Brother Style: Kid Casual Wear & IFME Children’s Footwear

June 15, 2016 1 Comment A Well Crafted Kid

With two boys I’m a huge fan of kid casual wear and clothing items that are going to last the entire time my kid fits into them. IFME Children’s Footwear sent complimentary shoes for me to try out with my sons and share my thoughts with readers. As always, all opinions are my own. To see my review posting policies please visit my policies page.

When the ultrasound showed me I was having my second son all I could think about was how the boys would someday be friends. And then I thought about all the cute outfits I’d get to dress them in. Yep, I’m that mom.

While I lean against matching outfits, I do love a good coordinated ensemble. When IFME Children’s Footwear sent me their lookbook of bright, colorful, and comfortable footwear for both babies and children I couldn’t resist a Brother Style post featuring brightly colored and playful kid casual wear.

Like the brother style and want to check out more style ideas for little boys? Check out the Well Crafted Kid posts featuring Baby Style and Toddler Style.

The day I took these photos it was ridiculously bright outside and the Waffle Window across the street from this amazing wall was busy! After we shot our photos and enjoyed some waffles at least four other groups of people took photos at this wall. We ended up giving our balloons to someone who was celebrating his birthday and wanted to take photos with the yellow and teal. A great color combo if I might say. Speaking of great color combos… the fun color combinations of these shoes inspired the whole brother style photo shoot. I wanted it to be casual and bright.

Stripes, denim and the IFME shoes really gave the fun and casual feel that I wanted for the day. I didn’t worry about anything getting ruined when we ate waffles and played in the park. Perfect for two busy little guys.

About IFME

IFME (The name IFME, short for “IF it was ME,” reflects the brand’s deep commitment to customer satisfaction) was launched in 1999 in Japan as the original brand of Marubeni Footwear. With a priority on the healthy development of children’s feet, the brand was developed based on research and development with Japanese medical professionals specializing in pediatric podiatry. Since 1999 IFME has sold a total of 16 million pairs of shoes globally and is launching in the states in spring 2016. Marubeni has named North American Shoe Company as its U.S. distributor and is looking to expand the iconic brand in the U.S. market. For more information, please visit www.IFMEUS.com or IFMEUS on Facebook, @IFMEUS on Instagram, and @IFMESHOESUS on Twitter.

Brother Style’s Kid Casual Wear Outfit Details

Our four-year-old is currently in 5T clothing and wears size 1 shoes in US child sizing. He is wearing the Racer shoes in blue in yellow from IFME. His shirt is a red striped shirt with chest pocket from Target and his denim shorts are from Old Navy.

Our little seven-month-old is currently wear 12MO clothing and wears a size 5 in US Baby sizing. He is wearing the yellow-green Venice shoe from IFME. His overalls are hand-me-down Levi shortalls (similar) and shirt is a blue and white striped polo that was a part of another outfit.

A Well Crafted Kid

Spring Ready with Western Chief Rain Boots— Mommy & Son Style

March 21, 2016 2 Comments A Well Crafted Kid

Western Chief sent complimentary rain boots to get us ready for a Pacific Northwest Spring and to introduce themselves to A Well Crafted Party readers. All thoughts and opinions are my own. For more information on my posting guidelines please visit my policies page. This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate links help this blog without any additional cost to my readers.

Yesterday was the first day of Spring. The weather here in Portland has been pretty typical… aka, rainy. All the rain is totally easy to deal with when you also get to appreciate how GREEN it is here these days. My back yard is currently heaven on Earth. The day we took these mommy and son style photos was a typical Portland grey. Which was GREAT because I’d been hoping for a good bout of rain so I could pull out my new rain boots and not look silly walking around town.

Ideally I’d pair these classic mid rain boots with more fitted pants… but, these ARE my skinny jeans at the moment due to crazy after-baby body changes. And, thought my knees ended up being a little funny looking due to the tucking the not skinny-enough jeans I was overall fairly happy with my Spring in Portland attire. Getting dressed now days is difficult. Things don’t fit the way that they used to and I always have to dress in a way that I know I can feed the baby without having to completely disrobe. You can’t see it, but underneath my nice little rain coat is yet the millionth button up shirt that I own. It doesn’t even matter the color because they all look alike to me nowadays and are likely covered in some sort of bodily fluid.

I don’t know if I’ll lose some sort of PNW cred for admitting this but, even after living in Portland for nearly 9 years now, I’ve never owned a pair of rain boots until now. I was the crazy lady you’d see getting their feet soaking wet in flats. Yep, that lady, she was me. My shoes and feet have never been more dry! It took a little getting used to wearing rain boots, but after a day out in the rain with dry feet I was pretty much sold on them. I also liked that they were super easy to clean up after a day in the rain than other boots.

My son got the batman rain boots and has never been happier about a pair of shoes. Though, I think what he loved most about his outfit was that I was encouraging jumping in puddles rather than making sure he avoided them. We styled his boots with his jeans, chambray button up shirt and heather grey t-shirt with a bright yellow rain jacket. I love the classic rain jacket paired with the unexpected pop of these rain boots.

And, yep… they have capes!

Outfit Details:

Mommy: Lucky Brand Plus Size Ginger Skinny Jeans (Size 16) | Western Chief Classic Mid Rain Boot in Black | Black Anorak Rain Jacket from Target (Size XL) |Black and White Blanket Scarf – I got mine ages ago and couldn’t find a good link to it… so, here are two similar scarves (affiliate links) BB Gossip Large Tartan Blanket Scarf & Afibi Women’s Oversized Plaid Checkered Tartan Scarf

Son: Old Navy Jeans | Chambray Shirt via H&M (affiliate link – Similar here) | Western Chief Batman Rain Boot | Bumblebee Rain Coast Zinna Gold via Target | Heather Grey T-Shirt

A Well Crafted Kid

Discovering the Back to School New Shoes Tradition

September 23, 2015 No Comments A Well Crafted Kid

Today is the first day of Fall and it also marks the first Fall that I have participated in the Back to School shopping frenzy since I myself was in school! They tell you that childhood passes by quickly… but, I don’t think I was quite prepared this year when suddenly my son was in pre-school! When Sports Authority wrote to ask for me to explore their back to school deals I almost balked at the idea because my kid is just 4! However, after a moment I realized that he was heading into pre-school this year and, somehow, over the Summer had grown out of or put holes in nearly everything he owned! I quickly explored the Sports Authority website and was delighted to discover that they not only had a great selection of sports items for adults (what we’ve previously shopped at the store for) but also had quite the selection of shoes, jackets, bags and clothing for my little guy‘s first year in pre-school!

Exploring the New Shoe Tradition for Back to School

Growing up back to school shopping was often a time where money was tight and the extra expenses stressed out my parents. However, I do remember many years where my grandparents would take us out to buy a new pair (or more) of shoes for back to school. I always loved the tradition, but didn’t really understand it until this year.

Over the Summer my kiddo wore out his shoes with all the outdoor play and growing feet. I didn’t even bother buying him new shoes over the Summer because I knew that they’d just get ruined! So, when the first few days of school were looming along with picture days, field trips and cooler weather, I pulled out all of his shoes to discover that he didn’t have ONE pair that fit him well and didn’t look worn to the sole. Seriously, my four year old is now in size 12.5 shoes while all the ones he had over the Summer were size 10.

He was not quite as excited about shoe shopping as I thought he should be… well, that is until we found the running shoes. The idea of getting a pair of shoes specifically designed for going fast was just the ticket into getting him excited about this tradition. The Adidas Boys’ LK Sport Running Shoes made both he and I happy. I didn’t have to have him wearing neon every day, and he got his running shoes. Plus, they didn’t cost an arm and a leg! He asks to wear his new shoes nearly every day now. The running hasn’t stopped since. 🙂

What back to school shopping traditions do you have? Comment below!

This post is written in collaboration with Sports Authority. All opinions are my own. Please see my policies page for more information on sponsored posts. Thank you for reading about the companies that help make this blog possible!

Little Boy

About IFME

Brother Style’s Kid Casual Wear Outfit Details

Outfit Details:

Exploring the New Shoe Tradition for Back to School

What back to school shopping traditions do you have? Comment below!