Back in short trousers
Traditional, beautifully made children’s clothes are enjoying a resurgence led by the new generation of young royals, says Flora Watkins
Children’s clothes are reviving the classics, finds Flora Watkins
ONCE upon a time, there was a little girl called Elfie, whose mother despaired of finding the clothes in which she could enjoy a carefree, old-fashioned childhood. How could she hope to scramble through wardrobes or up a magical Faraway Tree in the bright-pink leggings and slogan T-shirts that were all the high street had to offer?
And so, Elfie’s mother began making her own. Inspired by hand-me-downs from her own childhood and a headful of playful, whimsical images—from Arthur Rackham’s fairies to the ‘cosy and warm’ illustrations in Shirley Hughes’s story books—victoria Roper-curzon set about creating clothes to fire young imaginations.
‘Smocked rompers, sweet T-bar shoes, everything a bit muddled up, a lot of colour’ is how Mrs Roper-curzon describes the aesthetic of Elfie London.
‘Vics definitely goes more the “evacuee chic” way,’ laughs her friend and business partner Rebecca Guinness, ‘whereas my style is more preppy—a stripy shirt and a gingham skirt. However, we both have the same idea in mind, that Elfie is an updated take on traditional clothing.’
With exquisite detailing, such as unicorns and rainbows in the smocking, Elfie London is a sort of idealised version of an
Enid Blyton existence, with none of the less nostalgic aspects of the 1950s. There’s no scratchy wool or castor oil here—and, crucially, no mangles.
With nine children between them (the sixth Roper-curzon baby, a son, was born in September), it’s imperative that, once dens have been built and grandmothers saved from wolves, those beautiful clothes can be thrown in the washing machine. ‘Everything—even the hand-smocking— can go in the wash,’ stresses Mrs Ropercurzon, ‘and it’s all okay.’
Clothes that both charm and wash well are handed down from sibling to sibling. In the photographs released to mark Prince Louis’ first birthday in April, he was pictured clambering over a log wearing a cosy red Elfie London jumper. ‘It was from several seasons ago and actually had a crochet
It’s not only about clothing, it’s about our memories, a part of childhood
frog attached to the pocket,’ divulges Mrs Roper-curzon, ‘so it was really flattering that they had it and must have passed it down from George and Charlotte.’
Although media attention is usually focused on the outfits of their mother, The Duchess of Cambridge, what the young royals wear garners considerable column inches, too. The Duchess dressed Prince George in a pair of smocked sailboat dungarees by the British designer Rachel Riley for his first official engagement, in New Zealand in 2014—her eponymous label has since become the go-to for the Windsors for formal occasions. ‘It’s been extraordinary to see the press interest around it,’ says Miss Riley, a former fashion model and Cambridge graduate. She is ‘particularly proud’ of her O level in dressmaking, which enabled her to set up her company 20 years ago.
The red outfit worn by Prince George for his second birthday and again at his sister’s christening sparked ‘a debate on whether boys should wear Peter Pan collars and embroidery,’ she recalls, with the young Prince appearing on GQ magazine’s best-dressed men’s list. Miss Riley’s clothes are popular with The Duchess, she feels, ‘because she’s part of a traditional family and requires classic items that suit formal engagements.’
Although her label is known for formal children’s clothing, Miss Riley stresses that the company sells equal amounts of everyday wear, citing ‘Princess Charlotte wearing that lovely floral dress with her bare feet in the stream’ in the garden created by her mother for the Chelsea Flower Show this year.
‘I didn’t set out to be trend-setting,’ says Miss Riley. ‘I liked to make things and there wasn’t much choice when my children were small. For me, the best designs are timeless, classic ones that don’t go out of fashion.’
It’s a testament to the timelessness of her designs that the button-front dress with ric-rac trim in which Princess Charlotte was pictured is the same style as one worn by Miss Riley’s daughter—who is now 25 years old.
Another favourite of The Duchess of Cambridge is Trotters, the children’s shop that was opened 30 years ago by Sophie Mirman, following bad experiences buying shoes and getting haircuts for her young children in department stores.
‘It was about creating an experience that was fun for young children,’ Miss Mirman explains. Giant fish tanks entertain toddlers as they have their hair cut and tiny feet are measured for their first pairs of shoes in a train, plane or pirate ship, depending on which of the six shops they’re in.
However, it’s her delightful, traditional designs, such as the puppy jumper worn by Prince Louis in his birthday photos, for which the shop has become world-famous. ‘We would never leak that a young royal is wearing an item from Trotters,’ stresses Miss Mirman, whose French mother was a royal milliner, earning warrants from The Queen and The Queen Mother, ‘but, somehow, the press finds out and there is an immediate impact, particularly from America, where they adore our Royal Family.’ It isn’t only royal patronage that keeps customers coming back for a pair of canvas sandals or a guardsman jumper. ‘They’re very well made and we never scrimp on any detail,’ Miss Mirman emphasises. Her design team works closely with Liberty, re-colouring some of the prints from its archive, such as the Betsy dress worn by Princess Charlotte in her fourth-birthday photos. A photograph of Charlotte’s great-grandmother as a little girl provided the inspiration for the centrepiece of Marie-chantal’s autumn-winter collection, an exquisite silk dress with a tulle overlay. It’s the sort of dress that Pauline Fossil might have worn for an audition in Noël Streatfeild’s classic novel Ballet Shoes, which was published in 1936. Princess Marie-chantal of Greece, who founded her label in 2001, also cites ‘memories of reading fables of Narnia, the far-off world of hidden forests’ as inspiration for her clothes, which ‘celebrate childhood’.
These clothes are wearable heirlooms, the very definition of sustainable fashion, made to be worn and loved, washed and put away for younger siblings—and, in time, those children’s children. Miss Mirman is currently having great fun dressing her first granddaughter, Francesca, in Libertyprint rompers.
‘When we sell a dress, it’s not only about clothing, it’s about our memories, a part of childhood,’ thinks Miss Riley. ‘Childhood goes so quickly—that’s one of the reasons I feel so strongly about traditional style.
‘Sometimes, I see toddlers wearing jeans and denim jackets, those trendy “mini-me” things,’ she muses. ‘I understand that when they’re teenagers, but when they’re small… you’re never going to have that Peter Pan collar, the smocking on a boy, unless he’s a baby. Childhood is fleeting—and you can’t get it back.’