Outfitting a toddler tastefully: Jacadi, Bonpoint, Babycottons, Tutim NYC

Standard Bonpoint fare. Photo from babygadget.net

New York can be a treasure trove when you are a baby. There are elevator buttons to push, parks to visit, doormen to smile at, and a glut of Manhattan boutiques designed to outfit you well into puberty. The Upper East Side is one area (though by no means the only one) that teems with shops ready to provide entire wardrobes for those 8 and under. Because being six months old is no excuse for dressing poorly. 

A good place to start is the ever-popular Jacadi, a well-stocked source of conservative but stylish gear for Upper East Side children and their Francophile parents. The store on Madison Avenue is jammed with every possible clothing option for boys and girls ages newborn-12 years, and every item carries with it a whiff of the Continent. A grey flannel kilt for a two-year-old girl came with a belt, and would be very stylish when paired with a beret and turtleneck for brunch with Grandma ($88). An argyle sweater for a two-year-old boy seemed tailor-made for a member of the landed gentry, having the right amount of heft for when a toddler wants to stand on a ridge and survey his property ($94). A tiny blue-striped Oxford shirt was marked down to $29.50, and had a lighthouse embroidered on the breast pocket, giving it a both a nautical sensibility and the appropriate air of dignity for school picture day. Sales associates were friendly, and Josh Groban played softly on the stereo.

If the child wearing Jacadi attends private school, the child wearing Bonpoint travels with a private tutor through Europe. Very chic and very French, Bonpoint specializes in beautifully-turned-out but not-at-all-fussy casual looks for babies and their older siblings. A little sack dress, gunmetal grey and seemingly shot through with Lurex, featured a black velvet bow asymetrically affixed to the collar ($335). A vest made of rabbit fur would not be entirely out of place on the slopes of Gstaad ($305). A long-sleeved white onesie stated simply "Born in 09" in silver letters silk-screened across the chest ($90). And a pair of cashmere booties were the color of lambswool, and twice as soft ($100). The only soundtrack was blessed silence.    

Babycottons is a brand that specializes in the simple. Founded in Argentina in 1999, Babycottons uses only the softest Peruvian Pima cotton, producing sweet and simple little clothes that are all cotton, never overwrought. One item that dominates the Madison Avenue boutique are the plain white onesies featuring embroidered bunnies. (A long -sleeved version is $18.) The long-sleeved velour onesies with footies are also perennial best-sellers: one in pink made for a newborn featured delicate pink flowers embroidered on the chest, and one in blue made for a 9-month-old featured a plain white Peter Pan collar (both $62). Tiny hairclips the size of a thumbnail featured even tinier rosettes ($9). A low-key version of "Kodachrome" provided the soundtrack, and sales associates were gracious and responsive.

A final note: If you have an impending baby shower to attend, or if you are just a stressed out mommy, browsing the Internet can often unearth a real find. In this case, it's the genius creations to be found at Tutim NYC. Michal Prevor and Irit Maor were two moms sick of searching for lost pacifiers in the depths of strollers while dejected children howled, and even more sick of picking filthy pacifiers up off the floor in the "toss-and-retrieve" game so popular with toddlers. This led them to create a product called the Paci Sitter: a parent attaches a pacifier at one end of a strap of brightly-colored fabric, and snaps the secure clasp at the other end onto the baby's clothing, car seat, or stroller. No more lost or dirty pacifiers. They have also created Toy Sitters to provide more things to gnaw on.