Magic Steps or Gucci?

So quite a few of my friends and family are either pregnant or recently have given birth to babies...have no fear, this has not awakened my maternal instincts (still blissfully dormant) but it has got me thinking about what parents expect from baby wear.  Look at the celebrity kids (Harper Beckham, Suri Cruise, Skylar Zoe....to name a few) and you can see that all these kids are already regulars on the best dressed lists of the glossies and have designers and their PRs throwing miniature designer gear at them.  Yes, I am talking about designer baby gear.  Now I always thought that most babies would not know the difference between Gucci and Primark but this market is booming.  Anxious parents want the best for their children, I understand that but babies grow out of their outfits in -  what a month?  And they tend to make messes on the beautiful clothes too?  For those on a strapped budget, the idea of buying a gift for the expectant new mother and her future offspring brings out a cold sweat.  Especially when the baby registry list consists of names such as Gucci, Marc by Marc Jacobs or D&G.  May be I am just jealous of the youngster's designer wardrobe?

I always used to hate it when my mother said "when I was a child" or "when I was a little girl...", however, this baby clothing subject has really brought out my "when I was a ...."  Definitely, I was chuffed when my mother bought me a new dress from Marks and Spencer (yes the love started from an early age) but I was also content with hand me downs from the aunties and uncles who had children older than me.  However, one of the things that I always wanted when I was young was a brand spanking new pair of Magic Steps by Clarks.  Does anyone remember those adverts with the curly haired girl wondering around a fairy tale land and then she opens up that casket and inside is a pair of "magic" shoes.

Yes, very Dorothy-esque but I wanted, no I needed those shoes with the little key inside the soles.  I believed that they were magic, imagine my disappointment when I opened that shoe box and there was no golden glow emanating from it.

Oh well, back to looking at baby Gucci shoes....