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Give the little ones you love a product that has been lovingly made. It’s as simple as that.
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Back to School with Elephantito: Living Lessons
Back to school style is more than just a marketing ploy. It’s a chance for children to reevaluate who they are, what sort of colors and cuts they like, and most importantly, how they want to represent themselves to classmates and teachers in the year ahead. It’s the sartorial version of a fresh-start.
Sandals for summer
For most of us summer is synonymous with sandals. They are the most versatile and comfortable shoe for both adults and children during the hot summer months.
The important thing to keep in mind during hot months is that our children's feet sweat. If the shoe is not made of a natural material, like leather or cotton, this sweat will pool in the shoe and can cause irritation and blisters.
Elephantito shoes are made with the smoothest leather on the outside and the lining is made with the best sheep leather, which is very soft and let's the foot breath.
Keep your little one's feet safe, free of blisters, in style and celebrate summer with us!
This is how to take care of your Elephantito leather shoes
We've all been there, you find the perfect leather shoe. You look for the occasion to dress up your little one with them and suddenly... disaster.
It's only natural. Children aren't particularly careful with their clothes or shoes, even if their mommy's new favorites. But don't fret, we've got some tips for you about cleaning, restoring and taking care of your new leather shoes.
First thing to consider, leather is a natural material. It's porous and absorbs elements that it's exposed to. That means it's susceptible to stains and scratches, but therein lies the beauty. Leather tells the story of our lives and wears it like a proud badge.
When you buy leather shoes you are buying them for the look the have today; clean, crisp, elegant. You are also getting another pair of shoes that will come later, a weathered, earthy, stressed look that is also very much in style.
Taking all of this into account, we all want to give our new shoes a long life. Here are some tips to achieve that.
- Protect your shoes. When you first buy leather shoes, before your little one gets a chance to run through the grass and mud, you may want to weatherproof them. This will help protect them from water, dirt and other natural elements that will wear and stain shoes. Protectants come in creams, oils, waxes and sprays. Be careful regarding when choosing your product and consider what is made of, as they can alter the look of your shoe. Suede shoes, for example, are particularly delicate to weatherproof. Silicone sprays work well to protect suede. In general, we like protectants that are made with all-natural elements.
- Treat, condition and polish. For all leather shoes it's always a good thing to give them a good cleaning every so often. First remove laces, if the shoes have them. Second, use a natural bristle brush to remove loose dirt. Now you can clean them with a microfiber cloth dipped a bit of soap and water. Saddle soap and smooth leather cleaners that contain all-natural ingredients work well. After the shoes dry it's best to condition or moisturize them using leather creams. This helps prevent cracking and drying out. You can also choose to polish your shoes. If you use traditional shoe polish, the color must match the shoe color EXACTLY or it will change the original color of your shoes. Another option for polishing patent leather is using mineral oil with cotton.
- Treat stains quickly. Not all stains are created equal. Water, grass and dirt stains can be removed with leather cleaners. There are some homemade recipes on the internet, but we recommend spot testing before trying them out. Oil and grease are on another playing field. Here is a good way to deal with these:
- Oil or grease stains require immediate action. The best way to treat these is to blot the excess grease. Do not rub, as it will make the stain bigger and harder to remove. Use baby powder or cornstarch to draw out the grease. Gently brush the excess powder off. Now you can clean the stain with a little bit of dish soap and distilled water. Apply it with a microfiber cloth and then dry with another dry cloth.
- ** Pro tips:
- Baby wipes are great to quickly spot clean. They're gentle enough that they will not hurt the leather and the moisturizing properties they have also help to condition.
- Hand sanitizer is also a great way to remove scuffs from patent leather.
Whichever method you use, we hope you enjoy the life of your Elephantine shoes. Is there any particular method you use to take care of your leather shoes? Share with us in the comments.
Our Spring #MyElephantito Favorites
We are passionate about style and love to see when our clients wear our Elephantito shoes. These are some of our favorite Spring looks.
**To be featured on next month's blog tag us on your Instagram posts and use #MyElephantito
Marina Sofia shared this gorgeous picture with her equally gorgeous mini-me and it's giving us all the feels. Her little one is wearing a summer favorite, the Nicole Sandal in white.
We love Elijah Jai's look! His mommy, Tiffany Nicole, shared this dapper pic on Instagram and we are swooning. Elijah is wearing our Driver Loafer in Racing Red
Roxy Sheffield's little boy is wearing a pair Logans loafers in Natural and we are in love with the color combination. Neutrals make bright colors pop.
Brittney J. Fusilier shared this beautiful and nostalgic post of her sweet daughter standing on the steps of the church where she and her husband married years before. Maddy is wearing TBar for toddlers in Patent Blush
Tara R. Lacayo shared this great picture of her son in our white and navy Golfers and daughter in red Mary Janes. Happy Feet in deed!
Remember to follow us, tag us and use #MyElephantito to be featured on our website and Instagram.
To shop for these looks and many more check out our shop.
Elephantito Gives Back, "Celebrating Childhood: One Shoe at a Time"
Philanthropy and giving back to the community is not just something important for us at Elephantito, it's part of the way we live. Coming together, supporting others and finding a way to help children in need, keeps us grounded.
It is a value we instill in our children and that they have taken to heart, so much so that both of our co-founders' children -Andrea, Martin, Victoria and Marialex- came together to create a program called "Celebrating Childhood, One Shoe at a Time". This initiative donates brand new Elephantito shoes and clothing to kids in their hometown of Miami.
Childhood is supposed to be a wonderful and magical time, and yet it's also so fragile. Not everyone has access to basic needs and so we wanted to do our part in order to give those children a little bit of happiness and to make a positive impact in their lives.
We believe that being a part of a community means having social consciousness and it's a principle we have weaved into our business from it's inception in 2004.
Since the "Celebrating Childhood: One Shoe at a Time" program launched in 2013, Andrea, Martin, Victoria and Marialex have led it's efforts, with the support of their parents. They spend a lot of time in the warehouse, they take inventory of the merchandise that will be donated, they select the specific pieces, packed them and give them to local charities. They are passionate about this work, as are we.
The Elephantito Fit: What to look for when buying kids shoes
Buying shoes for our little ones can be a bit overwhelming. You're in the store and there are a lot of choices, not to mention your little one running around looking to try on anything in bright colors with his favorite super hero or princess. Not exactly what you had in mind for your daughters first communion or your sons Sunday best. Since we've been in your shoes, we thought we'd help you out with an Elephantito fit guide, something that comes in handy when buying your kids' shoes online.
Duchess Kate, these royal wedding looks are for you
The royal wedding is almost here! We can't contain our excitement for the upcoming nuptials of our new favorite royals, Harry and Meghan. All of our farytale fantasies are coming true with this one.
Of course, since we are Elephantito, we are oh so excited to see the royal children in their adorable outfits. If we were invited to such a momentous occasion, we know exactly what our kiddos would wear. Here are some Elephantito inspired fashions. Duchess Kate, these are for you.
Our take on the looks is simple elegance. For the girls, beautiful white or cream dresses accented with floral crowns and paired with fine leather shoes with classical lines in neutral or metallic tones.
We suggest Mary Janes for the little girls in metallic champagne, silver, gold, white, blush or even pink.
For the older girls, we love to pair classical, formal dresses with ballet flats, also in neutral and metallic tones. Our favorites are the Paris flats in white, silver, gold, champagne and pink.
For the girl who wants to make a statement, we have another favorite. Our French ballet flat in champagne and silver is classic and elegant with a romantic twist.
For the boys, the appropriate outfit consists of elegant white or cream button downs with short pants in luxurious fabrics and long socks, paired with these dapper elegant leather Golfers in white & ivory or white & navy.
Since we all can't be in London watching this historic and romantic event, we will be watching from our living rooms, dreaming of being modern day princes and princesses. We may even dress up our little ones in their Elephantito best to celebrate the occasion.
May Celebration Giveaway!
May is an exciting month for all of us. We get National Baby Day, Mother's Day, it's also the middle of Spring when the weather feels just right. Since we are in the celebrating mood we thought we'd do a fun giveaway.
Here's what you have to do to participate:
- Follow our Elephantito on Instagram.
- Like this post
- Tag 3 friends on this post. The more friends you tag, the more chances you'll win.
So what would you get with your Elephantito gift card? Let us know in the comments.
A special royal edition of Get The Look
In today's Get The Look we are going to recreate George and Charlotte's look for you with fashions from Elephantito.
Get Suri Cruise's adorable look this Spring
Suri Cruise's fashion game is enviable. We all love to see the pictures of her out enjoying New York with her equally fashionable mom Katie Holmes. This adorable girl has the best flats in the land, so much so that I'm dying for my own adult version of her shoe closet. Considering this, it's no surprise that for this month's fashion inspiration we would go way back into the archive and choose this beautiful look to recreate with a fresh new take that's fitting for the warmer weather that is awaiting us this Spring.
The Love Red Smocked Dress currently on sale for $50.40 features a round piece with Piping accent in the neckline and is lightweight.
The real show stopper here are Suri's beautiful and versatile silver ballet flats. At Elephantito, we have the perfect pair to complete this look. The French Ballet Flats in silver for $73.00, give this dress just enough glitz, wouldn't you say?
These beautiful pieces are one of a kind and made at our factory in Peru and go perfectly with Suri's relaxed yet elegant style. Something we think she get's from her impeccably dressed momma.
Stay tuned for more celebrity inspired look recreations.
Elephantito Fall-Winter Collection Highlight Of The Week
Winter is coming and with it we often worry that our children are dressed with the best and warmest clothes for the holiday season. This is why this week's highlight is the Madison Ankle Boot!