Posted on: Monday, May 2, 2005
Like mom
By Paula Rath
Advertiser Staff Writer
When I was a little girl, I loved dressing up, and my favorite fashion moments were spent in matching mother-and-daughter dresses. My favorite: a shirtwaist with puff sleeves in a red-and-white teacup print that reminded me of the Mad Hatter's Tea Party ride at Disneyland. When we donned those dresses, I felt all grown up, just like Mommy.
Mike Mabuni • Seiji Photography Cinnamon Girl, now in its 10th year, began with the concept of mother- and-daughter dressing.
"Little girls want to look like their mommies and be like their mommies. They feel all grown up when they dress alike," said owner Jonelle Fujita. Now that she has a 6-year-old daughter of her own, Fujita gets lots of direction from Jolie, a kindergarten student at Punahou.
Jolie already loves to do fashion sketches and tells her parents she wants to be a fashion designer when she grows up. "She'll tell me, 'Mommy, put a ruffle over here' or "Mommy, I want that skirt to swing,' " Fujita said.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser O'ahu designer Emilia Cazin (see related story, right) has created a line of mother-daughter dresses and mother-son aloha shirts called Petite Isle.
The line crosses over cultures in the same way Hawai'i does, utilizing French floral prints, aloha prints and Asian motifs.
With the popularity of mother-and-baby yoga programs, Laurie "Momi" Chee took her little home-based T-shirt dyeing business in a new direction, calling it Lily Lotus. Chee learned batik techniques when living in Florence, Italy, during a college year abroad.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser Off the Mat, a yoga boutique in Kaimuki, carries a few Lily Lotus mother-daughter T-shirts.
Chee is collaborating with Kahala Kids on a line of matching mother-and-daughter yoga tanks and T-shirts. "I saw her stuff and thought it would be so cute, especially the little angel and the butterflies and dragonflies," said Gaye Kaupiko, owner of Kahala Kids.
Lily Lotus mother-daughter garments can be seen at www.lilylotushawaii.com, but the site is not set up for shopping. For inquiries about availability or custom orders, write to Chee at lilylotus@hawaii.rr.com. Reach Paula Rath at prath@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5464.
That connection between little girls and their moms is the inspiration behind mother-and-daughter dressing. Here's a look at three Honolulu women who have entered this market, creating matching dresses and even yoga T-shirts for moms and keiki.
Maria Zimmerman and daughter Lily model mother-daughter yoga T-shirts from Lily Lotus.
Cinnamon Girl also has seen an unexpected increase in sales of matching bridesmaid and flower-girl dresses, another aspect of the matching mother-daughter concept.
Emilia Cazin of Hawai'i Kai visited the Blaisdell Center recently with her 5-year-old twin daughters, Adelaida, left, and Marguerite. All three were in the same outfits.
Her first design was a T-shirt that said "Got yoga?" which she dyed as a gift for friends. It was spotted by yoga instructors and practitioners and was soon much in demand.
Clothes designed by Emilia Cazin.
