what about price? All of these factors (along with struggling to contain a child long enough to try shoes on) contribute to one big headache when looking for the right spring kicks for your child. 

Alas, I think that I have found a wonderful solution in Keep shoes. I have been a big fan of the adult Keep shoes (made in the USA, using only vegan materials, most notably the fair trade rubber sole!), as they are the comfiest and stylish sneakers I've ever seen. Imagine my delight when I discovered they come in mini versions of my two favorite styles: the Guerra and the Ramos. Perfect with shorts, pants, and even a cool hip dress/sneaker combo. Could I be shown up by my own daughter in these shoes? I think so.....

The secret is out, you know what me and my mini-me will be running around in this spring!

www.keepcompany.com

Soon available at: www.shak-shuka.com

Bio Me 2!

The same gripe that I have with adult organic clothing (too boring, too expensive, etc) I have with children's clothing: too unbleachy-looking and boring, or the opposite spectrum: too cheesy and WAY too colorful. It seems as right now organic t-shirts for kids have really hit their stride as almost all companies seem to be cranking out at least one version, so that they too can jump on the organic bandwagon. 

I usually by-pass all kids t-shirts because they usually don't appeal to my taste (yes, even though I am not wearing them I feel opinionated enough to subject my daughter to my taste until she tells me she hates me AND my sense of fashion). I have to admit I'm a bit picky like Goldilocks: I never find the tee that is just right. Recently I was delighted to have found a tee that even this Goldilocks could fall in love with - BioME5 tees. BioME5 is a US company that creates zoo-inspired t-shirts (long, short, and onesies too) that have letters of the alphabet on them, and then a picture of an animal that corresponds with that letter. The fact that they are organic, made in the USA and sweatshop-free just puts them over the top in my book. I love when that happens - I find something that first I think is just stylish, then end up discovering it's eco-friendly too!

I can't tell what it is about BioME5 tees, but they are just the right amount of flashy mixed with a touch of cool-kid-refinement. They've been featured all over on TV and magazines, and for good reason. Now I just have to figure out if my daughter will hate me if I put her in a "U" tee that has an urchin on it....I mean, what kid knows what an urchin is??!! Maybe she will be a pioneer....

www.biome5.com