Our fave new children’s clothing line is redefining what it means to be ‘girly’
If you’ve ever tried to find a cute, frilly dress with — let’s say — pirate ships or aliens on it for your little girl/niece/BFF’s little girl whom you spoil relentlessly, you know that it’s practically impossible. But fear not, there’s finally a solution in the form of a clothing line called Princess Awesome, and their designs are brilliantly challenging what it means to “be girly.”
D.C.-area moms, Rebecca Melsky and Eva St. Clair, were sick of not being able to find cute outfits for their daughters that were both girly and appealing to their interests. As they write on their Kickstarter page, “we believe that if a girl likes purple and also likes trucks, she should be able to wear a purple truck dress. And if a girl likes princesses and also aliens, then an alien princess skirt is for her.”
Melsky and St. Clair’s clothing line features dresses made from fabrics with dinosaur prints, pirates, classic art, atomic elements, and pi symbols, all handmade into adorable, extra-twirly dresses that are not only cute, but functional: “the skirts on our play dresses allow freedom of movement to climb trees, run races, and do all the things active children love to do,” they explain on their Kickstarter page. Their crowdfunding effort doubled its initial goal of $35,000 within three days, making it one of the most successful children’s clothing projects in Kickstarter history.
In an interview with Buzzfeed, Melsky and St. Clair talked about the inspiration behind the seemingly simple concept of their business. “My daughter has insisted on wearing dresses every day,” said Melsky, a teacher. “We can occasionally get her in a skirt, but really she just wants dresses, especially twirly ‘beautiful’ ones.” She also said that when she was shopping for pajamas for her daughter, she’d often buy from both the girls’ section and the boys; section.
Can we pause for a minute here to acknowledge that some of us still do this in the adult clothing sections? (::slowly raises hand::) High fives, brave soldiers. Sometimes the guys’ section just has better patterns. Not cool!
BTW Princess Awesome’s most popular pattern is the pi pattern featured below.
Melsky and St. Clair told Buzzfeed that they were delighted by the overwhelming support for Princess Awesome, and are happy to take a massive step forward for feminists everywhere by filling the gender role gap missing in the girls’ clothing marketplace. “Parents want their girls to know that they can be ‘girly’ and like a whole host of topics – because those topics don’t have genders,” they said.
We’re beyond excited that Princess Awesome exists, and we would actually totally love if these patters were offered in grown-up sizes too (just saying). The mission on their Kickstarter page sums up the whole project stating, “We are Princess Awesome because butterflies are awesome and so are airplanes. Because monsters are awesome and so are twirly skirts. Because girls are awesome and girls decide what it means to be girly.”
Amen, sisters.
[Images via]