What kinds of baby shower gifts you're going to pick up for that little bundle of joy?Here is a place I learned from DAILY BREEZE about some wonderful music-inspired baby clothing if you're tired of those traditional baby gifts.
"Dressing Up Baby" - Redondo Beach designer wraps tots in wardrobes inspired by Hendrix and Holiday.
Maybe it's the mushy food. Or the penchant for dozing off in the middle of social functions. Or the reckless disregard for all basic hygienic principles.
Any way you cut it, babies are blissfully unhip.
That's where HiFi Baby -- the Redondo Beach-based brainchild of Sarah Welker and Kerry Geiger -- comes in.
For the past two years, HiFi Baby has been churning out music-inspired baby clothing for people who are sick of the usual baby apparel. HiFi offers a range of slick baby threads, from Ella Fitzgerald tank tops ($19.95) to Billie Holiday diaper covers ($16.95) to Jimi Hendrix beanie hats ($14.95).
"It's clothing for the people that have kids but don't really take to the typical bunnies and dinosaur kind of clothing," said Welker, throwing in one of her infectious giggles for good measure. "It's a little bit hipper, a little bit more fun and meant for a new generation of baby makers."
The inspiration for HiFi Baby came to Welker, 28, while she was living in Dallas. In addition to owning an art gallery, Sock Monkey Gallery, she also made custom T-shirts for friends and local businesses.
"I was at a time in my life where I had all these friends who were popping out babies and there was never anything good to get them at baby showers," she said. "Let's face it, baby stuff is usually pretty bland. So, I started designing my own baby clothes for them."
The response was immediately overwhelming.
"I guess I always knew it was a good idea," said Welker, who has no kids of her own. "But once I had people actually stand up and start applauding the clothes. That's when I was, like, 'OK, this is just bizarre. Maybe I really have something here.' "
Still, Welker just assumed she had stumbled upon the perfect baby shower gift, not a nugget of entrepreneurial gold.
It wasn't until she moved to Los Angeles -- "I wasn't feeling like Dallas was the best place to cultivate the arts" -- and took a job as a graphic designer that she met Kerry Geiger, 36, who persuaded her to take it to the next level.
"Kerry heard the idea and just immediately wanted to get started," Welker said. "She's very much the go-getter in the business aspect, so it works out really well for both of us."
For now, HiFi Baby makes most of its sales online at www.hifi-baby.com, but Welker said that it is quickly making inroads in select boutiques nationwide, and soon will appear in stores in the South Bay. She has even sent orders to Germany and France.
"It makes you wonder how these people hear about these clothes, you know? Can you picture some little European sitting around ordering this stuff? But that's the power of the Internet," she said.
As a graphic and Web designer, Welker said putting HiFi's catchy Web site together was the easy part. Figuring out the business end of things, however, often proved a bit more difficult.
Welker said one of the biggest challenges they have faced is licensing issues -- or getting permission from music legends to use their likenesses.
"Before I started I thought I could just call these guys up and give them $500 and they'd let me use their images," she laughed. "But apparently it doesn't really work that way."
Welker said at times she has been overwhelmed by the demands of owning and running a business.
"It's tough just trying to get the clothes and the HiFi name out there," she said. "Just keeping the thing going, keeping it alive and breathing. I feel like I've had to learn 12 different jobs during the whole process.
"To be honest, I can't believe I've kept a day job through all this," she said.
But things are looking up for HiFi. Welker hopes to see a significant increase in online sales for the holiday season, and expects to see average sales up to $10,000 a month by next year.
"I also want to keep expanding," she said.
"There are like 50 different bands that I'd like to use. We have a bunch of new ideas."
And that means that groovy parents burdened with hopelessly uncool babies finally have something to look forward to besides preschool.
By Karl-Erik Stromsta
|
|
November 21, 2005 11:45 - Baby Shower Trend in Uganda?
Here is anticle from Daily Monitor Uganda about how the people in Ugandan are changing to the new trend of baby shower instead of patiently waiting until the safe delivery. Enjoy the reading...Ugandans Take On Baby Shower Culture
In the past it was unheard of for people to buy gifts for an expecting mother. It was so much a taboo because people were pessimistic. The arguments were that, supposing a mother delivered a dead child then what would happen to the gifts? Or supposing she gave birth to a snake, or water or air, then what would be the essence of the gifts.
People were also restrained from buying gifts before because they did not know the sex of the child until the child was born.
For these reasons people patiently waited until the mother had safely delivered then they turned up with gifts for the new born baby or at times they came empty handed to see the baby. However, today there is a new culture creeping into the Ugandan society. Where ladies and a few gentlemen gather around an expecting mother with gifts.
This ceremony is called a baby shower. They ask the expecting mother all sorts of questions. Questions like; when did you first discover you were pregnant? How do you feel now that you are about to give birth? They also ask what your cravings were during the pregnancy. Generally friends and family join the expecting mother to welcome the expected child. People come with gifts like bottle warmers, sterilizers, baby blankets, baby cots, baby clothes, booties, pampers, wipes, bottles and others.
Normally for a girl child, items coloured pink will be bought while for the boy child items that are predominately blue are bought. About who chose which colour for which sex that is a matter yet to be found out. But today with the development of technology and the use of ultra sound systems it is easy to tell the sex of child even before they are born so the puzzle of which sex to buy gifts for can be easily solved.
Although some showers are held after a baby is born the ones before are more exciting. They help the expecting parents on their budgets.
In my experience I never had to buy a baby duvet. It was given to me at my baby shower. Outside that, the rest were basic. I got pampers, which I had already bought anyway. I got booties, which I had already bought, I got clothes baby bottles and that was it. The more people you gave presenters at their bay shower, the more you will get. The less they are the less you will get. However after one has given birth, they can get more gifts.
A baby shower does not mean that after getting the baby you do not get other gifts. It is mainly held to help the expecting parents cover some of the baby needs. It is an exciting way of letting a family know they are loved.
With this new culture, mothers also get rose flowers after they have delivered. This is the modern way modern husbands thank their wives for producing them a child.
By Charity Ahimbisibwe
To reference this entry please copy the url in this link: (Permalink)
Add to Onlywire
|
«
»
|
|
Like My Site? Share It!
 Stumble It!
|
Top | Coolest Baby Shower Idea Home | Submit Ideas | Newsletter | Contact Us | Site Map | 
|
|
