A New Discovery

No less than a week ago an irresistible brochure landed on the mat in our Leeds shop, its fair to say we get a lot of brochures through the post and most past us by, as probably not suitable.   However within minutes literally of getting the Ragtales brochure we were on the phone arranging for the rep to come and see – 7 days later and we have taken delivery of what  can only be described as the nicest collection of soft toys I have ever seen.

Cleverly photographed -  these bears, dolls and other animals somehow make you want to jump into the picture and play with them – if there is anything that will bring out your inner child these are surely it!

 



Whether it’s the pretty fifi rabbit with her knitted dress, or the boy bear Darcy who comes packaged in a gorgeous hat box, we promise you will fall in love with one of these lovely characters probably as much as your child! Check them out here



The Life and Times of The Working Mum: Leo's First Year

The Life and Times of The Working Mum: Leo's First Year: Leo's First year in life has been a year for First everything.  Each new day has brought a new adventure for us to live and a new...

The Leeds Corn Exchange Fashion Show

At Mummy & Little Me, we're passionate about our lovely Leeds home, the Corn Exchange. It's such a magnificent historical building & nowadays it's a haven for boutique shopping. We offer shoppers a laid back shopping environment as well as a place to sit, relax & recharge the batteries with some tasty food & drinks (whether it's a coffee or cocktail!).

So together with some of the other Corn Exchange retailers, we decided to spread the word about our unique shopping destination by putting on a fun event to showcase our current clothing collections. 

We wanted to do our bit for charity, too, so we decided to put on a fashion show in aid of Cancer Research UK, and "Catwalk for Life" was born.  It took a lot of planning & teamwork ....and persuasion getting my customers to model for me!  But we managed to gather a small team of lovely pregnant Mummy & Little Me customers - who ranged from 15 weeks to 39 weeks (!) pregnant at the time of the event - and got to work planning their outfits, make-up & catwalk choreography. We wanted a range of real women to model for us to illustrate that our maternity wear looks just as good worn during early to late pregnancy (& after!).  

I think you'll agree from the photos, they all looked stunning, and they received a HUGE applause from the audience!

The event took place on the evening of 19th April & over 300 people joined us at the Corn Exchange, raising thousands for Cancer Research UK. It was a hugely successful night & everybody had a great time. It was a real team effort & we all feel very proud of the success of the evening, and look forward to doing it again!

--
Angela Knight

Manager

I recently had a rather strange day at work.  In quite a change to my normal role of Manager of a maternity and baby wear shop (www.mummyandlittleme.co.uk), I was asked to MODEL the maternity wear!

Points to note here would be that I am neither a model, nor pregnant.  So, it was rather an eye opening experience, as you can probably imagine.  

Having never been pregnant, I had, of course, never shopped for maternity wear before.  But this experience showed my that if/when my time comes, there is nothing to be nervous about.  It was actually a joy to try on the beautiful new Spring/Summer '12 collections.  There is something about feeling the fabrics against the skin, seeing how well the garments are cut - and importantly knowing that they fit me just as well before I popped in my "fake bump" as after!  So whether you are 12 weeks or full term, these clothes will fit you well and look fabulous.

It also makes me a better advisor to my clients in the boutique in Leeds Corn Exchange having tried on the clothes myself.

So now I've had a sneak peek of what I will look like pregnant...not something everyone can say!  Just hide the pictures from my husband-to-be; first things first...!

Angela Knight

Manager

Mummy & Little Me

Leeds Corn Exchange

LS1 6DT

Buying Maternity Wear is a nerve racking business

Buying maternity wear is always a nerve racking experience. You may wonder why, but for good quality, well cut maternity wear you need to choose and order it at least 8 months in advance. This may sound easy but their are two problems with this :-
Firstly - by the time it all arrives in boxes it's like a white knuckle ride and generally you cannot remember what you ordered! Trust us once you have had children your memory for some things is completely useless, yes you could refer to your notes and pictures but that would spoil the fun. So you generally just wait and open the box with trepidation.
Secondly what you liked 6 months ago or what colours and fashions you hoped were coming on the scene could be totally off the mark. You could have the whole thing very wrong..... So when One of our new maternity collections arrived last week we were again in this state of trepidation - normally there is always something different to the original sample, or some top or skirt you pick up and say ' I ordered this ?' However we can say that this year to our great relief we have a gorgeous new collection of very nice maternity clothes. From the brightest canary yellow dress I have ever seen too two of thr prettiest maternity skirts.

 

Our Lovely Yellow Dress in Leeds

I think this year we can pat ourselves on the back and say 'good job girls !. Although only time and sales will tell. Have a look at the website and let us know what you think.

Bravado Seamless Bras that make you go ahhhh

Ok it ‘s is very hard to test all the gorgeous Maternity and Nursing bras that we have but for over 5 years now we have been selling the Bravado Body Silk Seamless Nursing Bra and still it remains our best selling bra.

Why ? Well with respect it’s not the prettiest bra we have on our shelves, but something our customers have been telling us for years and years is that this bra is the most comfortable bra they have ever worn. It also does an amazing job of supporting you.

 

When I was in our Leeds Boutique I had a customer in the fitting room, we had various bras out ready for her to try, which she did – she wanted something pretty and something comfortable – so once we had sorted her out with the HOTmilk bra we turned our focus to the seamless one. I have to say we both had quite a laugh as when she put the bra she went silent for a minute… ‘ Are you ok in there ? ‘ I said – ‘Oh yes she replied, I think I just heard my breasts sigh with pleasure !’ A hilarious comment that still makes me giggle. The thing is though she is right and customers have been saying this for years, the Bravado Seamless bra is without any doubt the most talked bra we have ever had. Once bought and worn never forgotton it seems. 

However it doesn’t all end just with comfort, Bravado can offer a little more than that – the main selling point is that the material has memory in it so you can buy it at the beginning of your pregnancy and it will take you all the way through your pregnancy and back again. A great  value bra! If that is not enough there’s more, firstly it lifts you up  and give you a great shape. We have quite a few post natal customers that still come in for these bras, being seamless and so comfortable they cannot bear going back to underwire. Another very important point is  Bravado have cleverly put in some converter clips so once you have finally breastfed the last baby you can convert it back to a normal bra!  We stock the seamless bra in Ivory, Black and Butterscotch, it is very easy to fit ads it only comes in 4 different sizes – see below for a size guide.  Remember we offer advice on bra fitting over the phone so always feel free to call us on 01522 548811

Storksak Bags - A Review

Mummy & Little Me sell all top ranges of baby changing bags, and if your usual handbag of choice is a classic leather style, you'll love the Storksak range. The Elizabeth Tan is a popular choice for many mums, so we thought we'd take a look at what's loved about this bag.

Firstly, no-one need know it's even a changing bag.  It exudes the same style and elegance as any designer handbag - it's just way more practical! The beautiful tan leather looks divine and is not only chosen for its look but also its durability - so you can be confident this bag is going to last (a must when diving in and out of it 24/7).

The fresh classic tan shade works well for all seasons, and with any outfit or colour of pram.
You can use the shorter easy-grab handles for shoulder or 'crook-of-the-arm' wear, or attach the longer, adjustable, strap for 'hands-free'  messenger-style across the body wear, as well as popping it over the handles of your pram.
Do you need your mobile phone to hand at all times? The Elizabeth has two external pockets, one on the back and one to the front, which features a handy inbuilt phone sleeve.
But the inside of the Elizabeth is where the fun begins. You get 14, yes count them - 14 - storage spaces with the Elizabeth; all a mixture of sizes for varied uses. They use all manner of velcro, zip and elastic to secure your bits and bobs in place, making them easy to find - a godsend when you have a crying baby on your hands!
Of course, a changing mat comes included - Storksak's are lovely padded mats which fold neatly away.
For baby's bottles, you have more than one option with the Elizabeth - there is a separate thermo-insulated bottle holder, as well as a 'pop-out' insulated bottle pocket which is removable from the lining of the bag and secures with press studs.  These keep your liquids cool or warm for up to 4 hours.

For you, there is a detachable zipped bag, perfect for mummy essentials we think, which attaches inside the bag to a clip that doubles up as a key ring (and also would work as dummy fob).  Or you can keep your valuables safe in the zipped pocket in the lining of the bag.
You will have fun playing with what to put where - you have lots of choice as there are lots of elasticated and multi-compartment pockets in the lining of the Elizabeth to keep things organised.  Plus, all the lining is wipe clean - perfect for any spills.
This bag will work just as well when baby is small, as well as when they grow into a toddler and you need to carry around their snacks and toys - it's not too big, and not too small.  We think the Storksak Elizabeth is just perfect.