Made Sweet · Little Wishes White Baby Bodysuit, 1990s
White cotton jersey · printed pink figures · lap shoulder · snap closures · Little Wishes · 1990s to 2000s · AU size 0-1, approx 6-18 months
A white cotton bodysuit printed with a small parade of pink figures, and still deadstock, so the print is exactly as bright and cheerful as the day it was made.
Little Wishes, 1990s to 2000s. Soft single jersey cotton, a lap shoulder that eases over a small head without drama, press-stud closures at the crotch. The baby bodysuit arrived in the mid-twentieth century and became one of the quiet design triumphs of childrenswear: all the practicality of a singlet with the function of staying tucked in through everything. Little Wishes understood this and made the most of the canvas.
Care
Warm gentle wash with like colours. Line dry or tumble low. No bleach.
More on looking after vintage pieces in our care guide.
Size
Measured flat: length 43cm, chest 23cm, sleeve length 24cm. Fits approximately AU size 0-1, around 6 to 18 months.
Our size guide explains how vintage sizing is read here.
Condition
Deadstock. Unworn, the original print fresh and the snap closures bright.
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 parade of pink figures needs somewhere to be going, and never having been worn, this one has kept its whole procession waiting at the starting line for thirty years, patient as anything, certain the day is still coming. The lap shoulder is cut wide so the smallest head can pass through without interrupting the march. Put it on a baby and the parade sets off at last, though only ever in the direction the baby is carried. Nobody has yet reached the front of the line to see who is leading.