Let me take a second to say one thing:
I don’t review things very often here and I don’t get paid for it, but every now and again something really stands out to me and I feel like it deserves to be yelled from the rooftops… this is one of those times.
A little while ago while I was looking for clothes for Oscar that would actually fit for longer than a few weeks (those growth spurts are an absolute killer) I discovered a little web shop called Down By The Banks. They sold clothes for babies and toddlers, handmade by the owner with lots of love and some great features.
Now, full disclosure, the reason I discovered it was because the talented seamstress and business owner behind Down By The Banks is a somewhat distant relative of mine, the child of my cousin (is that second cousin, I’m never sure). Anyway, her clothes immediately stood out to me for two reasons.
- They’re high quality, handmade items that support a small Australian business. There’s no corners cut, and each item is made with love and it shows.
- They include a number of amazing features that mean the clothes grow with your kids. This includes hidden drawstrings in the sides of their rompers, fold down cuffs on their rompers and pants and additional shoulder snaps on their rompers so that you can actually get your money’s worth from the items you buy. That’s a win in my book.
Straight away I purchased two items, a pair of pants and a stunning yellow romper. That was in October of 2019, and now in March of 2020 both items still fit Oscar and he’s always getting compliments on both. Then a few months ago Emily, owner of Down By The Banks, released a new collection that absolutely blew me away: The Waste To Wonderful collection.
One item in there was a tie dye romper, with all the cool ‘grow with me’ features made from a thrifted mens XL t-shirt. How cool is that?! I love the idea of taking something that was probably at the end of its life as an item of clothing and turning it into some baby clothes that give it a whole new lease on life. Obviously I couldn’t resist and bought it straight away.
I love the initial items I purchase from Down By The Banks, but the tie dye romper takes my love for the company to a whole new level. It’s so comfy, so beautiful and such a great design that Oscar looks great in and which grows with him (which is to say quickly!). Every time he wears it people want to know where we got it, and I love being able to say that it is truly a one of a kind item. How often can you do that in the fast fashion world?
So there you go, a new small Australian business for you to check out: Down By The Banks. Highly recommended by me, and by the constantly growing Oscar!
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