The Pickle's
Christening suit was handmade by www.designerchristenings.co.uk
and the design I chose was the ‘Prince William’. It consisted of a romper with contrasting top
and bottom half, so it gave the illusion of a shirt and trousers but in fact
was a one piece. This meant it stayed in
place and looked smart, without having to worry about tucking a shirt back in
and making sure everything was straight for the photos. The waistcoat with tails was a separate
piece, and the cravat tied with ribbon around the collar. To complete the outfit was a matching
hat.
There are
plenty of options available with each outfit, I could have chosen a bow tie and
a baker style cap and I could have had a standard waistcoat without the
tails. Booties can also be made to
match, but I thought it would be best for The Pickle to wear hard soled shoes
as he’s just started to find his feet and I knew he’d spend the majority of the
day practising his swagger!
Designer
Christenings stock a huge range of silk, satin and tartan fabrics and we were
sent samples to choose from. I knew I
would definitely like the ivory silk top half of the romper, with the black
silk trousers, but I was unsure about the waistcoat as there were 2 or 3 gorgeous
satin brocades and embroidered silk fabrics I liked and I was a bit spoilt for
choice! Lyn advised me it may be best to
stick with silk, as sometimes mixing fabrics doesn’t work with certain colour
choices, but she left the final decision to me.
I decided to opt for the pale blue embroidered silk for the front of the
waistcoat, with plain blue silk for the tails.
The cravat and the tip of the hat were made to match and his initial was
embroidered on one cuff in a matching blue thread.
The communication
throughout was excellent, I was kept up to date with the progress and felt like
a valued customer. The outfit arrived by
recorded post, in a gift box, with a wooden hanger. There was also a little gift of a cross and a
poem included, which I thought was very sweet.
The outfit
had been made to measure so it fit perfectly.
Even the cuffs were exactly the right size to stop them falling down and
the hat had just the right amount of elasticity to stop it from coming off in
the wind, but without looking uncomfortable or leaving any marks (it must have
been comfortable as The Pickle will not usually keep a hat on for more than 30
seconds yet this managed to stay on for most of the day!). The romper fastened with ivory buttons up the
back and black buttons all around the inside of the legs, so it was very easy
to slip over the head – not too much of a struggle to get on! The entire outfit appeared comfortable to
wear, the fabric was soft and nothing was too tight. The finishing touches were beautiful – such
as the pearl buttons on the waistcoat and cravat. I was also very impressed at how easy it was
just to wipe the suit clean after lunch, when The Pickle had enjoyed quite a
large piece of chocolate cake!
Everyone
commented at how lovely the suit was and how cute our little boy looked in
it! I’m so glad I didn’t just buy a
standard ready made outfit from the high street, as this was really special and
the photos we took on the day are just gorgeous. We have a photo of The
Princess as a bridesmaid at around the same age The Pickle is now, so their
pictures will look adorable on canvas next to each other on the wall – lovely
memories to treasure forever.
