droolicious : 7 days of summerwear

7 Days of Summerwear: Crocs

Chris Ford — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 00:06:00 GMT

After thinking long and hard about what to write about for "7 Days of Summerwear," I kept coming back to one thing: Crocs. Sure, it's obvious. Sure, lots of people love them and lots of people hate them. And sure, they're everywhere. But the thing about Crocs is, they're good with socks or without, easy for a toddler to put on themselves, and are fairly durable. From my perspective, all that equals perfect summerwear.

There are lots of things I don't love about them, namely how they seem to attract dirt like magnets and how absolutely ugly they look on adults. But my girls love them, and after confirming they can walk perfectly well in them, I can't really argue.

If the old standard Crocs don't do it for you, the Crocs web site has a lot of new products to check out, including a whole host of Disney versions (including the Minnie Mouse mary janes (pictured).

Check out all of the new products at Crocs.com, including the Minnie Mary Janes, $34.99.

7 Days of Summerwear: Ozone/Sposh UV-Protective Sunsuit

Aaron Burgess — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:04:00 GMT

Looks should probably be secondary when your mission is finding a UV-protective infant suit for beach or poolside, but you'd be surprised at how far you have to travel -- to Australia via the U.K., in this case -- to nab a sunsuit with some character. Available in the two collar styles pictured here, this cotton/lycra suit from Sposh (the U.K. brand of Aussie swimwear company Ozone) is designed to provide 97.5% protection from harmful UV rays, while its aesthetic appeal (to me, at least) comes from the fact that it makes baby look like a little jailbird.

£28 from Born2BeCool -- and if you know of a good-looking alternative that's available in U.S. dollars, fire away in the comments.

7 Days of Summerwear: Venettini Sandals

Heather Kuldell — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:30:00 GMT

The joy of summer begins with kicking off the heavy, weather-proof shoes and slipping into flip-flops. I tried to share the joy with my son and learned the hard way: Kids and flip-flops don’t mix. Kids need straps on their summer shoes or you’ll spend a good deal of your day searching fro where exactly it fell off. Enter Venettini Sandals.

While they have roughly the same silhouette as ever-so-ugly Tevas, these sandals are actually cute. Rather than use for clunky plastic fasteners, Venettini opts for a hook-and-loop closure with decorative stitched stripes (plus a little more flair around the sandal cut-outs).

Available from Zappos.com for $59.

7 Days of Summerwear: Mary Janes for the Beach … and They’re on Sale

Lisa Mulcahy — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:38:00 GMT

Now that the weather is heating up it’s time to get wet and wild. Since my son was barely walking last summer, this is the first season of sprinkler running, beach combing and hose mucking. After completely soaking his sneakers while “helping” Daddy water the shrubs, I’ve decided water shoes are the way to go. If only he was a girl, I’d get him these adorable Mary Janes.

Ultra-lightweight and washable, Keen Roatan’s Mary Jane Water Shoes are on sale right now for $22, at Garnet Hill. A welcome departure from the ubiquitous “aqua sock” style these will surely be a hit at the shore, or anywhere else your toddler’s toes will get wet.

7 Days of Summerwear: Citrus-Tinged Frocks

Erin Behan — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:07:00 GMT

I'm returning to my new favorite kids clothing website, ittikid, for our feature on summerwear. I always forget how much I like bright colors until May hits, and the stores start removing the all-over blacks and greys and throwing up frocks in vivid greens, blues, yellows and other citrus fruity colors. The above A-line dress from Plastisocks ($39) combines a yellow that sings summer with a cool black-and-white geometric print that says city kid. It comes in sizes 18 months to four years. And for the boys, or girls who don't like dresses, I'm all about the lime-green hippo tank and short set by Smafolk ($52), sized up to six years.