Young Trends magazine

YOUNG

WINTER

TRENDS

WONDERLAND

No.1 CHILDRENS FASHION GUIDE

XMAS

SPECIALMUM’S MUST-HAVES

NATIVITY PLAY COSTUME GUIDE

“Designer labels do not matter, and neither do price tags!”

TOP FASHION BLOGGERS INSIDE SECRETS ...

50 FASHION

PICKS

Here at Young Trends we are thrilled to debut our first edition of the magazine and what brilliant timing with Christ-mas just around the corner we hope this issue will double up as your fashion bible and festive gift guide.

The Young Trends team has been work-ing round the clock to select the best fashion picks on offer this season and in-

spire you to personify your child’s personality via their wardrobe. We have tackled the grey area of how to perfect stylish wedding wear, cute special occasion outfits and you won’t need to miss a night’s sleep throwing a nativity appropriate outfit together. We stayed up for you.

We believe that this magical time of year is best spent with loved ones and more importantly your little ones. Take a moment to re-lax and have a browse of our favourite pieces for your little elves. Everything from winter woollies to online stocking fillers can be ticked of your to do list (thank us later)

Festive fashion all checked off we have some insightful interviews with fellow mums sharing their views on the high street and we have spoken to two successful kids fashion bloggers overseas on how children’s style is evolving.

We are happy to announce that we are supporting the Mums the Word Charity. A fantastic worthwhile cause that really touched our hearts luckily its simple to get involved with read on at page 16. Over at page 12 we had so much fun compiling the style awards for kids, we hope you agree with our selections and have a laugh with the real fashion divas of the decade.

See you in the New Year!

Ho! Ho! Ho! MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM EVERYONE HERE AT...

Bethany Taylor

FEATURES- New Kids on the Blog-Two Mums, Two Styles-Charity: MumsTheWord- Stop child bullying

FASHION-Winter Woolies-Wedding pieces

MONTHLY-Parents Corner-Your Guide To: Nativ-ity Play-Bargain Vs Blowout

YOUNG TRENDS

Congratulations Kate and William on

the expectancy of your first born, Love everyone at

Young Trends.

TWITTER : @YOUNGTRENDS

HANNAH MOORE, 21, Features Editor“I’m thrilled to be a part of Young Trends. We have some great features this month, show-casing tons of afforadble festive pieces”

SAMANTHA MASSEY, 20. Sub Editor“At Young Trends we’re focused on making your life easier when it comes to having fun and experiment-ing with fashion on your little one.I have had so much fun this month putting our debut issue togeth-er and really hope you enjoy reading it.”

Meet the team...

YOUR GUIDE TO...

Monthly

The star costume can be as sim-ple or as jazzy as you and your son or daughter wish. Again, take a trusty bit of cardboard and trace out two identical star shapes. Then, place both pieces on top of one another and form two level holes on either side. You should be left with four holes in total. Simply take a sturdy bit of string and create a sandwich board with your two stars. Now, cover both of your stars in good old-fashioned kitchen foil and fix into place with celotape on the side which

STAR

LITTLE DONKEY

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a couple of centimetres long. This will make attaching them far less fiddly and it’s less likely to fall off while your youngster is performing. The final touch for this ensemble is the tail. Not a problem. Get your hands on any brown material you can (providing it’s not uber itchy!).

one be on show. If you want to make your star really sparkle, a sprinkling of sequins and gluing on some diamantes will look fab and certainly do the trick!Alternatively, you can get your mits on a ready-made costume for absolute peanuts. If you’re too busy trying to manage any other Christmas chaos, this is the perfect option.

Lay the material onto a flat sur-face, then take a couple of hand-fuls of cotton wool or a clump of toilet roll and form this into a tube shape at one side of the material. The next step is to fold your mate-rial around this tube to make your tail. As soon as your tails securely wrapped up, glue this into place using appropriate glue for cloth-ing. It’s best to avoid safety pins or anything similarly sharp. Health and safety people- we wouldn’t want a distressed yelp from some poor little one who has innocently sat on their tail and got a nasty surprise! Cries of ‘mummy’ and running out into the audience will be inevitable.

Do not despair if your son or daughter has been cast as the lit-tle donkey. Daunting at first, this costume in fact can be a piece of cake! Dark brown leggings, gloves and a long-sleeve top is a great base for this costume. For the perfect donkey ears, take a dark coloured headband, or if you don’t have one to hand, pick one up for peanuts at a local accessories shop or even your local supermarket. Using any cardboard you may have left over from your other costumes, or even just a piece of paper, cut out two large ‘donkey-like’ ears. Now there’s a little task for the kids if they want to get involved. Get them to showcase their artistic flare and ask them to colour in the ears with some dark brown crayons. Once they’ve finished, you can cut these out and simply attach them onto the headband with a couple of bobby pins. Don’t forget to cut out tabs on the bottom of your ears, about

The first chance for your little cherubs to get acquainted with the spot-lights, the nativity play is fast approaching. Here’s your go-to guide for all things fun, affordable and festive to create the perfect costume...

THE NATIVITY PLAY

SHEPHERD

ANGEL

• 3 YOUNG TRENDS DECEMBEMBER 2012

This is one of the easiest out-fits to prepare and also one of the cheapest. So if your son or daughter has managed to nab this role, give them an extra big squeeze and count yourself very lucky indeed!Start by taking a bed sheet and cut in half. For shepherds, it’s great to get your mitts on some material with some sort of colour or pattern, like stripes or a dark red or brown. Then, cut out two ‘T’ shapes, making sure they measure the same in length- the last thing you want is for your little one to take to the stage and stumble because they’re costumes too long! And don’t forget to cut out a small neckline on both pieces of material.Once you’ve done this, just simply sew both pieces together with a simple running stitch. Alternatively, if you’re not a dab hand in the sewing depart-ment, pick up a fabric bonding adhesive and stick together. Finally, hem around the bottom of the tunic.

4

Take it back to the basics and re-peat the steps above, but instead use either a white or cream sheet. But if you do fancy splashing a small bit of cash, there is a great range of dresses that cater to little ladies who have landed the role of angel.Now for the wings. Take a large piece of cardboard and sketch out a template of a pair of wings and cut out, making sure though that this is one large piece. You can now simply just quickly give these a quick lick of white paint. However, if you want to get your creative juices flowing, pick up some white feathers and glue on. You pick these up at your local markets for peanuts. If you do want to splash out though, John Lewis is great for these little bits

and bobs. For the halo, all you need to do is to pick up a coated bit of wire (safety first!), and form a lollipop shape. Then, bend the oval you’ve created forward at a 90-degree angle. Now attach this to the back of your wings and wrap in any spare tinsel you have lying about. This is perfect as it doesn’t irritate them and has no risk of fall-ing off their cute little heads. You can also add special little touches. If you have any tinsel left over, you can staple this either around the wrists of the sleeves, or the base of the tunic to add a bit an extra bit of sparkle.And there you have it- your angel is complete!

Star costume, Sains-burys, £6; Angel dress, £9, George @ Asda;Tea towels x3, Tesco, £4; Tinsel, Ikea, £3.50; Face paint, £9.99, Star costume, Sainsburys, £6

Send us your attempts for us to post onto our site: [email protected]

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WHERE TO BUY...

GOOD THINGS COME IN

SMALL PACKAGES

Its official Winter is here.At Young Trends we can feel it in the air from the Christmas lights adorning our streets to the re-minder from the beautiful festive window displays that ‘Santa’ really needs to get to work on those Christmas lists. We want to make sure your tiny tots are wrapped up in their winter woollies and have scouted the best pieces for you so you can tick that off your overflowing to do lists. Our favourite high-street stores are bursting with some great snuggly winter staples but we have narrowed them down to some special key items we think you won’t be able to resist dressing your little elves in this Christmas.

These fun printed snowsuits from NEXT are per-fect for keeping warm during those magical snow experiences. The soft fleecy multi sex Christmas designs range from 14-16 and are a cheaper alter-native to the leopard printed and quilted hot pink which go for 24-26 depending on size.

Hats are a must have winter staple and there are so many weird and wonderful ones to choose from. Be playful with your choices you will be suprised at how you can add colour and fun to an outfit simply by choosing a hat. Whether you want to splash out or save the cash we have a hat for you.

Young Trends has scouted the best winter woolies for your little ones this christ-mas so you don’t have to

£10 Monsoon

TREAT THEM SPLASH OUT

WE

LOVE!

BARGAIN PAYDAY

£16 DKNY£11 Monsoon£5 Debenhams

Hats Off....

Noveltygloves£10 Monsoon


Now it’s time for YOUR say. Every week we ask your opinion on a topical issue Tell us your views...

Adriana Lima exposed her baby bump for the 2013 Pirelli cal-ender we want to know is this tacky or tasteful? Is this the way we should start celebrating the pregnant figure?

‘‘Me personally I think it’s not in great taste. I’ve got pleanty of stretch marks and seeing her dosen;t make me feel my best’’@nicola86, 24, Derbyshire.

‘‘Good on her! Proud of my bump and I always show it off in all my clothes when I was pregnant with my son.’’ @alice83, Liverpool, 26.

‘‘I think it’s amazing just be-cause a woman is pregnant dosen’t mean she can’t be beautiful’’ @Claire85, 25, Dor-set.

‘‘It’s not my cup of tea. I’m cur-rently 6 months pregant and the thought of strip-puing off scares the life out of me’’ @Jenny86, 24, Milton Keynes.

Parents Corner

@YoungTrends

The Little White Company

Bargain VS Blowout

The baby branch of white com-pany, a luxury store full of pretty pieces for home & family. Their baby and children ranges are irre-sistibly chic and although slightly more expensive than the high street we feel the items are worth every penny. Quality garments starting around the £20. Enjoy the decadence that white com-pany has to offer. Check out their baby elephant collection in stores now, for the more expensive side of clothes.

EBay has a complete baby sec-tion just waiting to be utilized. From christening clothing to cot beds there is an EBay baby under-world just waiting for your arrival. What’s great about the baby store too is it will act as a reminder for everything you need but the best thing is the price. The clothes and accessories are more than worth a browse, often starting at just 50p BARGAIN. A great way to gather unique items and stand out from the crowd.

EBayEach month we scout the fashion talent and present you with a bargain option vs. blow-out. If your saving this month EBay will is a affordable world just waiting to be explored and if your wanting to splash out we recco-mend to so in the beautiful childrens section

at White Company.Tell us what you found over on twitter.


You aren’t what you wear...Features Editor Hannah Moore discusses how here at YOUNG TRENDS we promote against bullying and people becoming more active in preventing it.


Bullying has always been a widespread problem across the whole of the UK from the best schools to the worst. A massive 69% of children in the UK have reported being bullied, and that’s just the children who have the courage to speak out. And now due to more social networks another way of bullying which is called ‘cyber bulling’ has crept into the picture. www.eyesonbullying.com is a helpful website which describes how bullying is developed from a young age, as young as two, and also describes what to look out for in a child that may be getting bullied at school. Fashion can be seen as creating ‘pigeon holes’ for children but as a popular child’s fashion magazine we wish to promote the opposite, and celebrate children’s individuality as well as raising awareness to the bullying programmes available. Such as:

www.turn2me.bullying.orgwww.childline.com

www.kidscape.org.uk (for parents of children who maybe bullied in particular)

www.bullying.co.uk

We have created our own way of fighting bullies by promoting individuality in children from a young age. We believe that the more individual a child feels the more they will become themselves. A great way to encourage a child to become more confident is child modelling, even if it’s only a few playful photo shoots. Such as LUXE which are a fantastic modelling agency always looking for a new fresh agency.

However, for mothers who feel modelling is not really their style, children who feel part of a group tend to become more comfortable and stronger than alone. Joining clubs, such as swim-ming club, drama club or dancing from a young age can not only prevent having two left feet but also create a stronger thicker skin for children.

‘‘A massive 69% of children in the UK are being Bullied.’’

Contact us here at Young Trends sending to 20 Dernwentwater Grove, LS6 3EN or email [email protected], to give us any more advice, to aks for ad-vice or to give your own person-al stories.


KIDS CAN MAKE STYLISH GUESTS

Young trends is a child friendly zone but we are unfortunately more than aware that some childless adults often shy away from inviting little ones to big events, weddings inpaticulary. You will have heard of or experienced yourself a bridezilla that invites grownups only to their big day and who are we to argue, it’s their day their rules. We believe there is a common mis-conception that a child will spend the day restless and the night screaming however a wedding day or special event without the children of family and friends is a day lacking that little bit of extra love, innocent fun and magic that only a happy child guest can bring.

Once you have that golden child friendly invite it’s time to enjoy everything about the experience and start searching for the perfect wedding attire. Children CAN make the most stylish guests.

Think old Hollywood glamour. You can’t go wrong at a winter wedding with a chic fur cape to wrap your little one in, not only will this keep her warm but add a touch of effortless glamour. De-benhams is a great go to when it comes to elegant children’s wear. It has some brilliant affordable concessions that specialise in special occasion pieces. Deben-hams have sales every season and you can always pick up an irre-sistibly cute piece to store away for future events just always buy a few sizes up.

GIRLS WINTER WEDDING IDEAS

KIDS CAN MAKE STYLISH GUESTS

BELLE OF THE BALL Treat your little girls dress with the same importance as the brides and have some fun searching for it. Mon-soon is a great go to and will give you endless inspiration from super sparkly to understated style.

WINTER SNUGTo complete the winter wedding look top with a jacket or coat. There are two directions that we simply love that you can go in, firstly the classic tweed jacket or alternatively a snug fur coat. Zara is a perfect store for imitating catwalk pieces at high-street prices and children’s wear is no exception. These beautifully tailored tweed jackets are a timeless staple and your little girl will be a little fashionista in either of these picks.

BOYS WINTER WEDDING IDEAS There is nothing more adorable (or rarer) than seeing your little prince suited and booted.

THE FINISHING TOUCHTo finish the look with an extra touch of winter glam add a fur shrug. We personally would love to get our hands on one of these and they can be re used through-out all the chilly months over a pea coat.

PLAY WITH PRINTSThis grey tweed number with checked shirt is £17.60 from the Jasper Conran range at Deben-hams. We love the mix of textures and print.

TAILORED TO PERFECTIONTo keep the look smart add smart trouser pants. Black is ideal for a long occasion these go from £11 from Bluezoo Navy and dark grey are also great for weddings.

KEEP IT CLASSICFinish the look with a black formal shoe. We found these perfect for special occasion

GIRLS WINTER WEDDING IDEAS

THE SHOES DO THE TALKING Dress ready now comes shoes. We rec-ommend comfort due to it being such a long day.Ballet slippers are a great compromise of comfy and cute. We think these sliver buckle strap pumps from bluezoo add a touch of sparkle for

£14.40


We would love to know how you get on dressing your little ones in wedding attire. Dont forget to send us a photo of your wedding outfits to @YoungTrends. Enjoy your party.

Trendy toddlers have been taking the blogosphere by storm. Soon enough you will be wanting to sneak into their wardrobes...

Features

Blogging. The perfect way to showcase to the World Wide Web what gets your spidey senses tingling and that key-board tapping. For some, this might mean delving deep into the latest political hoopla. For others, blogs are simply the chance to have a sniff around the latest trends and unwind after a long day of staring at excel files behind your desk.Fashion has without a doubt reared its head as one of the most popular topics of choice in the blogging world. Any Tom, Dick or Harry can now set up a blog. And for free. Not too shabby, huh? For fashion particularly, this has opened up a bunch of doors. Once upon a time, only the high-flying editor had the power to decide what we read. We would pop to the shops, buy a magazine and that would be that. Now though, the power is in our hands. We have more con-trol than ever before, and it’s bleeding excellent. Blogging is now recognised as one of the most influential and powerful elements in the fashion world today. Even if you don’t fancy

setting up your own, we now have the luxury to search for a particular topic (or ‘tag’, if you want to get technical), and as if by magic- Voila. In just a matter of seconds it will ap-pear from the comfort of your Smartphone, tablet or what-ever gadget you happen to be surfing on.This brilliant burst in tech-nology has also meant that whatever interest you have, the chances there will be a blog about it. Children’s fashion is one subject that’s getting a ridiculous amount of attention in the blogging world. Soon

may disappear the days of your little darlings tottering around in your favourite platforms and smothering their faces in your “war paint”... No. 17 lipstick to me and you.

“Designer labels do not matter, and neither do price tags!”

24-year-old Erica Tashiro is the brains behind children’s fashion blog Hide and Go (Style). Having started her blog earlier this year, Erica is one of the more recent advo-cates of children’s fashion, but is undoubtedly one of the most successful. “Blogging definitely caught my attention more so in the past few years than ever before. Living in such a dense city like Manhattan, everyone’s individual style is so unique and impossible to overlook.”Still in college, studying photography at the time, Miss Tashiro worked part-time as a teacher’s aide in a nursery. She explains, “After observing and communicating with kids on a regular basis for four years, I realised that with some of their massive confidence levels, chil-dren are adults trapped in little bodies.” Like many bloggers on the scene, Erica merged both her passion for fashion and photography skills together and Hide and Go (Style) was born. Armed with her trusty cam-era, she believes confidence is key when she’s on the hunt for her latest muse. “I love

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOG

that kids mix and match their clothes for the joy of fashion, rather than following the latest trends. As a twenty-something living in today’s society, it is really inspiring to see such pure self-expression since it can be quite hard to block out trends and labels that are hot that season. The most impor-tant thing in fashion is that designer labels do not matter, and neither do price tags! ”Part of the beauty of blog-ging, is that anyone can ac-cess it from anywhere around the world. We’re not longer restricted to what the news-stands offer us. Whether it’s the latest snaps from the streets of Manhattan, to 9935 miles across the equator to Sydney, Australia, we are able to take tips for suiting and booting our little ones from all over the globe. Karla Kourtney, mother of one, is another big name in cyberspace when it comes to children’s fashion. She and her husband spend their days travelling the most desired hot-spots of the world with their son Marshall, aged 2. “I live on the other side of the

world from all my family and childhood friends, so I started blogging as a way to keep them up-to-date with my son’s life in a cute and funny way. Every place I visit influences my style and crea-tivity. We have pieces of cloth-ing, art and furniture from most places we have visited. In particu-lar, I really love the colours and fabrics from places like Istanbul and Barcelona.”Some of these breathtaking snaps though are often overshadowed by Marshall’s quirky and bold style. “He often does pick out his clothes but, his decisions are usually around what clothes have characters he likes. He loves any-thing with Batman, dinosaurs or sharks.”Karla decided to take an angle with her blog. “I thought it would be sweet to write from my son’s perspective. It’s like his own lit-tle newspaper.” The Tiny Times therefore is the perfect blog for those mums who don’t want to get bogged down with the com-plex language of fashion, darling.Unlike your typical fashion blogs, The Tiny Times and Hide and Go Style and other big contend-ers tend not to focus on the latest

trends, or whatever trainers the Beckham boys sported to the latest match. Instead, they embrace the whacky world of kid’s fashion with open arms. Erica explains that many of the children she stops in the street have infact put their own outfits together. “I love that kids mix and match their clothes for the joy of fashion, rather than following the latest trends. As a twenty-some-thing living in today’s society, it is really inspiring to see such pure self-expression since it is hard to block out the various trends and labels that are hot that season.”Both women are also strong pio-neers of the mantra that there is no need to splurge out on high-end brands. With Christmas around the corner, Karla advises “There are lots of sweet things you can do for kids without having to spend much money at all. For Marshall at Christmas we’ll get him one present. Every year I knit him a stocking that we will fill with some sweets. I guess just be creative and you can make Christmas special with other gestures rather than forking out on grand presents.”

•CheckoutKarlaandErica’sblogsat:http://tinytimes.com, andhttp://www.hideandgo-style.com

Erica (right) and one of her many models

Karla’s son, Marshall, age two


With the British fashion awards recently held on the 27th of novem-ber here at Young Trends we felt inspired. We feel the real fashion icons of the decade are the under 6’s . We decided to put togther the STYLISH CELEB TOT AWARDS to showcase these little fashion divas

and prove that real style starts from birth.

Son of style icon Gwen stefani this blonde haired little boy has the attitude to match. He is brave in his fashion choices and be it camo or stripes he always remains on trend. Zuma is fashion liberal and loves to experiment with prints. He can be seen with musician fa-ther Gavin on the left silencing his fashion critics.

RUNNERS UP: Mason Kardashian and his moccasins & the Jolie/Pitt fash pack.

Another beautiful Beckham baby for us to style stalk. Harper em-braces colour unlike her famous mother and cant help but feel slightly envious that this toddler has already grace the fasfhion front row. She had to win most stylish girl as shes an avid accessory fan which we adore. Headband, check.

RUNNER UP: Blue Ivy. admittedly we havent seen much o the fa-mous little one but what we have is more than enough as her shoes often do all the talking. Think statement pieces.

We see Sarah Jessica Parker as the ultimate fashion lover so its no suprise her adorable twin daughters are chanelling upper east side chic every day of the week. We applaud the clashing styles with matching coats.

RUNNERS UP: Jlo’s twins Max & Emme

CELEB TOT STYLE AWARDS

MOST STYLISH BOY: ZUMA ROSSDALE

MOST STYLISH GIRL: HARPER BECKHAM

MOST STYLISH TWINS: TABITHA & MARION BRODERICK

Yes we agree this look is a little much. Mother Mariah Carey has taken the little girls love di-amonds and pearls rhyme a little too literally. Monroe is a true fashion diva in the making.

Jack Osbournes daughter looks like a sweet treat good enough to eat in this irrisistably cute strawberry outfit. The hat would double up perfectly for every day wear. tres chic.

When creating the STYLE ICON award there was always a clear winner in mind. Kitten heels and tantrums aside fashioni-stas of all ages could learn a thing or two from Suri in the style stakes.

BIGGEST FASHION DIVA: MONROE CAREY

CUTEST FANCY DRESS: PEARL OSBOURNE

STYLE ICON: SURI CRUISE

Hope you had as much fun at the Celeb Tot Style Awards as we did putting our winners together. If you have a little girl or boy that you believe beats the

celebs in the style stakes then send your photos to our twitter page @YoungTrends.


OnlineShoppingheavenor hell?

more people are using web-sites such as ebay and Amazon to buy and of course sell.

Near Christmas time when money can be tight, websites such as this are a great way to find unusual Christmas presents and to sell anything lying around the house that you may make some money for it. Be cautious that if you are a first time seller that PayPal tends to make you wait 21 days till the transaction is done before you can collect your money.

Moving away from Ebay, high street favourites such as Debenams, NEXT and not forgetting now River Island’s new child wear collection are becoming more popular online, due to the safe and fast delivery options now available.

It is also useful to remember that Ebay users can sometimes give a vague description what it is you’re buying, look at the sizes and read everything on the item. The last part of im-portant advicefrom BBC Webwise and sug-gests to always look for an ad-dress or number to ring/contact if there is any problem with the goods. If there is none, this suggests that the website is not legitimate.

The amount online shoppers spend online has rose from 2010 to 2011 by a massive 16%. In just one year. Proving that more and more people, of all ages and backgrounds, are becoming more adapt to using online websites and methods to shop. Why? Julie Hyte, a working mother who was part of an online shopping discus-sion on www.mumnet.com comments ‘I use Ebay all the time. PayPal is a safe way of transferring money as it hides your bank details.’

Which suggests mothers find online shopping, using Ebay as an example, both a fast and effective way to shop, not to mention sometimes cheaper. Ebay has grown in popular-ity over the previous years, in 2012 it made a 28.5% profit which proves that more and

Features Editor Hannah Moore explored online shopping, using figures and networking, advantages and the disadvantages.

‘‘I use ebay all the time. PayPal is a safe way totransfer money as it hides all your bank info’’

Mothers froms www.circleofmums.com discuss online shopping and their own opinions...

Rachel: I personally can`t buy anything used for my son. I have no problem buying used things for myself, But for my son I just feel he deserves new things. Nothing against anyone who thinks otherwise, It`s just how I feel.Tara: I have 2 boys ages 3 & 5. Since they grow so fast I buy most of their clothes 2nd hand. We shop garage sales, Goodwill and Once Upon A Child. I also shop the clearance racks at de-partment stores at the end of the season to stock up for next year.

2) If you are still apprehensive or have questions, you might want to contact the vendor via telephone or e-mail and ask them any questions you might have before making any online purchases.

3) Using Ebay, which tends to always use PayPal, is a very secure way of tranffering money as it HIDES your bank details.

4) Banks such as Santander ask you to enter a certain password before using your credit card, this can be useful to have as it comforts you in knowing the site is secure.

5) Official websites such as NEXT and River Island are se-cure just make sure you are on the right page. Usually the exact website is easy to find, if unsure can contact the shop.

Take NEXT for example, they have their own catalogue sub-scription which allows the you to have your very own online account, meaning you don’t have to pay for the clothes up-front. A mother who has used Next online left a review com-menting ‘Having been a loyal customer of next since the birth of my kids i was only too pleased to take up their offer of having my own catalogue account enabling me to shop online with out the worry of having to pay for all my good-ies up front’. Therefore there is another important element that some of the High Street websites offer online, more discount and more options for paying.Making it both faster way to buy those Christmas presents, just a word of warning ensure that it will arrive on time.

‘‘High street web-sites offer online more discount and also more options for paying over a long time.’’

The downsides of online shopping is obviously first of all, the danger of using credit cards online, when there is so much talk and publicity of fraud and scams. However there are a few tips to use to ensure you’re details are safe:

1) On the page where the credit card number is entered, at the bottom of the browser window should be a picture of a closed lock if the site is a secure site.


YOUNG TRENDS EDITOR SPOKE TO FOUNDER LINDSEY CLEARY

Every month Young Trends supports a different children’s charity and pro-motes the cause and how best our readers can get involved.This month we are thrilled to announce we are supporting Mums The Word. A great childrens char-ity based in the EU that is easy to support

Here at young trends we value that we are lucky enough to have a platform to reach par-ents.As much as we love advis-ing you on the latest trends we recognise we have the op-purtunity to spread awareness about the excellent children’s charities we come across. This

month I discovered Mums The Word a charity that help by collecting your used childrens clothes and personally distributing them to children that need them the most. I spoke to founder Lindsey Cleary who told me in a candid and movingly honest interview the challenges that children in the EU face every day and what her charity does to help.

‘I founded the charity with my husband Tom’ She told me. ‘We had been with another charity in Romania and one part of their work was to give clothes to a gypsy community. I found the whole experience fascinating and just great seeing how much the children responded to it. It was clear that it was not just a practical need being fufilled but also that were also receiving love. It was just great. That was a few years a go then more recent-ly all my friends and family were having children and everyone wanted new clothes, not hand me downs. I was shocked at this and remembering the children I’d seen in Romania I just thought I could tie the two together and take peoples waste here to people in need somewhere else’

Mums the word volunteers have seen first hand, babies grey living underground, children living 10 to a bed, girls as young as 10 involved in the sex trade. And all this within the EU that we in live in the UK are part of.’

Something every parent is aware of is how quickly children out grow their clothes in the early years. Those clothes that are memories come in great use to this charity. On a recent Mums The Word trip Lind-sey reminsiced

Lindsey then started the Mums The Word charity in 2011 and they work globally, the last trip they took was to Croatia and they are scheduled to go to Spain next week as well as starting production of a new scheme that helps the poorest families in Islington. When asked about why they focus much of the work in eastern Europe and what the living conditions are like there Linsdey explained, ‘There was much effort over the past twenty years to relieve the problems but in todays world, with the current economic crisis across Europe and much of the world, the situation is feared to be getting worse.

Mums The Word has thought of crea-tive ways you can support the cause and gather your used clothes. There a number of things you could do to sup-port the cause, throwing a party can be a great way of having fun as you col-lect clothes. The main aim for the party is to be a point for collection, a time for friends to bring their second hand clothes.

The secondary aim is to have a giggle and create a network of support as Mum’s. There are collection points across the country where you can donate your chil-drens used clothing so go and find your local drop off point.You can also donate on their website mumsthewordchar-ity.co.uk. or you could simply purchase something from the online store. They stock adorable baby vests for new borns and special occasion gift cards not only are all their items made with love and affordable but all proceeds go to helping this excellent cause.

Newborn vest £5 Cards £2Mumthewordcharity.co.uk

After speaking to Lindsey about the conditions some children are living in right on our doorstep we en-courage you to support Mums The Word and make a huge change to someones life by doing something very small. Clothes that are taking space in your spare draw can be better used by someone else. If you would like to find out more information please visit the website. Young Trends will be following the progress of Mums The Word in thier upcoming missions.

Co - FoundersLindsey & husband Tom


‘‘I hope to influence my son with my own STYLE.’’ Hannah Moore, Features Editor, talks to Jodi cox, 22, mother to Oliver Blake, 2, who dis-cusses her own real life fashion tips.

A young, stylish single parentwho believes the Gok Wanways of fashion; that you don’t have to spend more money to look great. Her son, Oliver Blake, may only be in the terrible two’s but there is nothing terrible about his fashion sense.

A typical day for Oliver would inlcude grey wash skinny jeans, vans trainers and tops that say ‘I do my own stunts.’ Some Mum’s might not feel as they have the time or money to be pick-ing out styles and outfits eve-ryday but Jodie Coz admits neither does she! ‘I don’t like places like Next or Marks and Spencer’s, I find them over priced and dull, I like to go to the more unusual and good for your money shops .

every mother has shops she hates and shopes she loves, especially when it comes to clothes shopps for the little one’s ‘We are the one to dress them, wash their clothes and hear them complain if anything is too small or too big. So it’s important to not only get the style right but also the quailty of the clothing.’ the Mother advises.

Youthful Mum Jodi has certain shops she would avoid also; ‘Asda clothing has never really worked for me and Oliver. Even though I know it is reasonable priced and has some very basic items at good prices and quality, I just can’t help but find it all very similar and lacking in individual style. Not to mention they tend to run when I wash them’.

Such as Primemark, Very.com and for the super trendy stuff Alex’s BMX shop. I find the more unusual and un-kown the shop the cheaper the clothes tend to be, main-stream shops for children can be very high priced and all the same styles. There is no individuality’.

Jodie admits that even though little Oliver Blake will grow out of his shoes in a simple matter of months; there are certainly her guilty pleasure when she is out shopping for him. She confesses how little pairs of Vans are her ‘thing’ and despite them being on the higher end of the price range, they go with most day to day outfits and are a time-less fashion statement. Jodi continues by considering that

Jodi Cox and her son Oliver Blake.

‘‘I believe FASHION is vital for a child’s CONFIDENCE.’’

Hannah Moore, Features Editor also talkes to Shauna Perkins, 23, Mother to Jayden Per-kins, 3, also discusses her own fashion tips.

Shauna Perkins, a young mother but admittedly a tra-ditional one who believes you pay for what you get.

Once speaking to her it was clear to see she believed that the cheaper the clothes the worse the style, in her point of view. ‘His everyday outfit would be a tan farmer jacket, a buttoned up polo shirt and a pair of chinos.’ Debenhams and Next are the high street shops she adores, saying that they are fantastic value, a good, sophisticated collection which is always changing and adapting to what is in fashion, which is important.Shauna has always adored fashion for herself, being young and studied beauty therapy in college; she feels the correct appearance fromlevel children are the same’.

Shauna continues by disagree-ing with the more cheaper High Street shops. ‘Shops such as Primark are good for money, but I find them repeti-tive and I don’t want my son

to look like everyone else. I want him to look smart and in fashion, but also with a sense of his own style’.

She also continues buy admit-ting she donsen’t mind buying something simple or maybe Pyjamas from their but not a Christmas outfit or some-thing special. Mother Care is more in the middle market money wise for High street but that can be repetitive. I have never been let down by NEXT or Marks and Spencer’s for Jayden to always look his best, I find the styles classy and reasonable priced’. So every mother has her own style.

‘‘I find shops like Primark repetitive and dull for smallchildren.’’

‘‘I am never let down by shops such as NEXT or M&S for my son to always look his very best’’

Shauna’s son Jayden perkins.


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