If you are looking for girls athletic clothing for the upcoming spring and summer months, check out some of these online stores.  All of them are girl-friendly sports wear stores and brands that have a wide variety of active wear for any sport your little girl has in mind to try out.

• Dude Girl focuses on women’s active lifestyle apparel, but also offers high quality girls cycling jerseys.
• Especially for Girls was created with the sports-enthused girl in mind.  Their line of girls sportswear includes skirt sets and Capri sets, both of which include shelf-bra tops.
• GirlMax Sports offers athletic sporting apparel for girls, with a focus on casual wear, as well as girls athletic apparel for soccer, basketball, and softball.
• Girls Gotta Play offers shorts, shirts, sweats, socks, and other accessories for basketball, cheerleading, fastpitch softball, field hockey, gymnastics, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, and volleyball.
• Just for Girls Sports is an online store dedicated to athletic girls and teens.  They offer athletic wear for most girls’ sports: basketball, cheer, cycling, dance and spirit, equestrian, exercise and fitness, field hockey, figure skating, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey,  lacrosse, skateboarding, skiing and snowboarding, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball, yoga and even zumba.
• SK8*GRL is about inspiring and empowering girls through action sports.  They offer tees, hoodies, and tanks for girls who like to skateboard.
• SportsKatz has a great selection of colorful, comfortable girls active wear. They offer clothing for softball, soccer, swimming, volleyball, dance, riding, basketball and cheer.  You can shop by product type or sport.
• Sweet & Powerful carries girls athletic wear for nealy every sport imaginable.  Shop by sport or clothing types, which include shorts, hoodies, tees, bottoms, sports bras and team wear.
• Soffe while not girl-specific, is a sports apparel company that has a wide variety of girls’ bottoms, tops, hoodies, sweats, warmups, performance, yoga & workout, loungewear & sleepwear, cheer & dance clothing.

Of course, there are always the Nike’s of the world. This is just a sampling of stores that are dedicated to girls and women’s athleticism.  I thought they deserved some attention, too.

If you know of any other girl-friendly sports wear companies, please add them to your comments. Thanks!

Last fall, Earnshaw’s posted it’s 2010 Spring Preview issue of Little Steps.   At the time, it seemed way too early to share some of what’s to come, but now that it’s starting to feel like spring where I live, I thought I’d pull the issue back out.

Little Steps is a trade publication that highlights children’s footwear and accessories for retailers interested in seeing new brands and products.  These retailers will soon be making the following little kid’s shoe styles and designs available to you, if they haven’t started already:

• Fish-patterned outsoles, butterfly motifs, seahorse appliques, chameleon tails, and even bats will make appearances on Merrell’s wild, spring line-up.  Polliwalks, Weboo Kids, and others are just as eager to share their wild shoe lines.

• Keen will expand on their adjustable fit shoes for little feet.

• Stylish baby sneakers and Mary Janes are coming in fun colors and vintage looks from See Kai Run, Elk Kids, and IsaBooties.

• Look for Mickey, Minnie, and Pooh to show up on boys and girls clogs and sandals from Birki’s in the licensed character arena.  Batman, Hello Kitty, and Peanuts will also make appearances.

While there are many more children’s footwear styles and trends to look forward to, this is just a sampling to help get you ready for spring.

Tall Girls, Short Boys, and the Medical Industry’s Quest to Manipulate Height

In full disclosure, I have not yet read this book entirely.  I have found it relevant, readable, and interesting enough so far, though, to mention it here.

The book, according to the author’s website, “is the first detailed account of the way in which tall girls and short kids have been experimented on for decades.”

The authors provide anecdotes, research findings, and a chronology of medical and pharmaceutical interventions beginning in the 1950’s which were intended to stunt or encourage growth in apparently normal, healthy children.   The problem they were trying to cure in these kids: being taller or shorter than social convention dictated for a child’s gender.

From parental hopes to drug company marketing techniques,  medical ethics to child self-esteem, this book covers the gamut of issues and emotions surrounding height control.  It’s a very interesting read.

Here are some resources about the book and a related article that you might also find helpful:

• Normal at Any Cost, on Amazon
• Susan Cohen, co-Author’s website
• New York Time Book Review
• Article Abstract:  Venn A, Bruinsma F, Werther G, et al. Oestrogen treatment to reduce the adult height of tall girls: long-term effects on fertility. Lancet 2004;364:1513-8.

I’m going to keep going with the button theme.  Lately, I have been seeing blue buttons pop up everywhere I look.  Turns out that they represent clothing and shoes made using a people- and environment-friendly manufacturing process.

The blue buttons originated in 2006, when Dutch-founded sustainable fashion organization MADE-BY decided to create a symbol that consumers could use to easily tell if a fashion brand is making efforts to use organic cotton and work with sewing factories that have a social code of conduct.

MADE-BY isn’t a clothing company itself, but they work with clothing companies to improve production and then let the public know about it.

Kids Clothing Brands that partner with MADE-BY

Earlier, when I said I’ve started seeing the button everywhere, I meant on kids’

Photo courtesy of MADE-BY.nl

clothing websites.  Though MADE-BY works with brands that cross the age spectrum, kids clothes are what I’ve been paying attention to.  Right now, most of MADE-BY’s partners are based in Europe, but of the clothing, shoe, and accessory brands that offer children’s products, there is also one brand from Australia.

• Edun
• Imps&Elfs
• Inti Knitware
• Kidscase
• Kik-Kid
• LE BIG
• Little Feet
• Mim-Pi
• Moodstreet
• Purebaby
• Snoozebaby
• Suite 69

How does it work?

MADE-BY’s goal is to encourage clothing companies to produce things in a sustainable way.  To do this, they advise fashion brands on how to clean up their production process so that they use working conditions and practices that are good for the people that actually make the products, as well as for the environment.

Because making something involves many steps, each of which has its own people, materials and practices, MADE-BY also tries to create production chains – networks of suppliers, producers, etc. – that work together to make things from start to finish.  They also support these groups with social or organic certification.

As a consumer, it’s often hard to tell if something is truly made in a sustainable way.   This is where MADE-BY’s button and website come in.  You can then see which brands are working towards sustainable production standards – clothes with a button on them – and how well they are doing.

For this latter part, MADE-BY publishes scorecards to let you know what exactly a brand is doing to be/become sustainable and how it rates in terms of social certification, organic cotton usage, and other raw materials.  To see the scorecards, you can visit MADE-BY’s brand page, select a company and follow the link to their report.

More about MADE-BY’s sustainable production standards

MADE-BY’s website covers a lot of ground.  I found the best information on their downloads page, where they have their annual reports, scorecards by brand, and sustainability policies and standards.  Learn more at made-by.nl.

Shoes, unlike clothing, can cause long-term problems for children if they do not fit properly.  Shoes that are too short, too narrow or too big for a child’s feet can lead to discomfort, injury, and even serious foot and ankle problems.

Understanding how shoes are constructed can help you make decisions about the styles that are most appropriate for your child.

Photo courtesy of Morgan & Milo

Heel: The heel is the bottom part of the rear of the shoe.  Shoes should be fitted carefully to your child’s heel so that the heel does not slip out of the back of the shoe.  Keep in mind that trendy girls high heels can put unnecessary pressure on the front of your little girl’s feet.

Toe box: The toe box should provide enough space for growth, and should be wide enough to allow toes to wiggle.  But, there should not be so much room that your child’s foot slides around.

Curve: The curve – or instep – of a shoe is designed like the typical shape of a foot and helps distinguish the right from the left.  Look for shoes that fit as closely as possible to the shape of your child’s feet.  Some children’s shoes, particularly shoes for very young children, do not have a curve since children’s foot arches do not form until a child is 2 to 3 years old and may not completely develop until they are about 6 years old.

Insole: The insole is the bottom inside of a shoe where the cushion is.  Additional insole padding can be added if one of your child’s feet is smaller than the other, so that both shoes fit properly.

Outsole: The outsole is the bottom outside of a shoe that absorbs shock.  The outsole may be made of very light material for pre-walk shoes, but could also be made of leather, rubber, or other materials.

Vamp: The vamp is the top part of the shoe where laces, buckles, or Velcro are used to help tighten a shoe to a foot.  Which type of enclosure you choose may depend on your child’s age.

According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the material from which a shoe is made can also affect fit and comfort.  Softer materials are recommended to help decrease the amount of pressure placed on your child’s feet. Stiff materials can cause blisters.

Given that, soft, pliable shoes with plenty of room, such as sneakers, are ideal shoe for children.

Reference:  http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00143