The question my daughter asks each morning as I help her get dressed. Sticks, stones, toys, sweets, shells and coins. Sparkly pipe cleaners and curled up leaves. Conkers and mini figures. Every day she comes home with bursting pockets, and stories to go with them.

Not to get too deep in a blog about cute clothes for kids, but I’m really interested in the way that style and storytelling are connected. Style really does matter beyond clothing, and even for young kids it can be a way to express identity, interests and creativity. I’ve loved watching my daughter experiment with outfits and develop her own sense of style (anything from princess fancy-dress paired with goggles through to some effortlessly cool combinations), and if I’m honest I also just really love styling kids clothes, too. Maybe because I found it difficult to style myself after becoming a mother!

I felt a real pressure in the early days of motherhood to ‘stock up’ on everything so we’d never be caught out without an ‘essential baby item’, and ended up spending the vast majority of night feeds scrolling tiny rompers and mini jumpers. These days my daughter helps to pick the pieces she loves and it’s become something that we enjoy together, which is usually* a way of putting clothes together that makes dressing easy and fun. The bonus of all that late night scrolling is the number of beautiful kids brands I came across, which I’d love to share with you all through this blog.

The ‘Makers & Mothers’ edit celebrates the creators behind the clothes, & the mothers behind the brands. Interviewing women that inspire me has always been one of my favourite parts of blogging so I’m excited to uncover what style means for them and their families, and the journey they’ve been on building their brands.

Welcome to DRESSES WITH POCKETS. (We don’t actually only buy dresses with pockets, although if more brands could add them that would be amazing…)

Cute looks for little kids, affordable, stylish finds and beautiful mum-made brands (with the occasional piece you’ll wish they made in adult size). Plus, hopefully a little exploration into style and storytelling, what it means for kids to develop their own sense of style and a few other areas I’d love to cover as part of my experience of motherhood - from things we’ve enjoyed and great days out, to mothers that inspire me, interesting links and things on my own Wishlist.

From a mum raising a daughter who has very strong opinions on what she wears… and a hobby amounting to a part-time job scrolling for tiny threads.

*let’s not pretend we don’t also have tantrums around getting dressed / refusal to wear anything other than a Rapunzel dress for the 4th day in a row.