Style Birmingham

It’s that time again, when the Guardian gives us their view on the world of fashion.

FASHION DILEMMA

Is it OK to dress your child as a mini-me?

Fashion Statement found itself queueing behind a young lady in a high street fashion store the other day. This young lady was carrying a full basket of stylish attire, was dressed very fashionably in leggings and a boyfriend blazer, and was clutching a wallet full of £20 notes. She was also about seven years old. Fashion Statement reeled. When FS was seven, the height of fashion in her wardrobe was a purple velour Dash tracksuit.

According to a recent survey from Debenhams, parents spend more than £700 a year on their children’s wardrobes. The Daily Mail is blaming single asylum-seek … no, sorry, wrong article, the Daily Mail is blaming Suri Cruise and her ever-expanding designer wardrobe – apparently we all want our kids to look like her. Now Fashion Statement has a daughter, and over our dead body is she ever dressing in heels a la Suri until she’s at LEAST 25.

In our opinion, spending too much money on your children’s wardrobe has nothing to do with Suri Cruise and more to do with the fact that clothes in small sizes are just too cute to resist. Have you visited welovefrugi.com or been in BabyGap recently? We defy you not to coo. FS purchased BabyStatement the perfect spring denim smock dress in BabyGap this week, complete with adorable daisy embroidery on the hem. If adult clothes were that cute, we’d all be overspending and bringing about a huge recession. What? Oh.

But leaving aside the credit crunch and the rights and wrongs of toddlers in heels, FS thinks the real question is whether it is ever acceptable – or indeed normal – to dress your child as a miniature version of yourself. Presenting the case for the opposition, we have of course Katie Holmes and Suri Cruise, the former seemingly having nothing more pressing to achieve than ensuring the latter has an identical haircut to her own. Then there is Jarvis Cocker – does he really need to dress his six-year-old as Jarvis Junior? And let’s not forget young Romeo Beckham. Poor Victoria, she really does need a little girl to win the battle of the overdressed tots.

FS has decided that all these children are all part of some intensive celebrity fashion training programme. While our ‘civilian’ babies read “That is not my Lion” and watch CBeebies, these kids are probably browsing nappy-a-porter and sighing in despair over Upsy Daisy’s skirt length (“So 2009, mummy!”). It is surely only a matter of years before Suri and Romeo release their own fashion labels – after all, Lourdes and Madonna have their own “Material Girl” range debuting shortly. Can’t you just see the range of miniature “It” bags now? Oh, hang on – they already exist …

BANG ON TREND

Sneakers

A day or two of sunshine does not a springtime make. It is not nearly warm enough yet for sandals, folks (unless you are reading this from somewhere sunnier and warmer than the UK, in which case FS is too petulant and jealous to cater to you). However, it is now April, which means thick woolly tights and boots just start to look plain wrong. If we were talking about seasonal food we would be in the hungry gap, and FS would like to offer a small prize to anyone who can coin the fashion equivalent. Answers on an email please. But while we wait for your responses to flood in, and wait (and wait and wait) for the spring to arrive properly and our toes to be bared, FS advocates the radical step of wearing a nice pair of sneakers. Yes, comfortable shoes, whatever next?

Luckily, sneakers have got very snazzy this season – “sport luxe” is very much a trend at the moment. If you think that £350 for a pair of canvas (yes, we did say canvas) shoes is entirely reasonable, Lanvin has a jaunty floral pair. Too pink? How about stud-detailed hi-tops from See by Chloe, a snip at a mere £235? Meanwhile, over in the slightly more sanely priced corner, we have these shiny Converse hi-tops (£65) – if you can carry them off, you are a braver woman than FS, and clearly very fashionable. Slightly more muted but still with a touch of bling are these Fornarina shoes (£65) – white, but with a little disco going on at the sides. If you crave colour, there’s good news for you from Brazil, where flip-flop giant Havaiana has launched a rather fabulous new range of hi-tops and plimsolls in its signature range of bright colours (£37, at Harrods). We also like these very simple washed-out blue pumps by Topshop (£15), and for the simplest style but with a luxurious detail, Boden has a lovely pair of satin sneakers.

Of course, if you won’t step out of the front door in anything but Louboutins, and spending over £400 on trainers doesn’t strike you as a sign that you need psychological (and possibly financial) help, net-a-porter can meet your needs.

GRAVEYARD

Bai Ling

That this outfit sported (just barely) by actor Bai Ling for the premiere of a computer game is awful goes without saying. But it has caused two jaw-dropping moments in Fashion Statement Towers. Firstly the news that according to Wikipedia this lady is 43. Terrible outfit, fantastic DNA. Secondly, that apparently she was arrested in 2008 for shoplifting two magazines and a package and explained to E! News that it was caused by the “huge problem of breaking up [before] Valentine’s Day … wrong boyfriend”. We say again, terrible outfit, great creative excuse.

FASHIONISTA

Sarah Brown

No, Fashion Statement isn’t nailing its political colours to the mast – we just thoroughly approve of the PM’s wife’s choice of People Tree to go electioneering in. Her nautical striped top from our favourite ethical fashion retailer costs £25. Sarah Brown also wore the label during London fashion week, so she’s clearly a big fan of the brand.

QUOTE

Least-favourite food? “I’m a pop singer. I don’t like food at all.”

Lady Gaga brooks no nonsense about calorie ingestion to New York Magazine

For all the latest fashion news, visit guardian.co.uk/fashion