Posts with tag back to school

Once upon a time (1998) a little boy named Vincent was born in a land far, far away (Stockholm, Sweden). His uncle Thomas and his partner Patrick wanted to buy him some shoes, "something fun, a little functional, too."

Guess what they couldn't find. If you said "fun and functional kid shoes" you'd be right. You guys are good at this guessing stuff.

Thomas and Patrick were both well-versed in the fashion world and they decided to fill the void that they had discovered. A year later Vincent Shoes opened its first store and they all lived happily ever after.

There are few things that can scar a kid like public school lunches. Yes, we know that they are supposed to be healthy and that they allegedly follow strict nutritional guidelines, but seriously, do you remember those things? We do, and not fondly. It's all a big blur of sloppy joes, cartons of milk, and hairnets.

Luckily kids have a choice. Enter the lunchbox.

School spirit is always in style. What's one of the best ways to flaunt yours? Customize yourself some shoes in your school's colors.

The Adicolor kit you see at right was one of the first customizable shoe kits, by Adidas in 1983. Now of course, you can do your customization online.

Choose your favorite shoe designer below and get to work, you fabulous artists, you!

Keds
Nike
Reebok
Converse
Vans

Our pick for this season is Keds, and if you really want to take the Artistic License Bus to Customization Town, check them out on Zazzle.com!

We don't recall having to carry a backpack in elementary school, but we do remember having to walk uphill to school, both ways, in the snow. Seems like we would recall a backpack.

Times have changed, and much to the delight of chiropractors everywhere, kids are carrying twice their body weight to school and back, albeit on snow-free, relatively flat surfaces.

This is what they're using:

Gymboree is one of the biggest names in quality clothing for children, so it should come as no surprise that they have a great catalog of school fashions (and Halloween costumes- yes, already).

Gymboree has fun and playful couture for kids that are fun and playful. Convenient, don't you think? Like many of the other popular retailers of kidwear they understand the value of the the classics, and as such build upon them. The result is a solid line of timeless clothing and clever accessories.

For example:

Some of us think High School Musical is stoo-pid. We hate that hypocrite Hannah Montana, and you know where you can stick Camp Rock. We would rather eat glass than use stationery with any of their dumb mugs emblazoned across the front.

But hey, we still love back-to-school supplies! Thank the dark heavens for Emily Strange, Skelanimals and our new favorite: Angry Little Girls.

Thanks to these five misanthropic girls, a certain kind of kid can eat her lunch in peace, glowering in a corner while filling notebook after notebook with detailed thoughts about pushy math teachers, overbearing jocks and one very special boy in art class.

Even if you're theoretically too old for back to school shopping, it's worth looking. Something feels so right about using an Angry Little Girls (solar powered!) calculator to pay bills and balance our checkbook.

The Children's Place is a one stop destination for the shopping parent of school-aged children. Hence the name.

They carry everything from shoes to underwear and everything in-between. Their clothing is cute and classic, sticking to seasonal influences more than those of pop culture. The result is a timeless quality that will look great on kids now and their younger siblings later.

See for yourself:

As if you all need reminding that back to school mania is in full swing, right? Well, most of you know that student living quarters can be pretty cramped, leaving little to no space for a full-fledged desk to do work. Sometimes, a laptop needs a non-lap to sit on. Where should one turn to for a (relatively) cheap and stylish solution?

Ikea, naturally. The store's new 2009 catalog is full of amazing things, but a notable new item is this laptop workstation. It's something you can mount on a wall and fold out to reveal a small tabletop, just big enough to hold your laptop. There are also little cubbies for storing small things and lockable sections for security. This would be the perfect addition to a dorm room where the resident can't even stretch without scraping their knuckles against a wall.

[via Unclutterer]

There are few things sadder than a scratched up tech toy. Students of today often have to tote around more than just a couple of books and a Jansport, and it's important to keep those extra goodies protected from the bumps and scratches of hectic school life. Just a wee bit of prevention can go a long way. Really, once you get that hardcore scar across the front of your super-shiny Macbook after accidentally skimming it with your bracelet-decorated wrist, you'll be sorry you didn't read this!

ThinkGeek.com always has fun gadgets and crazy t-shirts, geek-chic and clever. This year, bring geek-chic to school with these five must-haves:

• Notepads for all levels of procrastination
• Super strong pushpin-style locker magnets
• Pencil sharpening robot - he walks
• Swingline stapler from Office Space
• Eyes and mouths to put on all your other stuff for fun

Very stylish.

Whit Honea is a slacker, a borderline degenerate, and a daydream believer. He's also our resident expert on casual chic. If it's comfortable, and not heinous, he's all over it. He's quite charming, really.

Junk Food Clothing makes t-shirts for everyone, man, woman and child, but they aren't for everyone. They are for the true connoisseur of t-shirt art. Their shirts are soft and weathered, creating a comfortable feel with a retro aesthetic. They combine eras of pop culture and original design with a result that is equal parts geek-chick and contemporary hipness.

Today, in the spirit of school (hey, school spirit!) we're looking at the prints for kids:

Ah, the Gap. We fell into you so long ago that we've forgotten what it was like to be free of your charms. We can scarcely recall life before you- there was a crowd and a food court and rows of glass doors that led to a warm place with a bright orange light in the sky. We don't miss it.

That's why when it was time to dress our family in corduroy and denim for the start of the school year we took our spawn to yours: GapKids.

Shopping for back to school can be difficult. On one hand, you want outfits that you'll be able to wear throughout much of the year. On the other hand, the tiny little shorts and mini skirts you've been sporting all summer won't pass dress code, and it's way too hot to wear jeans just yet, so what's a fashionista to do?

We've got some sassy, fashionable options for you, so don't sweat. You can stay cool in the high temperatures without sacrificing style or risking detention! Check out the gallery to see some of the pieces we love as well as recommendations on how to wear them!

JCPenny has done one of two things for John Hughes fans, either they've brought back a great memory and provided a chuckle or they've killed a piece of their youth. Results may vary.

The new ad for JCP features a bunch of teens recreating some of the more memorable scenes from Hughes' classic movie The Breakfast Club. We LOVE The Breakfast Club so we feel very strongly that we should hate this commercial, but as embarrassing as it is for us to admit- we don't.

As we mentioned previously, Victoria's Secret Pink Collegiate Collection is all sorts of fun and spunk for the college set.

What we didn't mention previously is that you can be a part of the Pink action. This Thursday, July 17th, will be the first annual Pinkapalooza. It will be held on the Santa Monica pier from 5-10 p.m. and the public (that's where you come in) are welcome. Click here to print your pass.

Those in attendance will be able to compete in rivalry games between USC and UCLA, as well as be among the first to shop the new Pink Collegiate Collection. There will also be a free concert by Fall Out Boy.

The party will be hosted by the new (and first official) face of VS Pink Miss Behati Prinsloo. We will be sitting down with Behati for a little Q & A. and we thought it would be fun to take along some of your questions for the lovely young model.

If you have a question about VS Pink, modeling or something else (within reason) that you would like to ask Behati please leave it in the comment section. We'll pick the best (not that there is such a thing as a bad question) and ask Behati on Thursday- you know, when we sit down with her. Yes, we've been bragging about this to everyone.