Mini Boden

Become a Self-taught Stylist: If my 6 year old can do it, so can you

October 4, 2011 at 3:34 pm, by Sue Erneta

My daughter Sophia just started First grade and she’s loving it. The part we’re not loving? That would be when she has a tantrum every morning over the terrible subject of what to wear. I know that every parent goes through this but multiply the standard issue crabiness by the fact that my daughter thinks she’s a budding fashion editor and we’ve really got a problem. Then add in some Erneta genes. (You see, all Ernetas are extremely unpleasant in the morning. I’ve learned after 12 years not to speak to my husband for the first 20 minutes of his day. I, of course, am only an Erneta by marriage so I wake up like a ray of sunshine. Do you hear that sound? That’s my mom laughing her ass off.) I digress…

Anyway, I was hoping to find a solution to our crazy mornings and I was very excited when I saw the new Mini Boden catalog. I thought those 12 outfits, pictured above, were just perfect for a fashionista-in-training to wear to First grade. After I got over the sticker shock of what those 12 outfits would cost me, I decided to use them for inspiration. Because even though Sophia doesn’t have these exact pieces, she does have things that are similar. So, we went to her room and started putting looks together. Granted, Sophia had a professional fashion editor helping her but believe me, she did a lot of the styling herself. We just took the elements of each look – like printed cardigan + solid color dress + striped leggings + boots -  and put something similar together with her clothes. Then, we laid each outfit on the floor and took a picture. We used the Mini Boden catalog as inspiration but we ended up going rogue and creating 21 unique looks with only a few items repeated. Next,  I uploaded the pics and printed them onto contact sheets that we hung inside her closet door. This exercise taught us a few things: 1) Sophia has an awesome wardrobe. 2) Though she has lots of short sleeved tees, she could use a few long sleeved ones. 3) She does not have a single pair of tights that fit. (Along with those crabby morning Erneta genes, she also gets the beanpole leg gene, too. Lucky girl.) 4) I shouldn’t buy so many pants and jeans because she prefers dresses and skirts worn with leggings.

But the greatest thing I learned was that anyone could do this. Even you. Go ahead, grab a Boden women’s catalog or a J Crew one or even a picture in a magazine. And see if you can make a new outfit out of things you already have. If nothing else, it might teach you what you need or what you have too much of. And wouldn’t it be nice to open your closet and see all your outfit choices laid out for you? It might just have you waking up like a ray of sunshine.

---