All_American_Made

American made is getting so hard to find! But here are some of my favorite, and recent finds, that are made in the good ol' U S of A. 

If I don't discuss something that's in the picture, it's not American made.  I'm working on finding more shoes and accessories that are American made, it's definitely a labor of love!

Obviously Nelly Madison Clothing Co is going to make an appearance! It is our #1 brand, not just because the clothes are gorgeous and fun, but for several other reasons....quality is amazing, as is customer service, and most importantly there's a family feel to the Nelly Madison community, from the owners to the ladies who are still waiting to cart their first piece.....I've never seen more strangers bond so strongly over a brand, and I've been around a while!  If you are in the Nelly Madison Clothing Resale group on Facebook, you know what I'm talking about. If one momma needs help, 9,000 mommas are there for her. It's truly heartwarming and an amazing group to be a part of. So here's my #2 favorite Nelly Madison dress....and it's a OOAK (one of a kind).

I've talked about Nelly Madison Hannah dress style fit about a million times now it seems like. But I always recommend sizing down before up. It's generous and the ties at the shoulders allow you to customize the fit.  Nelly is the most versatile brand I've ever seen.  This Hannah is a sz 5 on a 48.5", 50# girl. She is wearing size 5 red bloomies underneath.

Nelly Madison Clothing Co OOAK Hannah Dress
©merce&me photography

Next, let's look at another boutique, a bit smaller.  Poppy Whitaker.  These pieces are made by a team of two, who are now designing their own knit too! This is a newer style, a halter knit dress.  We sized down in this one to a sz 5 for a more fitted look, and I love it! Since it's knit it will stretch with her and give her more growing room.  Poppy's knit dresses always have an amazing twirl factor....so amazing that there's already a blog up about it, and you can find that one right here. Dresses on the webiste typically range from $45-52, the Sully pictured was only $45!

Poppy Whitaker Sully dress
Softstar shoes Youth Merry Jane
©merce&me photography

While we are here, check out those shoes. 😍😍 SoftStar shoes out of Oregon handmakes them. And besides the shoes, my favorite part was the invoice that was signed by the "elves". 😂 These shoes are buttery soft and COMPLETELY CUSTOMIZABLE. That's right. I chose the colors and they made my shoes and shipped them to me in three days.  THREE DAYS. I was in shock.  I don't know if they always operate that quickly, but that's totally amazing.   It is not easy to find American made shoes, let alone amazing ones worthy of boutique clothing....but these are totally worth the $85 customized price tag. Free shipping was a fun bonus!  A little tip though, measure your child's foot. I ordered Merce a 2 in these, and usually she wears a sz 1.

KPea Original dress
©merce&me photography

This American Made beauty is from Kpea Original. They have beautiful knit topped dresses for not only children, but adults as well! They seem to have a more modest length to them. Personally I'd lop off an inch or two, but KPea seems to know exactly what they are doing. ;)  Merce loves their dresses because of the knit top and freedom she has while wearing them, and at $45 shipped--I'm sure not going to complain! She's in a sz 6 here, so I'm going to say they are true to size. They also offer cap sleeve and a wider tank dress to meet those school dress codes.  

This vintage beauty is from Poppy & Hen, and Instagram based company that operates on a 'loading' system as does the rest of the boutique world.  This one had a bit of a heftier price tag on it, $82 after shipping. It's a cute little vintage cut and for us, is great for pictures! It's not a wear to school type of dress for us, because Merce isn't a 'sit and learn' type of student. She's a roamer, and a stander, and a pacer, and a hugger.  But for picture purposes, it's great!  This is a sz 6, so I think it's safe to say they fit tts. 

Poppy & Hen Flower Fields Dress
©merce&me photography

This next brand is another favorite, made right in Texas! Olive Mae Clothing offers a wide range of clothing, but these two pictures showcase our current favorites, the crop top sets and maxis! The maxi had it's own blog entry very recently which you can find here, so I won't rehash it all. But I will post a picture! 

Olive Mae Clothing Custom OOAK maxi
©merce&me photography

Now on to the Southern Mirage Crop Top Set. It was so fun! The shorts have a high waist look and I LOVE it. She was comfortable and had no complaints at all, this is pretty big considering the evening we shot these was pretty darn hot. She loved the flamingos on her top too. Merce is wearing a size 6 set, and it's a perfect fit. She has a bit of growing room, so I fully expect her to be wearing this to school next August.

Olive Mae Clothing Southern Mirage Crop Top Set
©merce&me photography

Merce picked the shoes. She was dramatically emphatic that those were the shoes for this outfit. And once again, the 6 yr old was right!  But they aren't American made, so we won't discuss those.  As for the crop set, isn't it fun! It comes in two different prints right now, and they are even on sale! They're marked down to $42 for the set, from $60. You can easily separate the pieces so it's like having at least three outfits in one. Not too shabby for $42 or $60! 

And last but not least, I'm going to throw in an oldie but a goodie: Matilda Jane Platinum. Platinum was the gateway drug for me to other boutiques.  This is where I learned to cart, the heart ache of missing, the joy of checking out, and...not gonna lie here....the profit to be had from selling PSN. This is the brand that taught me a little about to study the markets and understand trends. Carting to sell PSN (selling before it has even shipped to you...aka Flipping" was a gamble unless you knew what to get to flip.  BST mommas are the best market analysts out there! 😂 If you don't know how Platinum operates here are the Cliff Notes: they randomly (sometimes not so randomly) load items to the website, then you race to get items in your cart and check out (called 'carting'). Carts don't hold, so if you got something you really want in there, you better check out quick or it will be snatched out of your cart by someone else while you are still shopping.

Here are a couple of our favorite pieces. 

Matilda Jane Platinum apron
©merce&me photography

Merce & I both love the aprons. Always have, always will. She loves to help cook, and her current career goal is to become a Chef...and a Princess. A Princess Chef. I hope she always has such lofty goals! Platinum's aprons are best fit for kids up to about age 6 or so. I think she was 4 (wearing size 4 in clothes) in this picture and it fit perfectly.  And since it was an apron, we didn't have any sizing issues which were typical for Platinum items at that time.

The tank dresses were always fun, but without this picture, I don't think it would have been once of our favorite pieces. Anytime we throw her daddy in there, it's an instant favorite! 

Matilda Jane Platinum tank dress
©merce&me photography

So that concludes todays "Made in America" post. I hope to have more and more of these posts in the future as we discover and try new American made pieces! We have another pair of custom made shoes on the way from a California company, so as long as those come in and we find them blog-worthy, they will be shared!  Do you have a favorite American Made  girls or older boys clothing and/or shoe company, or maybe you own one? Shoot me an email, and let me know!