So. You’re getting old.
You and all your friends are getting married or settling down, popping out babies and buying (or trying to buy) houses. Those parties and get-togethers just aren’t the same anymore with Yo Gabba Gabba! reruns playing on the TV in the background, the bottles of Red Stripe having been replaced with cans of Diet Coke, and discussions of Jenny Lewis’ latest solo effort interspersed with 401(k) and mortgage chatter.
We talked a few months ago about parents who dress their kids like pint-sized versions of themselves—tiny halter tops and $375 Armani toddler suits—and this isn’t too far from that.
Hipsters are getting older, and they—rightfully—don’t want to swear off everything young, cool and hip just because they’ve got kids now. This means they’d never want to dress their children in anything they wouldn’t wear themselves.
It’s a tough market out there for this demographic: Hannah Montana shirts and Dora the Explorer onesies dominate the stores, but it’s online storefronts such as Etsy.com that are providing alternatives with quality, handmade, one-of-a-kind items for parents seeking refuge from the mass-produced, the overexposed and, worse yet, the uncool.
And it’s never too early to start raising your own little anarchist. Instead of pastel pinks and powder blues, BabyWit.com has been selling its unique range of baby and toddler clothing since 2003, including Sonic Youth, Billy Bragg, Edgar Allan Poe, Smiths, Alfred Hitchcock and Clash onesies, and even some pieces by cutesy (but not overly so and totally indie, you see) artists Meomi and Neko-Chan. Ever wanted to find a Lizzie Borden, Bukowski or Basquiat (all great role models!) shirt for your kid? Look to Baby Wit.
But it’s Baby Wit’s political tees that have been receiving the most attention as of late—one bright-yellow romper declares “Obamarama,” complete with an image of Obama himself in a Saturday Night Fever disco suit and Afro ($28), while another features a bust of George W. Bush alongside the tag line “President Poopyhead” ($21-$24). Some other favorites: “My Parents Are Big Gay Liberals,” “No Blood for Mohel!” and a horned Sarah Palin graphic that reads “Pro-Woman, Anti-Palin.” Others feature a hammer and sickle; the ABCs, with the A replaced by the anarchy symbol; one that simply reads “Question Authority”; and another declaring “Another Dissatisfied Customer of the United States of America,” along with a barcode.
Using your kids as your own personal bulletin board? Maybe. But at least everyone will know your kids’ (obviously very liberal and very hip) parents have great taste in music, art and literature.
