As I spend a lot of time at my kids school, I can’t help but notice all these darling girls with, well, pants that are just too short! If only I could attach a pair of Cufflinx to them, their pants would go from dorky to darling in a flash.
Over the course of the school year, these girls have just shot up, but their pants haven’t kept up. Maybe we should have a Cufflinx Day at school….hmmm, I wonder if we could get some free press with that?
While volunteering in my son’s class last week, I found myself looking at all the highwater pants in the room. These kids are growing faster up than out – our market! Jennifer and I have experienced first-hand the dilemma of fast growing kids – do you buy new, longer pants that may be a little big in the waist, try to buy pants with that lovely elastic adjustable waistband, or just let them get cold ankles?
Well, we decided to solve our kids problems by launching Stringbeans, to make pants that fit tall, slim boys and girls. No belts, no elastic waists. Just a nice fit for tall, slim kids.
Along the way, we also came up with the idea of Cufflinx, to get a little longer wear from pants that still fit in the waist. They iron on to the cuff to lengthen the pants, and with 20 different patterns, they take pants from outgrown to outrageous.
Launching a new company with a slim marketing budget (yes, like the pants we make for slim boys and girls) has led us to the world of blogging. Wow! Lots of opportunities to connect with moms of tall, slim kids.
Just recently, we were featured on nwshoppingconnection.com. She has a section for kids, and she featured our Cufflinx product (iron on pants lengtheners). Then there was the blog on Thrifty NW Mom – because Cufflinx gives moms longer wear on pants that still fit but are too short, that was a nice *fit* too.
We’ll continue to seek out more bloggers and get the word out on Stringbeans pants and Cufflinx – and if you’re a blogger reading this, we welcome your post!
Le Petit Shoppe near University Village
Le Petit Shoppe, an upscale consigner of children’s clothing near University Village, recently added Cufflinx to the store. Cufflinx is ideal for the consignment store owner. They give moms the ability to get a little longer wear from pants that stil fit their child in the waist, and they give new life to pants that might have frayed or torn hems. We’re hoping the customers of Le Petit Shoppe love Cufflinx as much as we do.
A friend of mine ordered a couple pair of Cufflinx, because her daughter has pants she’s just not ready to stop wearing, even though they are well above the ankles. Slim girls who finally grow into the waist, only to have the length become too short, don’t have to suffer cold ankles with Cufflinx – they go from high waters to high fashion in a flash!
http://babygrowsgreen.blogspot.com/2010/02/string-beans-for-long-lean-and-everyone.html
We just joined the Northwest Enterprising Mom’s group, and one of their members gave us a great write up in her blog. What a great welcome!
My friends’ 7th grader is a classic Stringbean. She buys him a size 16 pant to get them long enough to fit. There’s so much material around his waist it looks uncomfortable, particularly all cinched up in a belt. And proportionally, they just don’t look right – big through the thighs and calves. And, really, even the length is just long enough, he’ll grow out of them in no time.
Kids who have to buy their clothes super big in the waist in order to get the length in the inseam are exactly who we design for. Our pants are designed for truly slim and tall kids. In fact, our pants may be too long – which is why we made them with a self facing hem, so you can cuff them up. As the kid grows, the cuff comes down.
For boys, we have a classic cargo in a stone twill fabric. For girls, a classic 5 pocket denim pant. We plan to add more styles as we grow, but these two are a great start to any wardrobe. See both styles at www.stringbeansclothing.com
Tall, slim kids should have pants that fit their long and lean frames. And with Stringbeans, they do!
When Jennifer and I first started to design pants for long and lean kids, we wanted to get a sense of what was already on the market. So, tape measure in hand, we set out to many retail stores and measured the length of the slim pants. That is, when we could actually find slim pants in the store. Many times, it turned out that the slims were sold out.
What we discovered was that while some companies made slim pants, they weren’t slim AND long, like our kids needed. In designing our pants, we took the average inseam of all the pants we measured, and added an extra 4 inches. So, they are truly long.
Our size chart clearly states the waist and inseam of the pants, so you can tell if they will fit your long and lean child. In browsing some of the stores online, I’ve noticed that they don’t always include the inseam length in the size chart. After ordering some, I discovered the slim pants were about the same length as the standard sizes, which, if your child is slim AND tall, won’t do you much good.
Visit our website at www.stringbeansclothing.com and see if we have something that works for your long, lean, tall, skinny kid.
I went down and picked up 1,000 pair of Cufflinx at our sewing contractor’s facility. They did a beautiful job. And I’m very happy that I didn’t have to sew them!
We’re selling the Cufflinx that I made on Etsy.com, but we knew we would need a lot more than I could do, so, through some networking with other mom-prenuers, we found a company that could take on smaller sewing projects.
During our 4 day trade show at NW Kids, Jennnifer and I re-designed the packaging for Cufflinx to show the product better and to make the installation instructions easier – more pictures. Our graphic artist is putting the final touches on our new packaging, so we’ll be stuffing Cufflinx for the forseeable future!
Our plan is to go out to the shoe stores, consignment stores and children’s shops after the holidays.
One of the great things about going to trade shows is talking to the other exhibitors. At the NW Kids show, we met some awesome business owners next door. One of them suggested we look at expanding Cufflinx into the toddler market, as even toddlers can be tall and slim (relatively). We bandied ideas around on what prints would appeal to the younger boys and girls. Basketballs and butterflies. Footballs and fairies.
So, off to the fabric store (really, any reason to go there, it’s like a candy store to me) to search for fabric. No fairies to be found, but fortunately, basketballs and butterflies! The butterfly material is an eco-friendly bamboo, soft and silky. I ironed them onto a pair of pink pants, and they look super cute. The basketball fabric features, well, basketballs, and they look sporty on the little boy jeans.
It’s been so long since my kids were in the 2T-4T set, but I’m always reading posts where parents are trying to find pants to fit their tall, slim kiddos. Stringbeans pants start at size 6, too big for tall, slim toddlers, so a pair of Cufflinx fills that niche nicely. Plus, they’re cute.
The NW Kids show resulted in 3 new accounts for Stringbeans – Baby Phases tot2teen, Mommy and Me and Paron’s Closet. The stores ordered Cufflinx, the iron-on pants lengthener.
The NW Kids Show in Seattle is a trade show for children’s boutique owners. After borrowing a lot of retail display stuff from Recycled Cycles (a great bike store in the U District) we drove down to Southcenter and set up our *booth*. The show was held in suites, so we set up our stuff in the *living room* and waited… and were really thrilled to have 3 local stores order Cufflinx at the show! We met dozens of store owners, and several took samples. The show itself was 4 days long, the longest amount of uninterrupted time Jennifer and I have had to spend on Stringbeans since we started in 2008! We created a long list of things to do – it’s so nice to have a partner so we can divvy up the work!
