If your daughter is a ballet fan this Angelina Ballerina costume is quick and easy. Pair her ballet outfit or any pink dress with a pair of mouse ears (ours are from Ebay and are a mainstay in our dressing up box) with a pink bow. Our favourite are from Verity Jones. Add a nose and whiskers with a black eyeliner pencil.
Paddington Bear is a sweet costume for any child and very easy to create at home with a few simple props. When my son dressed as Paddington for World Book Day a few years ago he wore his winter coat and some bear ears which we had in our dressing up box. I made a quick luggage tag label and we covered a small suitcase that we had with brown paper, but if that is a step too far, just add a jar of marmalade!
Another easy to create costume idea for World Book Day is Asterix. This was very easy to pull together with clothes we had at home and just a little bit of crafting! He wore red trousers and we made a DIY belt using some green and yellow card. I made a card moustache from an easy template and we stuck some white card wings onto his grey school hat.
The easiest World Book Day outfit we created was for my daughter a few weeks after her baby sister was born when I was very low on time or ideas! She dressed as Coco Chanel from the Little People, Big Dreams book series. We used a simple stripe top, paired with some (faux!) pearls and a costume jewellery broach.
Sophie is a mum of two who lives in London. She is co-founder of 48 London a bespoke luxury lifestyle management & concierge service.
What do you love most about Littlest Luxuries?
Lucy's attention to detail is so discerning when she sources pieces, I never have to worry about an item not looking like it does in her photo, or being in perfect condition, everything is always pristine. Any parent will know how quickly their children grow and how often they need new clothes, especially during particular stages of growth spurts! So I absolutely love that these pieces are all pre-loved and that they will be pre-loved again after my children have grown out of it, whether I hand these down to friends, family or back to Lucy! I also look out for pieces that can be handed down from my older daughter to her brother, such as cashmere jumpers or t-shirts that are suitable for both boys and girls. The sustainable element to Littlest Luxuries is one of the main reasons I shop with Lucy, I also love that each piece has its own story, that I don't necessarily know, but it has been a piece so loved by its previous owners and then to be loved by me and my children is very special!
What are your favourite brands to shop for your kids and why?
There are so many wonderful children's brands to choose from, however my go-to's are Bonton, Bonpoint, Tartine et Chocolate, La Coqueta, Smallable, Children's Salon. I also particularly love Disco Panda Kids and Infaant (which was set up by my friend's husband), Disco Panda in LA in particular focussed on sustainability and both brands have a positive, be kind and love everybody message behind their clothing. This is something I instil in both my children and I think it's wonderful when brands can express these types of important messages to young children through clothing!
Please can you share your secret concierge tips to best enjoy the festive season with kids in London this year.
Christmas is undoubtedly the busiest time of year for families, with so much to do and only one month to squeeze it all in, we at 48 London find this time so rewarding, being able to streamline the run up to Christmas and make it as magical and enjoyable as possible for both the children and adults.
Time is of the essence - something our clients love is that we keep ahead of the curve, ensuring we are on top of release dates for the top theatre shows and immersive Christmas experiences to securing last minute tickets to the Nutcracker and exclusive access to events such as Winter Wonderland Preview night.
Unique experiences - Christmas is all about making memories, we go above and beyond to organise amazing experiences from a personal meet and greet with Santa at home or an arts and crafts workshop with his elves to a festive baking masterclass or for those with an adventurous side, an immersive Christmas treasure hunt around London complete with clues, challenges, prizes and even the odd famous face along the way!
Personalised gift lists - whether it be for our clients children and extended family/friends, or organising all the gifts for schoolteachers (a firm favourite of Sophie's is making up Fortnum & Mason reusable bags filled with tasty treats for her children's teachers), we curate expert gift lists tailored to each individual. We take care of every element from selecting the gifts to wrapping and delivering them, complete with handwritten gift tags and bespoke Christmas cards, no stone is left unturned. One of Sophie's favourite things to do is put together festive clothing edits for client's children, from Christmas jumpers and party frocks to warm and cosy cashmere and festive pyjamas!
Holidays - Christmas is an extremely busy time for travel, whether that be a sunny getaway or to the slopes, we have our clients covered. From perfectly planned itineraries in Lapland, to a client's home in Florida being transformed into a winter wonderland grotto, we are not just busy little elves in London but all around the world for our clients!
What do you love most about Littlest Luxuries?
I try and buy as many preloved clothes for the children as I can and most of them come from Littlest Luxuries, always my first go to when I need something.
]]>At Littlest Luxuries we sell pre-loved designer childrenswear bought by parents who love fashion just as much as you do. Each parent has a story, just like every piece sold on our website.
Here is a little more about Sarah, a trusted Littlest Luxuries seller.
Sarah is a French mother of three now based in London. She has two daughters and a son and is an interior designer.
What are your favourite brands to shop for your kids and why?
What do you love most about Littlest Luxuries?
I try and buy as many preloved clothes for the children as I can and most of them come from Littlest Luxuries, always my first go to when I need something. There are three reasons for this:
1: I know the items will be in immaculate condition.
2: Lucy’s selection is spot on with timeless pieces from brands I know and love.
3: Lucy does the best stories on instagram showcasing items by theme or size which I find impossible to resist. I have lost count of the times I have almost purchased back one of my items when featured on one of Lucy’s stories!
Miriam from Mimi’s Bowl writes about what her family eat at home and what works for them as a busy family.
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Thank you so much for the lovely intro and asking me to take part in this Q+A for Littlest Luxuries. One of the great joys of being online and sharing food ideas, has been connecting with other like-minded parents to try and tackle the problem of “what’s for dinner tonight” … If that is bringing you out in a panic for this very evening, then I hope I can tell you more about Mimi’s Bowl and why I wanted to build an online community, around sharing recipes and ideas for family meals.
I love cooking especially for my family, but I find deciding what to cook every night quite a chore. Do you plan out your weekly meals in advance? Any tips?
I do. Dedicating 30 minutes to a weekly meal plan, from Monday-Friday is a must for me. On the weekends I am a lot less structured, as I have more time. I think that approach of 5 planned days and 2 more spontaneous ones is a good one. I always try and include one new recipe. A seasonal chart, or seasonal veg box is a great way to find inspiration and plan some fun twists on favourite family recipes.
It’s hard when you have younger children to eat evening meals together as a family as the little ones often eat very early. It can be exhausting to have to cook twice. Do you have any suggestions?
It really is, I try to plan recipes (and write recipes) that I can serve for an earlier/ and later sitting. My children are always hungry and ready for supper at 5pm and we eat at around 7.30pm. On the weekends we eat together and enjoy that extra time we have as a family.
How do you come up with your recipe ideas?
I truly love cooking and food, so for pleasure I am always reading cookbooks and saving recipe inspiration online. Seasonal food has a big sway on how I cook.
I get a lot of ideas at my late mother’s house in Kent. She planted a beautiful orchard and vegetable garden, there are poly tunnels for growing tomatoes, peppers, chillies, grapes and citrus. I am in awe of what a beautiful garden she created. I get great comfort being there with my children in the wake of her death. I can’t help but be inspired by the ingredients grown there and there is no greater pleasure then spending weekends, or holidays there and cooking food picked straight from the garden. For me that is real luxury.
My first baby was born in 2010 (pre Instagram!) and I followed a traditional spoon fed weaning approach with purees. When my youngest was born in 2019 I tried a combined approach of baby-led weaning and traditional purees. She is a good eater, but I have to admit I found the levels of mess quite stressful! Do you have any tips on managing this for those starting on the weaning journey?
For me the laundry (after the mess) was the mountain to climb! It is hard one to answer as babies are naturally curious with food, it is sensory process and mess is part of it. Getting a good wipeable chair, handheld hoover and embracing it are the best tips I can offer. It is a short window and I now sort of miss the mess and my children’s feeding journeys.
Which are your favourite London restaurants for family meals out?
The River Café has been the scene of so many beautiful memories, the food speaks for itself.
One of my mother’s favourite restaurants was Sally Clarkes, so that holds special memories of her.
And finally for date nights?
My husband and I are homebodies by nature, so we’d be at home. Good food and red wine for me, a chance to catch up. He has a great sense of humour, so we’d probably be laughing at our own jokes. A great movie and an early night!
Thank you so much Miriam.
Littlest Luxuries and Amanda Woodward-Brown are delighted to announce an exclusive online designer pre-loved childrenswear charity sale in aid of Malaika.
Malaika is a nonprofit organisation empowering over 400 girls and their communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) through education and health programs. Founded in 2007 by model and philanthropist, Nöella Coursaris Musunka, Malaika has grown into an all-encompassing ecosystem, impacting thousands of lives each year. Through its four core programs comprising of school, community centre, water and nutrition - all of which are offered for free to the entire community – Malaika has created a uniquely sustainable model that continues to attract global recognition for its innovative structure.
Amanda Woodward-Brown is a luxury brand consultant with over fifteen years experience in the fashion industry. Based in London for the past decade, Amanda is soon relocating back to her home country of Australia and approached Lucy, the founder of Littlest Luxuries to sell her daughter’s cherished pre-loved pieces with profits going back to Malaika. A conversation between the two soon turned into a bigger idea with Lucy and Amanda joining forces to host a special online sale for Malaika. Featuring exquisite childrenswear donated by some of the UK’s most stylish women such as Louise Roe, Hannah Strafford-Taylor, Millie Mackintosh, Des Lewis, Laura Wills, Hayley Bloomingdale, Laura Fantacci and Peony Lim amongst others, the sale will feature brands such as Chloe, Bonpoint, Tartine et Chocolat, Dolce & Gabbana, La Coqueta, Rachel Riley, Belle Enfant and many more.
The charity sale will be held online for 7 days from 8pm, the 30th October.
All proceeds from the sale will go directly to Malaika. Amanda has worked with Malaika for the past few years, and it has become a charity very close to her heart. We are delighted to be able to give something back to this amazing cause, whilst also extending the life cycle of so many treasured items of clothing.
Alice Edwards is the former Tatler and Sunday Times Style Jewellery Editor and founder of the beautiful, bespoke stationery company, Memo Press. Memo Press is hand-painted and personalised by Alice with a delicate colour palate and is the last word in chic. Alice is mother to Kit and Honor and lives in London with her husband and children. She is a Littlest Luxuries consignor and customer.
Congratulations on the success of Memo Press. How did you come up with the idea?
Thank you so much! The idea of Memo and launching the company happened all really quickly in the Summer of last year. I was coming to a point in my life where I truly wanted to launch my own business. When brainstorming the minute I wrote down stationery, I knew that was the path for me. I’ve long made my own cards for friends and family, having been largely disappointed with what’s out there. So in starting Memo I felt like at least I would satisfy my own purchasing demands and hopefully a few others would feel the same too.
How do you find juggling the business with looking after your children? Do you have any tips for anyone who is thinking of taking the plunge and branching out on their own?
My step-mum (who’s wildly successful and has started more than one business) once told me that running your own thing is 24/7 if only in your head. That is certainly true. I absolutely love it but definitely agonise over decisions and take things very personally in a way I perhaps wouldn’t if it was my own company. That said, I find the flexibility of being my own boss completely liberating and wouldn’t change it for the world. For the first time since becoming a parent I know I won’t miss the things I don’t want to, though that sometimes means working at odd hours or weekends. It’s a trade off I’m more than happy to make. I’m not sure I’m seasoned enough to offer any tips just yet!
With the growing trend for sustainability, have you found it hard to launch in a sector that, historically doesn’t have the best green credentials?
Alice, you have such a beautiful sense of style, both in how you dress yourself and your children. I’m sure that people would be surprised that you buy preloved for your children. Do you have any favourite pieces that you’ve purchased from us?
That is so kind of you to say. Buying preloved is a total joy, I also buy a lot for myself from preloved sites. Not only are things often completely unworn but the price tag is a complete relief too. Also, the clothes are just so much nicer! My all time favourite piece from Littlest Luxuries has to be a mohair cream cardigan with tiny gold flecks from Bonpoint. It’s probably Honor’s favourite piece too!
We love how you dress both of your children and your pieces always sell out super quickly. Which are your favourite brands for Honor?
I absolutely love La Coqueta, Pepa and Bonpoint of course - they’re all classic but never twee and so beautifully made.
Dressing boys can be particularly hard. From my experience with my son, it is tricky to find a balance between them being comfortable but still refined, and there are far too many loud colours and prints. What are your favourite brands for Kit?
Oh my goodness yes! Kit is also much more specific about what he wears than his big sister. I love Ralph Lauren for Kit, Il Gufo and Rachel Riley knits are beautiful.
You have quite a traditional aesthetic in how you dress your children. They are still quite little and they always look divine. Are they always amenable to wearing what you want them to?
Luckily for now our tastes do seem to be relatively aligned. I’m aware this might change and I’m already emotionally preparing myself. We choose much of their clothes together, as there’s little point in me buying something if they simply don’t like it. Getting them dressed is then pretty easy as their wardrobes are already a small selection of pieces we both like.
Your home was recently featured in Town & Country Magazine. How do you balance having a such a beautiful space when sharing it with your little ones?
Such a dream come true, I’ve been a fan of T&C for years and was so excited when it launched in the UK. I think I’m naturally quite a tidy person but we’re fortunate to have a playroom and frankly that saves everything. The playroom often looks like we’ve been burgled but at least it has double doors I can shut and pretend it doesn’t exist. Also I have to say the children are pretty good at understanding that in our home there are shared spaces, adult spaces and then their spaces (I also have to remind my husband of this as he’d like the playroom tidier than it is at all times). Having that balance means they can roam free in their bedrooms and playroom whilst understanding to try and be respectful to the rest of the house. Obviously this often all falls apart.
If you follow along on instagram you may have seen that we are in the process of a huge renovation to our house in London at the moment. As part of this I will finally be decorating a room for my younger daughter. As we knew we would be renovating when she was born (the renovation has been delayed by almost a year because of Covid) I never decorated a nursery for her so I'm excited to create a room for her now. As she'll be 2.5 years old when we move back to the house, I want to design a bedroom which will grow with her. As I've been scouring Pinterest for inspiration, it took me back to the process of decorating my older daughter's bedroom a few years ago. It turned out beautifully and every time I post pictures on instagram I have so many messages that I thought it would be useful to share some of the resources here. I had an idea of what I wanted to do, and had some of the existing furniture already, but I called on the help of a lovely decorator I had met through my time at House & Garden magazine. Jessica Buckley was a relatively new and up and coming designer at the time and did a wonderful job in sourcing some pieces and pulling it all together. She has become quite a name now in UK decorating circles, so I'm thrilled that I was an early adopter!
We started with the wallpaper and colour scheme. I knew I wanted to use the Cole & Son Hummingbird wallpaper, which has been a favourite for years, but I was veering towards one of the more classic, muted shades. Jessica pushed me towards the fresher white and green colour as she felt it would work better for Chloé as she headed towards her teenage years. We both love it.
The chair (which actually prompted the whole bedroom re-design) I found at the amazing Kempton antiques fair. In 'normal' times the fair is held twice a month at the Kempton racecourse and is an amazing shopping resource. Lots of dealers come over from Europe, and it's quite a hidden gem of the UK antiques and interiors industry. My top tip: get there super early (around 6.00 a.m) and be quick off the mark otherwise the dealers have nabbed all the best bits. There is no dilly-dallying at Kempton! If you see something you like, snap it up as by the time you've thought about it and come back someone else will have bought it! The chair was a complete steal, I think it cost around £50 and I re-covered it in this simple Diamond Dot fabric from Lewis & Wood.
The bedframe came from Feather & Black. The bedside table was bought at Oka.
The artichoke lamp base , which has sadly been discontinued, was also bought at Oka, and the fun green lampshade was purchased at Pooky who do a great range of lighting.
I adore the pop of neon in the bedlinen, which we bought at Designers Guild.
I already had the throw cushion for her bed which I bought from a company called Vandehurd. Again, I love the pop of neon pink.
I already had the blind installed into the nursery. The fabric has a little pink polka dot on a white background so it worked well with the new scheme so we didn't bother to change it. I did add the fun Samuel & Son pom pom trim. I had seen it a few years before and knew I wanted to use it in the room. It adds such a fun finish to the blinds, and again ties in with the pop of neon.
I found the little chandelier in a lighting shop in Chiswick and already had it in the nursery so we didn't need to make any changes here.
The room is at the top of the house and had a sloping chimney breast which we covered up with built in wardrobes. I had a joiner build them in to hide the chimney breast and square off the room. I had seen similar wallpaper-ed wardrobe doors on Pinterest and copied the idea, having the carpenter design the panelling. I bought the little perspex handles at Antropolgie in New York years ago and re-purposed them from an old dressing table we no longer needed. The same carpenter built the bookshelves for me.
We took the pictures just after the room had been decorated and I have since added some fun artwork. I bought this Flamingo artwork from The Animal Print Shop and it now hangs above the bed. If you are looking for animal artwork for a child's bedroom or nursery, do take a look. I had a series of sweet baby animals hung in my son's bedroom from when he was a baby and am going to re-purpose them in my younger daughter's bedroom once we re-decorate.
The room turned out beautifully and is still one of my favourite rooms in the house. If only it was always this tidy!
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