Tag Archives: heirloom

Shopping Children’s Fashion On-line | HartStrings

06 Tuesday Mar 2012

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Shopping for my kids is like a chore.  There are so many set-backs to shopping when you have four kids. It’s not fun to take all 4 at the same time.  In fact, it’s darn near impossible! I’ve attempted to take one baby and one kid, two kids, two babies, no matter the math, I always seem to get the equation wrong.  I can’t help but think of my most recent experience with my daughter and one of the twins where she was trying on clothes in an over-sized dressing room, and he was on the loose, running around screaming, slamming the door, pulling apart the products.  I couldn’t get out of there fast enough! Need less to say, on-line shopping is a necessary part of life for my family.

hartstrings traditional denim

Twins in the denim oxford button down from Hartstrings. Great quality and looked adorable on them!

One may think you just pop on the computer, pick a store and get shopping, but it’s not that easy for me.  I love the kids to have a bit of an eclectic style, butI’m a traditionalist at heart and tend to go for the classic, traditional, preppy look.  And, yes, I am one of those moms who likes her kids to coordinate.  Not matchy-matchy, but definitely blend well and look nicely together.

Before I jump on the Internet, I look through the catalogs I get in the mail.  I have to narrow down the special occasions or reasons behind my shopping: Easter outfits, summer vacation, birthday, camp, etc.  Every now and then I’ll ask the kids their opinion on colors, styles, but most often, I’m shopping by myself, when they are all in bed. Once I’ve identified the styles and colors I’m looking for, then I go on-line and begin my search for the best deals.  I have my go-to stores, but I’m open to trying new things.  Especially if that new store meets my expectations and more.

I was asked to shop the launch of Hartstrings.com new website.  After taking a quick look at the classic, traditional, yet contemporary pieces to add to their wardrobe, I was excited to give them a try!  I am a true sucker for rickrack, gingham, and smocking, which Hartstings happens to carry quite a selection of heirloom pieces.  They also have their own designer lines: KC parker and Kitestrings, and their new site also houses several well-known designers with children’s lines like Nicole Miller, DKNY and Puma.
I ended up getting all three boys matching denim oxford button downs, with brown and white striped shorts.  I figured the boys could wear them in their 18 month portraits, and all three could wear them for Easter.  I picked out a cute cotton, floral print skirt for my daughter to wear with a white top ad denim jacket to go with the other kids for a family portrait, and a Balinese inspired shift dress for our vacation.  The kids were pleased with their outfits, and mom was pleased with the quality, cost and efficiency of shopping the new Hartstrings site.  I will definitely be a repeat customer!
Hartstrings Childrens Fashion Tops and Dresses

My older children in their new Hartstrings pieces. The size chart was pretty accurate, and the styles fit them well.

Check out their new site Hartstrings.com .  You can also follow them on Twitter and Facebook. #MyHartstrings
This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions are my own.  #CBias

Hartstrings On-line Make-Over

29 Wednesday Feb 2012

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I was invited by Collective Bias to participate in an on-line shopping project for the children’s store, Hartstrings.  Though I wasn’t very familiar with the name, as soon as I got on-line, I was very familiar with the styles.  Classic, traditional pieces perfect for family portraits, holidays, special occasions and vacations.  I know I boast about being a hip mom of four, but secretly, I love gingham! And bows! And Smocking! And shortalls!  I love dressing my kids up in coordinating outfits, and I love the classic look of the babies in the cotton pique sets with grosgrain trims.  Happy camper!

I was asked to shop both the previous site and their new site, which launched March 1st. While shopping on the original site, there was a warehouse sale happening.  The Sale banner was the first thing that caught my attention, so naturally, I checked it out.  Having never been on the site before, I didn’t really know what to expect.
What I loved:
  • Pretty easy to navigate, found almost everything I was looking for.
  • Loved how I could shop by gender and size.  Time is of the essence for me, so anything that makes shopping quicker is key.
  • I could match up boy/girl, baby/boy, or family and it would pop up the items that went together in each collection.  Love that!
  • I appreciated how the shopping cart showed the original price and the sales price, so I could see how much I was saving.
  • The shopping cart also had a cool feature that allowed me to pick an item, then shop according to what was available in each size.
  • Size chart was available on every page.  Great feature because I often find those are tricky to locate on other sites.
Room for Improvement:
  • I couldn’t find everything.  I would pick pieces to an outfit, then it would mention hair bows, but I couldn’t find any.
  • The selection felt limited, which could have been due to the sale going on.
  • Shipping process and check out seemed fine.  There were no obvious glitches and went pretty smooth.  However, I thought my items would have arrived by now as I ordered them a week ago.
Even though the quantities were a bit limited, I still had a hard time choosing.  I thought about what the kids already had, and added some new pieces to give those items a new look. We have family portraits coming up and I want them to coordinate.  I chose the khaki and white stripped cotton shorts for my older son to match the ones the twins already have. I also picked out three denim oxford shirts, all on-sale, 1 for each of them.  For my daughter, a floral print that was on sale, along with a white tuxedo blouse and, of course, I couldn’t resist a Balinese inspired sundress, not on-sale.
When I went back to visit the new site, I noticed right away the difference.  Though the old site was just fine, but I must say, the new site is quite impressive and enticing.  It seemed like there was an abundance of product, and so much more to choose from.  In addition to the classic, heirloom pieces, there is now a larger, designer boutique-like shop that appears to cater to the “big girls”.
What I loved:
  • Aesthetically pleasing.  I loved the colors and the bold, big pictures.
  • The site had a more mature, groomed, feel about it.  Kind of like it grew-up a bit.
  • I could easily find what I was looking for under the header tabs, including the hair bows!
  • I really liked how things were categorized by Special Occasion, New Arrivals, Sales, and Brands.  This made it a little quicker to get through the site and to where I needed to go.
  • The Brother/Sister feature is a great way to pair up matching/coordinating outfits from the same collection in one spot.
  • The shopping cart was very user friendly and not time consuming.  I knew where to find everything and how to input needed information, including promo codes and gift cards.
  • I also enjoyed being able to effortlessly find their facebook, twitter and blog accounts so I could follow them right away.
What I Missed:
  • It may have been on there, but I couldn’t locate the shop by size feature.
  • I also missed the ability to shop by family themes.
Overall, I didn’t really have many complaints about utilizing either site.  When I look back through my photos, the newer site seems obviously updated and makes a bigger statement.  There is an element of excitement and sense of urgency to shop and purchase items.  I love the larger selection in the designer lines.  It is a beautiful site and I plan on shopping there again.
To see more from my shop, visit my Hartstrings Google+ Story.
This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias.  All opinions are my own.