How to stay warm in the park

Has motherhood changed the way you dress? I think becoming a mum has made me a lot more casual, but then it’s casual along the lines of how I dressed before; casual in a non-client-day-in-the-office sense.

I was thinking of this because at the same time I was writing this review, I also read this article about mum dressing and women’s frumpy, post-baby fashions. I do think it’s an overly simple generalisation to say motherhood = frumpy dressing, and the whole issue sounds like it has the potential to be another mum vs mum baiting debate to me. There are frumpy mums, but then there are frumpy doctors, teachers, and models (probably). Most mums I know, while still making an effort to look nice, dress for the day-to-day of crawling on the floor, getting covered in sticky paw prints, having a grabby, necklace ripping baby, and not wanting to get your better clothes ruined. And the type of generic ‘mum’ outfits of skinny jeans, stripy tops, boots or converse are easy to wear for these types of occasions. Admittedly they’re not pushing any fashion envelopes, but why would you when you’re just going to the Post Office? And these are the types of outfits most people I know wear, they’re not unique to mums.

It’s a completely personal thing really, isn’t it? Although I am more casual, I have a fear of wearing anything that is too *whispers* practical – a hangover from my teenage years – but as I said here I also hate being cold. And as we spend a lot of time in the park, it’s something I have to deal with on a daily basis. Which moves us – tadaa! – on to Canterbury Sheepskin, makers of my new sheepskin boots. They got in touch after reading all about my love of Uggs and offered to send me some for review. I chose the Ava boots in chestnut, as they looked warm but more importantly I still liked the way they looked.

The Ava boots have exposed fur edging and the top can be folded down (top photo) or folded up for maximum calf warmth (like magic, photo below). They are made of 100% New Zealand Sheepskin, handstitched and have a sole that is pretty rugged, so you’re much less likely to fall over when you’re chasing a little person through the leave and around the swings. They are made in New Zealand and then posted out – mine arrived in about a week – they did get taken hostage by customs, but I was sent money in the delivery to cover this.

Like all sheepskin boots of this ilk, you have to waterproof them as they’re suede, and the lighter colour shows dirt easily (this aren’t problems that are unique to Canterbury Sheepskin, just these type of boots – and an impressive amount of other colours and styles, some waterproof, are available). They are about £138, which is really cheap compared to Uggs, but then there are shipping and customs costs on top. Saying this, they do apparently last forever, so would be a good investment.

But most importantly, are they warm? Yes, unbelievably so. Wearing them is like having two very dense, thick duvets on my feet. I’ve even taken to wearing them in the house when I’m resisting putting the heating on during my working day. And when I’m standing around in the park for hours, they make me happy.

Other tips for general all-round park-warmth: layers, lots of layers, Christmas jumper socks. I also think if park cafes sold mulled wine – or even a nice red – by the glass, it would help to take the wintery edge off slightly, wouldn’t it?

I was sent these boots for the purposes of this review. Canterbury Sheepskin have also offered everyone a 20% discount if you quote BABYONBOARD at the checkout.