FashionPlaytes Blog: Rhinestones Make Everything Better

Here is another look that we wanted to share with you!  It is our Sassy and Flirty look designed beautifully by Muffin529! We love the ruffles and the ribbons she chose to compliment the purple color.  This look is perfect for summer and even into fall and back to school!

We hope these featured designs give you ideas to create fun and fashionable garments with your daughter.  Have fun designing, and don’t forget to send us your designs!

Check out this cute design that we just had to share!  Madirayne1 wasted no time and already designed her very own dip dye cami dress!  We LOVE it!  This dress is perfect for summer, and the blue reminds us of the ocean.  

Check out our website and start designing today! Send us pictures of your girls all dressed up in their Fashion Playtes outfits, and your daughter just might become the Designer of the Week!

At a loss of what to do for your daughter’s big day?  Sick of the usual trips to the town bowladrome or to the current Pixar film playing in theatres? Here’s a fun, creative, and mess-free way to make sure your daughter and her friends have a great time!  Host a birthday party for your daughter and her friends with Fashion Playtes!

We have a few ideas that can make your daughter’s birthday party into a complete fashion extravaganza that is age appropriate for your daughter and for her friends whether she’s turning 6 or 12!  Plus, we have a special BIRTHDAY offer: If you throw a birthday party with 5 guests, then the birthday girl will get a free t-shirt! Simply use the code “birthday100” and when you buy $120 in gift certificates, we will only charge you $100!  This is a great offer that lets each girl design her own Jane t-shirt!

To get everything ready for the day of the party, we recommend that you design the garments ahead of time and then premier them at the birthday party!  We recommend having all the girls over ahead of time, about a month before the party, so they can use their creativity to design their garment of choice.  Maybe one rainy weekend afternoon, or on a day off from school, the girls can all gather, and let the excitement develop as they design their garment of choice! 

All they have to do is: 1) Choose it 2) Design it 3) Wear it!

All you have to do is: 1) Set up a computer/laptop 2) Create an account with Fashion Playtes and keep all the girls signed into the account 3) Start by showing them how to pick and chose a garment- the Jane, a classic t-shirt that provides numerous design options, is a good choice 4) Show them the design wheel where they will be taken through the steps of choosing their shirt color, ribbons, ruffles and appliqués among several other design options to make their Jane t-shirt just as glamorous as they are! 5) Make sure they save their work to the collection 6) When all the garments are ready, add them all to the cart and check out using the gift certificate code.

In addition, we recommend including as the label the girl’s name, and also “6^th Birthday Party,” so this garment can be a long lasting memory for years to come!  For example- “Kate’s 6^th Birthday.”

The day of the Party: It’s Show Time!  Prepare a runway down a long hallway in your house, your living room area, or even in the driveway if it’s a nice day!  Watch your girls turn into models as they flaunt their own unique and custom made Fashion Playtes outfit!  Make sure you play paparazzi and snap photos of all the girls’ creative looks.  Have the birthday girl go last as the grand finale- of course while wearing a tiara!  Upload pictures of your girls in their Fashion Playtes outfits to our facebook page, or send us emails letting us know how much they loved their designs, and how much fun they had! You may even get a reward or a credit for future purchases based upon your testimonials!

To complete the party theme: If your girls are on the younger end, ages 5-8, choose some age appropriate activities that will compliment and expand upon their Fashion Playtes runway experience.  We suggest:

-         Having the girls design a custom Doll dress that matches or compliments their garments. 

-         Making plain cookies ahead of time, maybe the day before, and lay out different colored icing and sprinkles to keep the creativity flowing as they decorate their cookies however they like!

-         Letting them play paparazzi by setting out several disposable cameras so they can take fun pictures of one another in their Fashion Playtes outfits while they spend the day together doing different activities!

-         If the weather is nice, setting up a slip n’ slide in the yard!  However, make sure they are not wearing their Fashion Playtes outfit! Simply lay a tarp out in the yard and hose it down.

For your older girls: ages 9-12, they may not want to be playing with dolls… or, they may not admit that they want to; therefore, we have some fun ideas that will keep your girls smiling all day!

-         Lay out makeup, hair decorations, and nail polish, so they can be as glamorous as a runway model as they “strut their stuff on the catwalk!”

-         Set up music and play their favorite songs!  Video tape them dancing around so they can be documented in their very own music video while wearing their fashionable Fashion Playtes outfits!

-         Oversee them making some fun ice cream cone cupcakes!  They are very easy to make, and bring cupcakes to another level.  Your girls will love them!  We know we do!  Thanks to Nancy Douglas, here is a recipe to make these delicious and cute birthday ice cream cone cupcakes!

-         Girls this age would love a slip n’ slide as well because honestly, who doesn’t love a slip n’ slide, no matter what age!

Birthdays are meant to be fun with activities that your daughter and her girlfriends want to do.  With Fashion Playtes, your girls will get to express themselves by designing their own dream outfit, while saving you from carpooling down to the local mall!  Pick whatever option, or make modifications that you think will best suit you and your daughter and friends, on her special day! Start planning today!

Let us know if you have any suggestions, or if you tried a Fashion Playtes Birthday Party!

Great fashion-update news! Coming soon, hopefully next week, our ombre inspired, dip dye line will be available for purchase on our site!

“Fade” out of spring and into summer with a beautiful and fashionable color “fading” palette.  Have fun playing with different shades and creating a canvas of different looks! Stay tuned for the release date of our newest, summer fashion trend!

What do you think of our new ombre, dip dye inspired collection?

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Memorial Day Weekend- the official kickoff to summer, the indicator that school is almost done for the year, the best time to have the first official summer cook-out, and, of course, the first “acceptable” time to bring out the white shorts!

Memorial Day Weekend is a great time to spend with family and friends.  It almost feels like a tease knowing that school is still in session and that summer vacations are a month or so away!

But that’s no reason that this three-day weekend can’t feel like a mini-vacation! We know we’re going to treat it like one!

So bring out the cute outfits, the potato salad, and don’t forget the sunscreen, because this weekend, we are treating it like a styling, summer getaway!

We want to know, what are your plans for Memorial Day Weekend?!

Evidence girls get to have ALL the fun:

- School which lasts 6 hrs/day (and includes lunch and art classes)

- Summer vacation (I could have stopped there)

- Dolls…just like small children but with NONE of the baggage!

- And now…custom doll dresses!

We’re excited to announce that girls can now design their own doll dress - the Cassie dress fits dolls 18-21″ (as in American Girl dolls and other popular dolls).  The Cassie dress starts at just $8 and comes in 7 colors with hundreds of choices for ribbons, ruffles and rhinestones that girls can choose from to create a custom look for their favorite doll.

And why stop there? Girls can design a matching look: the Cassidy (in girls sizes 6-12) matches the Cassie dress for dolls!

CONTEST: Moms, want to win a free custom doll dress for your daughter? Let us know the craziest place your daughter has brought her doll with her (or the place she wanted to bring it and you had to put your foot down!) and we’ll pick a lucky winner on Monday, May 24th to win a $25 gift certificates towards a custom doll dress.

To enter: Send your submissions via email to customercare@fashionplaytes.com or post your submissions below!

As the mother of a 7 year old girl who “hearts” anything pink, frilly and sparkly, I’ve had to bite my tongue more times than I care to admit as my daughter walks out from her bedroom in an outfit she’s proudly assembled. Really? You thought taffeta, lace and rhinestones would work well together for the school trip to the zoo? We’re now finally out of the stage where Halloween costumes double for day-to-day outfits (has anyone else had to plead with their daughters to leave the tutu or princess outfit at home?!) but we’re now in an entirely different stage – over-the-top glitter and glam.

Girls love sequins, and I should know, given what we sell on FashionPlaytes. Not surprisingly, our best selling embellishments are rhinestones in every shape and size – peace symbols, dogs, stars, hearts, you name it. In small amounts, and on age-appropriate clothing, rhinestone appliqués can transform an outfit. But don’t blame me, this glitter and glam trend started way before FashionPlaytes came along.

Today, girls have clothing choices I’d never have imagined as a kid. This summer, retailers will undoubtedly feature tube tops and halters bedazzled with rhinestones, prints and patterns in an Easter egg array of colors. In the winter, we saw racks of pink and purple fur-trimmed coats and boots. Cute? Yes, but in a comical, costume-y way. It’s a struggle to keep my daughter in stylish, yet age-appropriate outfits when it becomes harder and harder to find well-made, trendy and kid-friendly clothes that aren’t just copies of what’s being sold on women’s racks in smaller sizes.

In an age where Hannah Montana reigns and edgy brands like Ed Hardy are becoming popular at school, moms are faced with increasingly difficult decisions when it comes to their young girls’ clothing choices. At work, I’ve received letters from moms across the country willing to share their advice, or simply commiserate, on how to best nurture daughters at this young age. I’ve connected with many of them about how to find balance between encouraging our daughters to express themselves through fashion while helping them make appropriate decisions on what to wear.

In the spirit of sharing, here are some of the most compelling and helpful stories and advice I’ve heard from moms in the past year.

-       Explain the difference between dress-up and real-world: One mother wrote, “My daughter loves to watch me apply makeup and often throws in her own suggestions, “Mommy, what about this sparkly powder on your eyes?” I’ll use the opportunity to explain why shimmery eyes, lacquered lips and day-glow cheeks might look great on her dolls but aren’t what people wear on a daily basis (especially not for an important business meeting). She needs to know there’s a distinction between Barbie-land and the real world.”

-       Avoid being judgmental: A friend recently shared the story of how her daughter burst into tears when her older brother teased her about choosing an outfit “Barbie wouldn’t be caught dead in.” We all know it’s no fun being judged, especially by siblings or parents, so don’t create that dynamic with your daughter. Applaud her attempt to express herself and like anything, choose the right time to let her know that taffeta, lace and rhinestones aren’t the best combination.

-       Make choices together: One mother told me that designing clothes with her daughter on the website made her daughter more curious about her own fashion choices. Before she knew it, she had to defend her black and charcoal “go-to” staples and at her daughter’s request, started adding colorful scarves or dangly earrings to liven up an outfit. Once she began to listen to her daughter’s advice, her daughter was more willing to take her advice…and the hard feelings of being lectured eased away.

No matter where we live, or how much we have to spend on clothing for our girls, our daughters are all going through similar struggles in terms of trying to test the boundaries of dressing to meet peer expectations and parental requirements, while establishing their own sense of style. As women know, it’s a dynamic girls will face as women for years to come.

How have you found this balance with your daughter? Post your comments below, I’d love to hear from you!

- Sarah McIlroy, Founder/CEO, FashionPlaytes

We had a great time reading all the entries for our Mother’s Day contest - thanks to all of you who entered!!

We’re excited to announce our 5 winners (read their entries below) who’ll each receive a $50 FashionPlaytes gift certificate and 2 custom designed belts - one for her and one for her mom - just in time for Mother’s Day!

Drumroll please….and the winners are:

• Alison
• Katie (username: Katiebug2000)
• Danielle (username: Danibell)
• Kieahna (username: moushka)
• Kristen (username: kdou)

My mom encourages me to be creative by having “creativity time” once a week no matter what is going on in her busy life. If I ever want to skip a week she encourages me not to by saying we have to keep creating beautiful things, because it will take a lot of tries to make something as “amazingly beautiful as I am inside and out!!” Thank you mom for helping me see how talented I am and for “creating” memories with our creations. You deserve to win every Mom contest!!!

—As said by Alison (age 7!) about her mom Lisa

*****

If you think your mom is the best, wait until you hear about mine. My mom inspires me in so many different ways and is eager to encourage my creativity. For starters, she shares my creativity by putting me in many activities. She put me in dance when I was three and I have continued ever since. Recently she inspired me by letting me cheer because she knew I wanted to be with my friends and wanted to try a new sport. My mom is on my side 24/7 supporting me in sports, school and all the rest. This week she came to my portfolio conferences for school and enjoyed reading all of my stories. She complimented me on my writing. I could tell she enjoyed it because she said, “This is very well written.” This makes me feel like I can tell her anything I want to, made me think once again how awesome a mother she is. I know that a good mother is supposed to push you to express your creativity but she pushes me + 10 because she is an extraordinary mom. No one can tell me different. When I don’t understand things I know that she is always by my side and that I can always turn to her for help. Also, she has put me on the right track by supporting everything I do. She encourages me to follow my dreams but most importantly, she supports my dream of becoming a surgeon. Finally, she just enjoys me. She thinks I am funny, smart, unique and talented. She says that, “If she was my age, she would want to be my friend.” This inspired me to be like more like her, to follow in her   footsteps, to follow my heart, and  to chase my dreams. But best of all, she encourages me to be …me.

- Katie, Username: Katiebug2000

*****

My mom is awesome! she inspires me to do what is right and to always keep trying. i want to be as good as a mom as she is one day! i love her and am so happy to have such a great mom in my life!

- Danielle (username: Danibell)

*****

I love fashion and being creative. My Mom encourages me to be creative by buying me different pieces of clothing so that I can mix and match outfits. Sometimes I even surprise her with my ideas. One day I wore my Fashion Playtes top with some matching skate gloves. Everyone at school thought it was so cool and cute. I love that my Mom lets me have fun with my clothes. She says I’m a fashionista!

- Kieahna (username: Moushka)

*****

My mom absolutely inspires me to be creative!!! Cooking is first on the
list. The creativity in the meal we make inspires me to try the food we
make- And boy am I picky with my foods! Next is the art I bring home from
school. The praise I receive most definately inspires me to make more! I
love art, and my mom makes me want to make more!!! I love you, Mom!!!

- Kristen (username: kdou)

We’ve been anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new denim skirt and are excited to announce it is available for sale starting today!

MaryBeth Tirrell, FashionPlaytes’ co-founder and VP of Merchandising, introduced this piece for a number of reasons:  “A jean skirt mini is a timeless wardrobe basic that looks great on all ages and can be worn all seasons. It never goes out of fashion and can be worn over and over to compliment a multitude of looks. It is also a fabulous blank canvas to customize and turn into your own wearable art.”

Options? Countless (of course!) but our favorite is to add the daisy chain trim and a rhinestone peace sign applique to the back pocket for a retro “summer of love” look.

Special offer: Buy a denim skirt now through April 30th and get a free Lauren headband ($5 value) when you enter code “skirt” at checkout.

Design a custom denim skirt>>

(Note: Headband will not be visible in your online cart but will be shipped with your order!)

<< The girls we’ve shown them to LOVE them.