Back in June when I did these photo's for Miou, I knew I wanted to do another series featuring these beautiful clothes in a much more practical sense. Because you know, Maya doesn't spend every day in a pretty vintage dress chasing around kitties. She is your typical 2.5 year old; fiery spirit, snotty nosed and what not.
So more into why I want to do this. These are hand-knit, fair trade clothes that enrich the lives of those who create them. And since no one is being exploited in the process, these clothes are not cheap. My heart is convinced but if you are like me, your budget loving, bargain shopping, clearance rack loving brain is going to need a little bit more convincing. Christine gifted us the clothes Maya is wearing. If we had to buy her the brown pants, diamond cardi and diamond bonnet, it would have cost us over $170.00. We are your typical middle class family. I'm 29, work part-time doing photography and my husband is 28, 5 years into his career in the private sector. We have a mortgage, one student loan (down from two; we paid mine off this year - WOOOT!), one car, one child and an excel spreadsheet with a set budget & savings goal. We live a comfortable and happy life. We are learning to live more consciously, we are realising the ripple effect of our every single action and thought and we are evolving into more heart-centered beings. Since we had a cool summer Maya has worn these clothes on and off for the past 4 months. She usually outgrows her clothes in 4 months flat, so the fact that these clothes still fit her and will easily fit her for another season, is very very important to us. 98% of Maya clothes are hand-me-downs from her cousin Lauren, so I'm in a position to really be more mindful of anything I need to buy her.
Starting tomorrow I will be posting 1 photo a day for 30 days with Maya wearing any one or all three pieces of Miou clothing. In the spirit of honesty, I have done nothing to prepare for this - i.e. I don't have any clothes set aside. I will wake up tomorrow, put together an outfit and get on with our day. This series is not about pretty pictures or style-points; rather it is about my heart felt desire to show you just how versatile, beautiful and fantastically practical these clothes are. And that it is absolutely worth the investment because you'll get a lot of use out of them.
I'm so excited!
