Living and Loving Fashion!

Great design is all about inspiration!  When Sarah, our Assistant Designer for le•top was in China with the Dragon Boat team, she was stimulated by the beauty and all the unique encounters.  Of course she always has her eye out for fashion…and we couldn’t resist sharing these fabulous shoes she found.  These one of a kind flats are made of cow hide, and have the kind of whimsy that makes them le•top extraordinary!  She wore them in to work the other day and I just had to snap a photo for you all to see!

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Ducks, Zebra…Chicken?

Everyone’s been wanting to see this infamous “zebra” jacket I wrote about last week, but I couldn’t find a good picture from the dinner. So, I decided to go see my friend and her daughter to do a little “photoshoot”. Her gorgeous (part Russian, part Native American, Ukrainian, Italian and Irish!) green-eyed daughter, Sasha (Alexandra) is a ball of energy who doesn’t stop laughing and running around! I asked her to come give me hug, so her mom, Tatiana, could quickly get a shot, but Sasha immediately ran off to grab something. That “something” turned out to be her pet chicken, that (strangely) loves being held and carried around. Then, there was a good 20 minutes of running around after the chicken, away from the chicken (that would be me), and trying to get the chicken to sit at the table…yes, I mean that…that wasn’t a typo. I managed to engage Sasha in a conversation about flowers, but the chair behind me quickly turned into a climbing post. A few minutes later she rolled out of the house on her tricycle, and we finally got our shot! Kids have an incredible energy that’s so contagious – I can’t wait for our next “playdate!” – it turned out to be such a fun adventure trying to get that picture!

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le•top Design: Fashion Zoo

So, I wore my fabulously dramatic (not-so-cheap) black and white striped cotton Zara jacket to my friend’s birthday dinner the other night. Her 3-year-old daughter sat across the table and persistently tried to get my attention by shouting, “Excuse me! Excuse me!” Finally, the entire table stopped talking and turned to her. “What is it sweetie?”, I asked. She looked at me urgently and yelled, “You look like a ZEBRA!!” As we all burst out laughing, I thought how silly it is for us to sometimes go out of our way to look “fashionable”, and in an instant, a child can bring us back to the innocence and beautiful simplicity in which life should be lived! Then again, some kids do wear tutus all year around – but those kids grow up to wear “zebra” jackets! 😉

If you have one of those kids, or are just a fan of stripes – don’t forget about our Anchors Aweigh baby dress and coverall in a lovely stripe, and the Butterfly Wishes, black and white stripe swimsuit and cover-up dress!

le•top baby: Anchors Aweigh (top) and le•top playwear: Butterfly Wishes (bottom), both from le•top Spring 2009 Collection

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Our Winner of le•top’s Mother’s Day Presents Contest: Jen G.

This entry made us laugh and cry all at once. Thank you for submitting your wonderfully heartwarming and funny story! Look for an email in your inbox!

As told by our winner, Jen G.:

A hand-colored heart, to which the first pack of gum was taped...

A couple of years ago, my then-5-year-old daughter asked what I wanted for Mother’s Day.  Since money was tight, our house was a mess (in part because we had too many “things” already), and I honestly couldn’t think of anything I needed or wanted anyway, I just asked that she and her brothers make something for me.  Pre-school was always great about helping the Kids make gifts, and I treasure all of the holiday items they’ve made through the years.  Apparently my Kids were more observant than I gave them credit for because, when I arrived at daycare to pick them up one afternoon, I noticed a big poster board on which the teachers had written responses to “What does your Mommy want for Mother’s Day?”  There were nearly 20 responses, each one-upping the last:  “Dinner; Dinner in a restaurant; Dinner and a Show; Spa Day; Weekend in Tahoe; Earrings; Diamond Earrings; Hearts on Fire Diamonds; A Convertible.”  Then I saw my Kids’ entry:  “Gum”.  It was perfect, not only for the should’ve-been-embarrassed-but-was-actually-quite-proud grin I couldn’t get off my face the rest of the day, but because I really do love gum.  Flowers are temporary, fashion is fleeting, but gum has the shelf-life of Twinkies, which means it’ll be around forever.  When I no longer have the teeth to chew it, I’ll still have a big, silly grin on my face every time I find a pack of gum tucked away on a shelf in my closet, next to the half-painted jewelry box from 2008, the scented homemade bath salts from 2004, and the small, multi-colored, possibly ceramic blob from 2003.  Maybe this year I’ll get cinnamon.

...on the back side, Anna (5) signed her name and Freddy's (3), and my husband traced Jeffrey's (1) hand.

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