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The hood is a marvelous invention, perfect for keeping off the rain, protecting our little ears, and creating one of the most popular items of the modern wardrobe, The Hoodie.

The Hoodie is an item we all own, and an object of our wardrobe that encompasses all of our favorite adjectives: comfortable, cozy and casual.

The garment first came into play in the Middle Ages as part of Catholic monk’s tunics, which had long decorative hoods or ‘cowls’; however, the history of the specific style we wear today began in the 1930s, produced by the brand Champion, for workers cold storage warehouses.

The popularity of Champion’s design spread quickly and sportswear designers began to develop entire collections based around the clothing item. By the 1970s, the hoodie was a clothing classic, perfect for sports, camping, chilling, studying, layering, styling and so on…

In countries where children need not wear a uniform, it is the perfect back to school wardrobe piece, and for kids that do wear uniforms, it is a great cover-up on a cold fall day, so, in celebration of the back to school season (which is creeping up far to quickly) we picked out 8 of our favourite hoodies for your children from the world’s best kidswear designers:

1. D&G JUNIOR blue hooded zip-up jumper, £102.00

2. JOHN PAUL GALLIANO newspaper print hoodie, £72.00

3. RALPH LAUREN grey and navy striped hooded jumper, £82.00

4. LITTLE MARC JACOBS miss marc Jacobs jumper dress, £90.50

5. HACKETT red hooded jumper, £66.00

6. RARE THE KID grey hooded sweat top, £96.00

7. JUICY COUTURE regal blue velour tracksuit, £124.95 (only tracksuit top pictured here!)

8. DIESEL grey jumper with coloured print, £46.00

If your children love hoodies as much as we do, send us picture to editor@theirlittleworld.com and we will post the picture of your hooded cutie on the Their Little Wardrobe section of our blog!

HOW WE FOUND THEM

We have many mini-critics in and around London, and a set of our mini-critics had just moved to Barnes from Kent and their cousin, happens to now work at Alexandalexa.com…as a blogger.

Having taken a weekend off to spend time with them while their parents were away, this Alexandalexa.com team member thought it best they escape the family garden and go out for a meal, and after asking a neighbour where the closest family friendly restaurant was, we wound up at the beautiful Victoria Pub on 10 West Temple Sheen in London’s SW14 7RT postal code.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

On a hot summer day, walking into the cool bar The Victoria pub instantly refreshes you, it is quiet, and the lighting is non intrusive. The beautiful dark wood floors, leather seating and vintage looking wooden furniture is inviting, and if it wasn’t such a lovely day, I would be inclined to spend my day indoors; it is the perfect location for a relaxed romantic meal. But, I arrived with three of our mini critics, Lily (5), Scarlett (7) and Milo (1.5) who kindly agreed to help me with our undercover review.

After cooling off and ordering some (delicious) fruit smoothies from the smiling and friendly young gentleman at the bar, we ventured towards the great outdoors, through the beautiful timber framed conservatory and out to the stunning garden. We found seating in the shade of a tree, right next to the Pub’s impressive climbing frame.  

The kids seemed content with enjoying their smoothies and we were quickly greeted by our charming waitress who handed us each menus.

THE FOOD

The adult menu, created by award winning chef Paul Merrett and his team, had some traditional family favourites as well as some more eclectic cooking for those that like to venture into the great unknown.

The kids menu includes favourites of kids everywhere, like fish and chips, pita bread toasties, pasta, burgers, organic ice-cream and fresh fruit salad. But what the kids were most impressed about was that the menu is illustrated by ‘menu consultant’ Ellie Merrett (aged 11 ¾) and as mini critic Scarlett (age 7) is a budding artist herself, she branded the Pub the “coolest” before we had even ordered our food.

I found out after, that the menu is also incredibly environmentally friendly as The Victoria Pub only sources food from ethical suppliers:

BREAD: Baked in house with milled from Leicestershire.

MEAT & POULTRY: Comes from several farmers and small family butchers, including beef breed in South Devon, organic veal from Oxfordshire, and pork from Colchester.

FISH & SHELLFISH: Purchased from two harbour side markets in Brixham and Falmouth, and some of the fish they use, like their bass, is line caught and comes from sustainable stocks.

FRUIT & VEGETABLES: From a family run farm in Surrey.

COOKING OIL:  Is stored and recycled into bio fuel by a local company.

OUR MEALS

Lilly and Scarlett were both keen on the Pita Bread Toasties and Milo, being a bit less adventurous went for Pasta & Pesto. I ordered the Whole Char Grilled Sea Bass with a Salad of Green Beans, Black Olives, Cherry Tomatoes & Salsa Verde. As I finished saying the order, the kids snuck away from the table, having finished their smoothies, to check out the climbing structure.

THE CLIMBING STRUCTURE

As mini critic Milo was not quite old enough to ‘explore’ on his own, so I ‘escorted’ him to the play area which he independently investigated under my watchful eye. The girls climbed and screamed with some of the other children, while Milo took a wander around. He lost interest in the climbing structure after spotting a baby girl’s brightly coloured bonnet…..and started poking her in the head, which then turned into a game of peek-a-boo. The baby reacted to with giddy surprise and the other parents and minders in the area ooh-ed and aww-ed at how sweet they were.

Milo’s game was interrupted by our food arriving, which happened so fast, the mini-critics never even bothered to bicker or tease with one another, or the other children (horah!).

THE VERDICT

The mini critics and I gobbled down our food, enjoying each bite, and everyone, including the youngest mini critic (who is rather picky with his food), fully enjoyed their meals. For pudding, we all ordered Jude’s Organic Ice-Cream in all four of the flavours available and shared. It was AMAZING.

Afterwards, the two older critics announced their verdict: 5/5 for The Victoria Pub and with their duties complete ran off to the climbing structure, where they played happily for a full hour.

PROMOTION FOR YOU

For all you fantastic readers, The Victoria Pub would like to offer your kids a delicious smoothie at half price this summer. Just quote “Their Little World Summer” when ordering your smoothie! (valid until September 1, 2010)

Since every one of us here at Alexandalexa.com is obsessed with fashion, we almost always grab a Grazia Magazine the second it hits the stands for inspiration, information and a little bit of indulgence.

Though always an enjoyable read, we get especially excited when some of our clothing is featured or kidsbrands are discussed in the publication.

With the most recent issue, we really got to mix business with pleasure with journalist Becky Sunshine’s Fashion’s New Recruits article which featured some great fashion insiders, and their children, dressed to impress.

While admiring each family’s style, we couldn’t help but notice a few familiar pieces on their children’s backs and quickly caught on that we were included in this shoot!

We were featured on Siobhan Mallen’s page, who is Grazia’s associate fashion director, where she was pictured with son Connor, nine, and daughter Scarlett, six.

Scarlett was wearing in a pretty Caramel Baby & Child dress while Conor was dressed in our check Scotch & Soda Shrunk shirt with detachable hood and our DKNY 3D tee.

We thought Siobhan’s kids looked great and we also loved fashion designer Sara Berman’s daughter Lulu dancing about in the silver version of our Rachel Riley shoes.

Let us know if you saw the feature and which of the fashion packs kids you thought had the best style.

Great job Grazia and thank you for including us! We are so proud to have been a part of it!

SIOBHAN’S SON CONOR IN OUR KIT

LULU DANCING WITH HER MUMMY IN RACHEL RILEY SHOES

NOW Mum & Baby Fashion featured Alexandalexa.com and a few of the designers we carry in their ‘Mini Style Matches section of their last issue.

They had:

- Nicole Richie and Joel Madden’s daughter Harlow in our JUIICY COUTURE heart headband.

- Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubry’s daughter Nahla in our RALPH LAUREN blue and white striped top and RALPH LAUREN Beekman Skinny Jeans.

- Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale’s son Zuma in our Fabric Flavours Cat in the Hat romper.

AND 

-Angel, daughter of Mel B and Eddie Murphy in our Ray Ban wayfarer sunglasses and an Ed Hardy tee.

Send us your favourite celebrity kids looks to editor@alexandalexa.com and we can re-create them for you with the alexandalexa.com collection!

When we write about ‘Fun Places’, our posts don’t usually involve a chance for your family to set a World Record, nor do they typically give your family a chance to help improve your community….today however, the article post does.

FAB Ice Lollies (those lovely lollies kids love that are full of real fruit and tasty goodness) has created a series of activities and events for families across the country with their FAB Creativity Tour, which is visiting (and has visited) summer fairs, family days out and supermarkets across the country.

Their family program gives you and the kiddies a chance to join in on their world record attempt to create the world’s longest doodle by having you and the kids paint or draw on a 9.150m long canvas.

Families are also invited to take part in The Design a Fab Den competition, in which families are invited to submit ideas (for youth clubs, playgrounds, scout huts ect.) that will enhance a part of their local community with a £10,000 makeover project.

The Fab events are happening all across the U.K, so to find out how to take part or which upcoming event is closest to you, visit www.myfabland.com.

If you and your kids have taken part in the FAB giant doodle or the design a FAB den, please send us pictures or leave a comment below with stories about your experience!

This week we did our amazing ‘Back to School’ shoot for alexandalexa.com at Dulwich College in London (where some of Harry Potter was filmed!).

We were so lucky to have Jamelia’s gorgeous daughters Teja and Tiani starring in the shoot alongside a great team of mini models, all of whom were absolute stars on set.

Here are some of our fun photos from behind the scenes! you can see more photos on our facebook page too!

If there is one thing that never goes out of style, it is Minnie and Micky mouse. The anthropomorphic mice have evolved over the past 80(ish) years from characters in animated cartoons and comic strips, to some of the most recognizable symbols in the world.

As the childhood friends of numerous generations, Micky and Minnie found themselves a place in the world of fashion ages ago, and their frequent re visits to fashion since seems obvious: with each new generation comes a new set of Mickey and Minnie mouse fans…who wouldn’t want to sport kit with those friendly faces, regardless of their age.

Over the years, Mickey and Minnie have found themselves on various articles of clothing as ambassaders to numerous brands, but none as big as D&G Junior, who gave the mouse-y pair huge credibility in the fashion world by using them as the ambasidors of their Autumn Winter 2010 collection for boys, girls and babies.

Like with all trends, there is bound to be debate. But for little ones, Mickey and Minnie, trend or not, are a perfect fit, no matter which way fashion goes, they are here to stay.

1. D&G JUNIOR, Cream Mickey Mouse Tee, £62.00

2. D&G JUNIOR, Baby Pink Mickey Mouse Tee, £79.00

3. D&G JUNIOR, Grey Mickey Mouse Tee, £74.00

4. D&G JUNIOR Mickey Mouse Print Polo £79.30

5. D&G JUNIOR Mini Mouse Denim Dress, £185.00

6. D&G JUNIOR Minnie Mouse Pink Tee, £70.00

In 2004, Heidi Bowmand and Steve Clawson formed a business in rural Linconshire.

With a textile degree under Heidi’s creative belt and a business degree under Steve’s, the couple, who had been friends for 20 years, formed Giddy Kipper, creating original home accessories, decorative items and personal gifts, all handmade and hand painted.

Their range, which covers fun stuff for kids, seaside inspired pieces and even a wedding collection, is inspired by their lives; their Son, their childhood family holidays to the North Norfolk coasts and weddings of friends and families.

The couple have quickly made a name for themselves by creating high quality items for a wide variety of people.

We teamed up with Giddy Kipper to create a The Lovely Lolly Giveaway, which includes:

- A Juicy Cotoure Pink Lolly Tea (sizes 2-12)

- FOUR Fun Lolly Soaps from Giddy Kipper

HOW TO ENTER

Either:

a) Leave a comment below

b) ‘Like’ us on facebook

(if you like us on facebook, leave a comment on our wall saying: “enter me in the Lovely Lolly Giveaway!”)

OR

c) Follow us on Twitter

(if you follow us on Twitter, Tweet “@theirlilworld my Lovely Lolly entry!” to let us know).

* Contest Closes Friday, August 13. Winner will be picked out of a hat!

Little Little Lexie Isabella, just 15 months old, from England, having fun posing for her baby book photos in a Burberry Denim Dress, Beige Burberry Long Sleeve Top and Burberry Tights!

We love Lexie’s big beautiful smile and her fantastic  Burberry kit!

If you would like to include your little fashionista/fashionisto in the Their Little Wardrobe section of our blog, all you need to do is: snap a photo of your fashionable kid(s), let us know who they are wearing and what fun things they are up to in their fabulous outfit, include their age and name, and email it all to editor@theirlittleworld.com, subject: Their Little Wardrobe!

Salvador Dali Colouring Book: Dali’s Universe, €9.50

Grown up art for little hands, give your children an early interest in a great master with a selection of Dali’s representative symbols and images from Dali’s masterpieces they can make their own. The colouring book comes in multilingual languages in Catalan, Spanish, English, French, German and Russian.

We Love: this fun way of learning about and beginning to recognize the work of an artist kids would not normally have interaction with until they are in their teens.

Rosie Flo’s & Johnny Joe Colouring Book, £5.99

This range of colouring books for boys and girls allows kids (and parents) complete an outfit, an image and even scenes from famous pieces of art. There are a variety of books, mostly for girls but some for boys too, all designed with children in mind.

We Love: that it is not just about colouring in blank outlines, but also the strategic omission of heads, legs and patterns, leaving room for endless imagination and creativity.

The Indie Rock Coloring Book, £3.99

This is the type of book Pearl Lowe’s kids may have in their colouring book library.  With art by illustrator Andy J. Miller, the book is an interactive journey through music and artistic expression, a great way to introduce children into the music of your past!

We Love: that all of the proceeds from sales of this book go to charity.

Colouring Book, By Andy Warhol, £4.99

Pop art colouring in for your kids, complete with child friendly explanations and facts about Warhol’s techniques and innovations. The book includes several themes of Warhol’s work and encourages children to use their own creativity to decide what looks good.

We Love: that there is plenty of space to draw as well as colour, there are suggestions but no ‘rules’ about staying within the lines.

The Sneaker Colouring Book by PKNTS from Laurence King, £12.95

If your kiddies are shoe crazy, this fantastic colouring book will keep them busy and inspired with 100 line drawings of genuine sneakers from the past few decades of trainer fashion.

We Love: the opportunity this book gives to budding shoe designers!