Photos and text by Gabrielle.
Well here is a post I don’t think any of you are expecting. Hah!
Last fall, I never got the chance to shoot our annual What To Wear To School Posts. There was Sweden, and a move to France and England for two of the kids, and it simply didn’t happen. The kids were bummed, but understanding. Then, throughout September and October I kept getting requests from readers for those annual posts, and I decided that maybe I didn’t have to abandon the posts after all. I mentally filed away the idea that we might shoot them in January, when everybody was home again.
So we did. There was a Saturday in January between my trips to DC and Alt Summit where we happened to have a laid-back schedule, and we made it happen!
This week, I finally started processing the photos and I have to say, I’m so glad we did the shoots! Partly, it’s the satisfaction of keeping the tradition, but it was also a reminder of how often we end up using the photos throughout the year — for ID photos, for social media profiles, for school projects. We used one for June’s preschool valentines this week!
All that, plus the kids LOVE having an overall snapshot of how they looked on any given year — their clothes, how they stood, the way they wore their hair. They like to see which pieces get handed down and then make an appearance in a future shoot. We end up referencing our What to Wear To School posts frequently.
I realize it’s February and “back to school” is far from anyone’s mind, but I hope you’ll indulge me as I share the images. I’m going to publish the photos in 3 groups — today is Oscar & Betty. Then, next week, I’ll share a second post with Olive & June, and a third post with Maude & Ralph. I hope you enjoy them!
OUTFIT ONE
Betty is wearing 3 hand-me-downs — a dress and socks from Gap Kids, and a yellow jacket from Ismodern (sadly, it’s no longer in business). Shoes are by Cole Haan (similar here). T-shirt from Target.
Oscar is wearing a plaid button-down (similar here), lined trousers, and a puffy vest (similar here) from Gap Kids. Shoes are Adidas from Crewcuts.
Betty is the third person to wear that yellow jacket. It made its first appearance on Maude in our Central Park photo shoot so many years ago. It’s fun to see how great it still looks!
OUTFIT TWO
Betty is wearing a flannel dress from Gap Kids. Layering tee and tights are from Target. Shoes are Cole Haan (similar here).
Oscar is wearing a raglan tee from Target, dark wash jeans from Old Navy, and grey hoodie from Gap Kids. Shoes are black Vans.
The bike was Oscar’s Christmas gift.
OUTFIT THREE
Betty is wearing hand-me-down jeans from Old Navy, plus a hand-me-down western-style button up — if I remember right, we found it at TJ Maxx when we lived in Colorado. The jacket is from H&M, and the shoes are the same Cole Haan suede low boots (similar here).
Oscar is wearing a graphic tee from Gap Kids, yellow jeans from Old Navy, and a grey striped hoodie from a French shop called Sergent Major. He’s also wearing the same black Van slip-ons shown earlier. His socks are from H&M.
Layering is pretty much a daily thing here — tees over or under other shirts or sweaters or hoodies.
OUTFIT FOUR
Betty is wearing a pale pink jumper and striped pants, and New Balance sneakers, all from Crewcuts.
Oscar is wearing an Oxford button-down from Old Navy — with painted cuffs he added himself. The striped top is Mini Boden, and the green khakis are from H&M. Adidas are the same as shown earlier.
I should note that I especially love the details on Betty’s pink jumper — the diagonal zippers have tiny ribbon pulls!
OUTFIT FIVE
Betty is wearing a yellow striped sweater, and cropped jeans from Mini Boden, a navy polkadot top from a French grocery store called Carrefore, and socks from H&M. The sneakers are New Balance for Crewcuts.
Oscar is wearing green jeans and a navy striped top from H&M. His button-down is from Old Navy — it’s covered in a pattern of eye-glasses. Cute! He’s also wearing the black Vans you’ve seen earlier.
Voila! This is what my kids are wearing to 3rd Grade (Betty), and 4th Grade (Oscar) in the school year 2014-15. I hope you enjoyed the tour. It was interesting for me to see how little French clothing we have left. Time for another trip! : )
I’d love to hear, do you have a favorite outfit? And would your kids like wearing clothes like these? If no, what do they like to put on in the morning?
P.S. — You can find all the What To Wear To School posts from over the years here.