Tips to Consider When Shopping For Summer Outfits

With the past few weeks being extremely cold, we can't help but dream of some warm weather to soak in some sunshine. During the past couple of years the pandemic has disrupted our summer plans as we spent most of our days lounging. To get our minds off of feeling down, we are thinking of different things we can do in the summer, including our summer outfits. 

Here are some ideas to get you started if you are looking for inspiration to refresh your wardrobe - a less is more approach to get the desired aesthetic while feeling and looking fashionable.

One Stop Holiday Shopping for Men and Women at Mark's

My husband and I love shopping at Mark's because it is a one-stop-shop for us to buy clothes and footwear that we enjoy wearing. If you are looking to get outfits for yourself or planning on purchasing clothes and footwear to give as gifts to your loved ones, I would recommend shopping at Mark's online or at their store locations. We can always find quality, comfortable clothing that are sure to be loved.  

Spring and Summer Collection from Columbia

Columbia Sportswear Company's Spring and Summer Collection has a beautiful selection of clothing for both women and men. We think that this selection is perfect for all occasions especially when travelling and doing outdoor activities.

Helly Hansen Men's Juniper Sports Winter Jacket

My husband has been wearing his regular fit Helly Hansen Juniper Sports Winter Jacket, and loves it for many reasons. He says it doesn’t feel bulky yet keeps him really warm and cozy. We love the stylish sporty design of the jacket. It has every feature you can think of! Wearing this jacket is comfortable because it is extremely light and airy.

Helly Hansen Women's Jackets for Cooler Weather

As the weather gets cooler, I like to wear layers. Depending on where I go the temperature is different, since some places have heaters turned on high, and the other places are much cooler. Due to this reason, I love wearing this lightweight, compact Helly Hansen Verglas Down Insulator. I love that it is compact because it can be folded and fits easily into a bag, which makes it perfect for winter travels.

Children's Coccoli Clothing

I love the children clothing that is available at Coccoli. Coccoli is a high-quality clothing brand for children 0 to 10 years old. This 20 year old Montreal based company led by mother and son duo of Marian and Francois Vachon is widely recognized for making clothing for newborns that is comfortable.

Helly Hansen Women's Clothing

I am excited the weather has become warmer. I enjoy going on walks when the weather is warm. Although, it is sunny, but slightly windy I enjoy wearing my Helly Hansen training kit for walks. I love this black active training pants because it is relaxed fitting. This comfortable, lightweight pant has an elastic waistband with an adjustable cord, and side pockets. These pants have become my favourite because they are perfect for walks and casual summer outings.

Comfortable and Dressy Clothes for Women from Lands' End

The cool mornings and evenings have been gentle reminders that this beautiful summer weather is not going to last. In preparation for the fall weather, I checked out a few items from Lands' End that has lots of beautiful, fashionable clothing for women. Lands' End constantly has new items that are unique and comfortable to wear for a variety of occasions. 

Win a Sears Gift Card and See How Sears is Surprising Families #RockTheHalls

The new trends, new fashions, new colours, can be both exciting and overwhelming when shopping back to school. For all children, especially my daughter how she dresses plays an important role in expressing her personality, style, and individuality. I like that Sears carries a variety of top quality brands at reasonable prices. They have a wide selection of styles that children will enjoy wearing.

Limeapple Clothing are Fabulous for Girls

Girl & Company by limeapple is a leading girl’s wear line that specializes in cutting edge designs for fashion forward girls in sizes 4 to 14. As soon as I saw the trendy practical clothing with the alluring details and bright colours, I knew my daughter would enjoy these clothing. This high quality, age appropriate, fashionable collection of clothing caters to girl’s active lifestyles and has the perfect balance of style and function.

Win Your Own Travel Clothes from Clothing Arts

My husband and I put these travel pants from Clothing Arts on a field test, which we enjoyed. These clothing designed by travellers for travellers are made with a lot of thought to withstand life on the road. 
The belt-less system on the pants, the camera hook, dual smartphone pockets are awesome, unique features. Having pockets within the pockets instead of pockets all over the place of the pants allow it to be more secure from getting pick-pocketed. 

Mark’s Takes the Stress Out of Last-Minute Gift Buying for Men

Mark’s takes the stress out of last-minute gift buying with a number of quality items that are practical, look great and perfect for any of the men on our list. My husband trusts the quality of the products at Mark's and enjoy their stylish clothing. Due to this reason, it makes it easy for me to shop there and buy clothing I know that will be appreciated and enjoyed.

Win Trendy Clothing From Pinkblush

PinkBlush Maternity is dedicated to sell cute, trendy maternity clothes at low and affordable prices. They pride on having a selection of unique maternity styles at great prices. Since PinkBlush Maternity is exclusively sold on the Internet, they are able to maintain low operating costs and pass those savings to us by offering prices 15% to 30% off many of their competitors. They also change their inventory often, so we can access the new trends.

Buy ivivva Clothing For Active Girls With This Giveaway

ivivva is Lululemon’s sister store that provides dance-inspired, cross-functional athletic apparel for girls age 4 to 14. The official arrival of ivivva is just in time for girls to get back into action with clothes designed for serious movement. The colourful clothing designed for active girls uses the same signature fabrics and design features as Lululemon.

Tilley apparel goes anywhere

Tilley apparel has existed for over 30 years.  Over these years they have evolved because of their committed focus on innovation, fabrics and design.  The team at Tilley are constantly looking for the latest engineered modern fabrications that make durable, versatile, easy to wear and care clothes and accessories that are also trendy and fashionable. 

With Tilley apparel we can travel light with one bag.  My father-in-law is a frequent traveler that sticks to his policy of travelling light and with only one bag; this is something I always hear from him as he encourages us to do the same :)  I agree with him and believe that when travelling we should be comfortable and clothes should be the last thing on the worry list.  Having clothes that we can trust, which will not tear or wear easy is the best way to not worry about clothes :)

Tilley Endurables started in 1980 by Alex Tilley after he developed the original Tilley Hat (T1).  Alex Tilley is a self-employed art consultant and avid sailor who made this T1 hat because he was tired of his sailing hats getting blown off his head, sinking and shrinking.

All the clothing and hats except for the TF2 Fur Felt Fedora hat and socks are made in Canada.  Although this TF2 Fur Felt Fedora hat and socks are made in the US, they follow the specifications of Tilley's standards.  When I browsed through the clothing at Tilley Endurables I liked the quality and collection of the lightweight clothing and the idea of wearing the same clothes in different ways.  These clothes are supposed to be comfortable to wear for travel and for everyday use.  

I found the prices a little on the expensive side, but I guess we pay a little more as an investment for the quality of the products.  Tilley stands behind its quality and guarantee us that all their hats expect the Raffia and clothing such as their Drummer Legends items are guaranteed for life and the socks are guaranteed to be hole free for 3 years.  Since Tilley products are durable and washable, they are environmentally friendly and sustainable.  

Tilley donates discontinued fabrics to NGOs to use for other projects. Every holiday season, Tilley has a tradition of supporting the Sir Edmund Hilary Foundation that is dedicated to help improve the lives of the Sherpa people in Nepal, and they sell the Baby Yeti soft toy for $7 and the Mom and Dad Yetis for $14 each.  

There are lots of unique features in the fabric that Tilley uses in their products, however features vary depending on the clothing and apparel.  Some of the features include fast drying, wrinkle resistant, lightweight, water repellent, washable, colour fastness, UV rated at UPF 50+ which is the maximum rating that offers sun protection etc.  Tilley products are designed by an in-house team that is inspired by travel trends and suggestions from customers i.e. their Intrepid bag with the brown vintage, hand-distressed leather and Italian buckles was based on a WWII bag suggested by a client.  

I liked the spacious layout and creative decor throughout the store as there are photographs, wooden carvings and other unique things from around the world that are interesting to look at.  I like the unique style of the fitting rooms as each room had a name of a country on the outside and inside there was a scenic picture from the country mentioned.  

Although Tilley is mostly known for travel clothing, they are moving from this and making fashionable clothes for everyday wear for all types of body shapes and sizes so Tilley products are appealing to globetrotters and backyard adventures alike.  They are the leading manufacture of high quality hats in Canada and across the globe.  There are seven family owned stores in Canada and more than 2600 retailers in 18 countries sell their hats.

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Mark's: Smart Clothes for Everyday Living

Mark's Work Wearhouse is rebranded now as Mark's because many people perceive Mark's to carry only work clothing that are mostly for men.  I like shopping at Mark's because they have a wide collection of casual clothing for men and women from underwear, outerwear, nightwear, footwear to accessories.

I like the practical decent clothing at Mark's, which is pretty hard to find in many stores these days.  The clothes are feminine, stylish and at the same time covers up :)  The quality, special features i.e. wrinkle free, and the functional aspects i.e tummy control etc are things that I like about the clothing from Mark's.
My husband too likes shopping at Mark's because of the wide selection of all types of clothing that have guaranteed quality.  Their clothing are durable, fade-resistant, have sub-zero insulation, some clothing are water resistant and despite many washes the clothes look new.

I enjoyed meeting Brad Goreski and others from Mark's at the Eaton Centre, Toronto a couple of weeks ago.  This location has a walk-in closet that is similar to a freezer, which stimulates winter weather conditions so we can wear the outerwear and test it.  The changing rooms are bigger and better lit.  The lighting is brighter with TV screens displaying the look-book and styles.  I find that the staff at all the Mark's location are helpful and know about the products, so we can ask them and let them know what we are looking for and to get the correct size etc.  There is always something at Mark's that I like and am looking forward to see the Fall collection a little more closely :)   

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Mark's wearhouse clothes for Father's day

Mark's has high quality clothes that are affordable, comfortable and will last long.  My husband enjoys this attractive :) double layered vintage shirt from Denver Hayes.  This shirt has a unique design with two different contrasting materials that shows in the inside of the shirt, at the cuff, collar and the bottom.  We like the design and how it looks when it dressed.  He feels really comfortable wearing the shirt that is made with 100% washable cotton.  It is a good shirt for everyday casual wear and comes in sizes S to 2XL.  

He likes to wear this Denver Hayes driWear workout pants when he is cycling and exercising.  It is comfortable to wear during all types of sports.  My husband likes the relaxed fit of the pants and the elastic waistband that doesn't have zips, buttons or ties; this is a really useful feature during active sports.  It fits well and the pants aren't tight looking so he feels and looks good wearing it.  He likes the ease of moving with the pant as the material made with 88% nylon and 12% spandex is stretchy.  The pants have two side pockets and 2 flap closure pockets on the back. 

According to my husband, this driWear tiger stripe active polo t-shirt is comfortable and light on the body.  This stylish t-shirt is good for outdoor activities, causal wear and for sports.  The 100% polyester t-shirt keeps the moisture out and stretches for better fit and movement.  This short-sleeve t-shirt has a collar with 3-button closure at the neck.  The striped pattern blends in and looks good.  The tag says not to put dry sheets or fabric softener when drying.    

Both the workout pants and the t-shirt uses one-way moisture management system that keeps the body dry from outside environment such as water spills and rain.  It doesn't allow the water to enter thru the clothing and keeps the moisture away from the skin as it vapours it out, so the person wearing feels dry and comfortable.  It also uses FreshTech technology that prevents the growth of odour causing microbes and stain causing bacteria.  This is a very useful feature when we are active and staying outdoors especially during this season.  These driWear clothing are tag less, which is comfortable during play.   

We usually take advantage of the sales and bought this Wind River 360° FlexTech waist side elastic hiker pants during the Father's day sale last Thursday.  Clothing from Mark's will be a good gift for dad, so take advantage of the online and in-store sales.  

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Kidorable hangers

My children like helping me organize most times :) They were really excited to see these cool looking hangers from Kidorable.  
These handcrafted wooden hangers are beautiful.  Kidorable has used very vibrant colours.  My daughter said she likes these hangers compared to her regular ones because its colourful.  She hangs her special clothes in these :)  
We chose this transportation set, which isn't totally gender specific.  This set of hangers come with 6 hangers; I gave each of my children 3.   My daughter and son chose the 3 that they liked to put in their closet.  Although my little guy thought all the hangers were for him and he didn't want to make a choice.  Kidorable has put their name on the back of these neat looking hangers.

I like that the hangers are sturdy enough to hold children's clothing.  As the hangers are lightweight children can comfortably hang their own clothing.  There are no sharp edges.  It is better to use caution and avoid accidents by giving it to an older child over the age of 3 years/school age, so they have more understanding that these aren't toys as it has a hanger hook.  


These hangers from Kidorable would be a lovely gift that will encourage children to organize their clothing.  It would be a cute functional gift for parents to use it in the nursery.  So next time you are looking for a unique gift get these Kidorable hangers which are sold online and are shipped to anywhere in the world. 

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Kidorable review and giveaway

Kidorable has adorable rainwear for children; I haven't seen cute products like this anywhere.  The children and parents will enjoy their unique, creative, fabulous collection of products.  We like the quality and cuteness of these affordable Kidorable products.


The stitching and the detailed design on the products show good quality.  My son is a big dinosaur fan and knows a lot about dinosaurs, he even scares us by making different dinosaur sounds :)  My little dinosaur came alive with these super cute dinosaur coat and boots.  He loved the pockets, pictures, spikes, the colour and everything about it.  He couldn't stay still with this on :)


Children will want to have these rain gear on them even when there isn't any rain.  I had to convince my son that there will be plenty of opportunities for him to wear the coat when it is raining.


Kidorable has a lovely selection of themed rain coats and rain boots for all the different fans such as pirates, dragon knight, dinosaur, fireman, frog, space hero for boys and ballerina, butterfly, fairy, lady bug, lotus flower, lucky cat and mermaid for girls.  The coats are made out of PVC and have comfortable polymer lining.  The sizes are from 1T to 6x.  The size chart of the site is detailed, which will help us get the correct size.  The coats also come with free hangers that are unique, wooden, lightweight and cute.





The rain/ mud boots made with natural rubber are really soft and pliable, which is comfortable for growing feet.  The sole of the boots have a good grip and it is easy to clean.  My children and I like the details throughout the boots such as the dinosaur face, eyes, teeth, spikes, texture, design and the attractive realistic colours.  
Kidorable carries boot sizes from size 5 to youth size 2 that come up to mid calf. If your children are like mine; then you know that they can't avoid puddles/mud so rain boots are a good investment.  These cute comfortable boots will make children want to wear it without complaining :)


As a parent, you will love seeing your cuties in the Kidorable rain coats and boots.  Anyone seeing your children with these kidorable products will compliment how good it looks.

My daughter loves the selection they have for the girls, she wanted this ballerina umbrella and was really excited when she got it.  It isn't just an umbrella; the details and design will bring out the ballerina in the little ones.  We love every part of this 100% nylon umbrella; the pictures, colours, the shape, the cute ribbon on top and the unique comfortable handle.  The umbrella is a good size that is big enough to protect them from the rain.  It would also be good to have when it is sunny.  My ballet queen is trying to find every opportunity to use it; she is out with it in rain and shine.





Kidorable has impressively made their products functional and cute.  The products are shipped to anywhere in the world and can easily be purchased online.  
Any child receiving these products will enjoy it.  Parents will appreciate the affordable prices and will be happy to see how cute their children look in these.


Giveaway
Kidorable has lots of umbrella designs.  If you want to win one of their umbrellas, please leave a comment saying which design of umbrella your little one will like to win.  
The giveaway is open to people in USA and Canada till June 5th.  
Please follow Kidorable on twitter and Facebook to get special discounts/deals.
With a purchase of $20 worth of products they are giving away a free umbrella to delight children around the world.
Please follow my twitter and Facebook so I can announce the winner and contact you.
Update: The winner is Cheryl

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Fashion to figure giveaway

Fashion to figure is offering a giveaway to the readers of Createwithmom and Torviewtoronto.  The giveaway is open to everyone in USA until May 30th.  If you are the winner you can choose one item $30 or less from Fashion to figure.  


I don't have first hand experience with their products, but happy to bring this giveaway offer to you.  
Fashion to figure is an online company that has a variety of women's clothing from size 12 to 26.  They have a selection of dresses, tops, shirts, jeans, pants, shorts, skirts, outerwear, body shapers, accessories and jewelry on their site.  The site has lovely product pictures that show either the front/ back of the clothing and some products have a zoom feature.  The site also has detailed product description for each of their clothing.  Fashion to figure also gives suggestions on how to wear the clothing.


The site is easy to surf, so start looking through it and leave a comment on what type of clothing you are thinking of getting on the comment of this post with your contact email address or your Facebook or twitter name.
Please follow my twitter and Facebook so you know when the winner is announced.

Update: The winner is Stephanie

All rights reserved on the written content Createwithmom © 2012. Please Ask First