Alighted · Baby Gap Sequinned Butterfly Baby Tee, 2000s
Cotton jersey · embellished butterfly in violet and teal · script logo · Baby Gap · early 2000s · AU size 3-4, approx 3-4 years
A plain white tee and then a butterfly, landed on the chest in violet and teal, embroidered and embellished so it sits slightly raised against the weave: the kind of small detail that a child notices immediately.
Baby Gap, early 2000s. Soft cotton jersey, ribbed at the neck and cuffs, a script logo small at the hem. The Gap at its most quietly confident in its children's line: start with a simple garment and give it one thing worth looking at. This butterfly has been given that position and earned it. The tee appears unworn, which means the details are exactly as bright as the day they were stitched on, and you are the beneficiary of an occasion that never came.
Care
Warm gentle wash, inside out to protect the embellishment. Line dry. No hot iron over the butterfly.
More on looking after vintage pieces in our care guide.
Size
Measured flat: length 39cm, chest 32cm, waist 32cm, sleeve length 10.5cm. Fits approximately AU size 3-4, around 3 to 4 years.
Our size guide explains how vintage sizing is read here.
Condition
Exhibition condition, appears unworn. The butterfly details are all present and bright, the cotton jersey fresh.
Our condition lexicon explains the grades we use.
Before it reaches you
Someone loved this before you did, and I try to honour that properly. Each piece is hand washed, or cleaned in the way that the fabric permits, then steamed until it softens and straightens and feels newly attended to. Wherever a button was missing, it has been replaced with a vintage one from my long-kept collection. Wherever a hem had given way, I fix it by hand. By the time it leaves this room it is genuinely clean, pressed, whole, and looked over one final time before I let myself believe it is ready. Not restored. Not made new. Just returned to a state where it can be loved again, by someone who was not there the first time.
A butterfly that has landed is only resting, and this one chose a plain white field on purpose, the better to be watched deciding whether to stay. Because the tee was never worn, it has not once been startled into leaving, which is the single condition under which it agrees to be kept. Wear it gently and it holds its place; wear it carelessly and it may go looking for a warmer chest. Teal is for travelling and violet is for staying, and it wears both because it has never quite made up its mind.