On the 17th of May this year The Shetland Skatepark Association saw their dream of having a skatepark here in Shetland finally realised. More than 20 skaters and BMX bikers attended the official opening, which we read all about in that Friday’s Shetland Times weekly newspaper.
That same day we received a parcel in the post from the lovely Claire at the Itsy Bits Children’s Boutique in Leeds, England. Wrapped beautifully in red tissue paper and tied with a lovely reusable length of navy blue ribbon our daughter Amelie, age 7, opened her parcel which contained a stunning amethyst purple tutu.
How do you review a tutu? Our house doesn’t have the best light (or backdrops for people photos) and the local dance studio with the mirrored wall was fully booked. We thought about the flower park, but Amelie isn’t particularly a girly swirly flowery girl. A flower park just wouldn’t do.
That weekend was a long bank holiday weekend, so we thought we’d check out this new skatepark and maybe take a few photos for a tutu review at the same time. What an absolute blast we had! We stood for ages on the sidelines of the newly built skatepark, slightly shy and apprehensive as the park was packed with teenage boys on their skateboards and BMX bicycles. Was there any room for a tiny 7 year old wearing a bright purple tutu?
The new skatepark is absolutely fantastic. Wheelscape, the designers, said: “As this park is the first of its kind on the island we have tried to incorporate as many standard features into the design whilst still making it a unique park. The Street course has many popular skatepark features; Stairs, Ledges, Handrails, mixed in with some more interesting obstacles such as the triangular hubba ledge/manual pad with wallie ends. This leads down to an open bowl with hips and a volcano going in and out of it giving a transition element and making this a well-rounded design.”
I was a 90’s skater/grunge kid back in my day. Well I tried to be anyway. The most elaborate thing I could do was ollie up onto the kerb and I did manage to successfully land a 360 kick-flip, once. I kinda sucked at it, actually, but I had a lot of fun (and plenty of scraped knees).
Fortunately my daughter seems more promising in the skateboarding department. Armed with her bright orange vintage 1970’s Jupiter skateboard she stomped in her big black boots up to the top of the UK’s most northerly skatepark and gave it a mighty good go. The teenage boys were incredibly welcoming and accommodating. If they were annoyed at the presence of a little girl on their patch they gave no indication of it. In fact, they were giving her tips on how to stand and lean on the board and one of them patiently taught her how to coffin. Another mentioned how pleased he was that there was a girl showing such a keen interest in boarding.
Top tip from Amelie to you: wearing a tutu while trying to coffin on a skateboard is not a good combination. The layers of chiffon frills get stuck under the wheels and stop the board from moving! So, the tutu was ditched and she spent the next hour skating away with the boys. Her petite size meant she could sit on the board and ride down some of the steeper slopes, something which earned her plenty of awe and admiration from the older boys. One of them asked her if they could have a shot on her vintage skateboard. I told him her board had been made before I was born. His reply: “Whoa, that must be really old!” That’s it. I’ve reached old age in the eyes of the young’un’s! How did that happen?
So, back to the Itsy Bits tutu! Their website says, “This amethyst tutu is perfect for a special occasion, parties and dressing up. Layers of chiffon frills teamed with a satin lining and satin elasticated waist band and bow are made for swirling and twirling and dancing and fluttering – an essential skirt!” We think it looks pretty awesome when skateboarding too! Retailing at £20 it’s not damaging on the pocketbook either.
Isty Bits aim to sell beautiful special clothes at affordable prices, and I think this is a really good quality item for the price it’s sold at. It’s got a lot of skirt too, with two swirling cloud-like layers of chiffon frills. There’s free 1st class postage in the UK too!
Amelie really likes her new tutu. She loves the colour and thinks it’s really comfy to wear. She loves it so much that she enlisted the help of her father and together they made this music video review.
This is what she has to say…
Amelie has rated her Itsy Bits Amethyst Tutu five out of five flags for her Kids’ Corner review.
Kids’ Corner is an online space for my own three children to have a blogging voice, to let people know what they think of the products they are sent for review, and it’s a place for other parent bloggers to share their children’s reviews. It’s a blog hop so do link up if your kids (or you!) been reviewing awesome things lately!
Itsy Bits have kindly offered Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary readers a 10% discount on orders over £10! Simply quote EKD10 at the checkout! They do all sorts of funky kids’ clothes so do check out their website.
Update 10 June 2014: Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary is now hosting an Itsy Bits tutu giveaway!
See my Giveaways page!
Giveaway ends on midnight 28 July 2014.
Mum of three, daydream adventurer, OU Life Sciences graduate, occasional crafter, ex-pat Canadian & quite possibly Britain's most northerly food blogger.
Heather Haigh says
Aww, that looks so much fun. So glad the kids have got such a fab place to go, and I love the tutu.
Krissie says
Fab vid, rockin’ the tutu!
Elizabeth says
Thank you! 🙂 We had so much fun with it!
Zoe Corkhill (Mama Geek) says
What an amazing review! I think my little lady would love one of these tutus!
Elizabeth says
Thanks Zoe 🙂 I see you’ve entered the giveaway – best of luck! 🙂
Jane says
I absolutely love this post. The video review really made me chuckle, fantastically directed by Daddy. I really want to order a tutu ready for our new baby but I think its too soon as she still hasn’t arrived yet ;0). She really rocked that tutu at the stake park.
The skate park also looks amazing, we have one near us and I think its great the kids have somewhere to go.
Thanks for linking up with Small Steps Amazing Achievements :0)
x
Elizabeth says
Thanks Jane, so very glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 I do believe they do baby tutu sizes!
Tina Mansfield says
I’m loving your rock chick and she is right the tutu is awesome!
Pippa Ainsworth says
Your daughter and her tutu are both awesome! She looks perfect in it and I love that there is a skate park on Shetland.
Elizabeth says
Thanks Pippa 🙂 The committee worked really hard to get this skatepark here in Shetland; they’ve done so very well!
Laura k says
Aw what a great post! It’s great to see a ‘big girl’ in a tutu! Im sure Hannah will love wearing one when she’s older too. I’ve just ordered a black one for her to wear to the wicker-man festival, so she can be a bit rock chick too!x
Elizabeth says
Thank you Laura 🙂 I’m sure your Hannah will look fab in a black tutu at the wickerman festival – I hope you will be sharing photos! 😀
Kim Carberry says
Skateboarding in a Tutu!! Fantastic!
She looks so cool x
Elizabeth says
Thank you Kim! 🙂
Amanda Walsh says
Oh my word that Tutu is , I love how she is rocking it out with boots and tights! #TriedTested
Elizabeth says
Thanks Amanda 😀 I think it’s a pretty good combo too!
James gibson says
As soon as I saw the title I knew I was going to love this post ! I even started singing avril lavignes skater boy song ! One of Canada finest ;-p great review too glad the teenage lads helped out 🙂
Elizabeth says
Thanks James! 🙂 We introduced Amelie to Avril just a few weeks ago as we thought she’d really like her (she does!)
Amy says
Looks like great fun! The tutu is lovely too and she looks super cool! #iPotLinkup
Elizabeth says
Thanks Amy 🙂 We had a lot of fun that day and I can’t wait to take her back there. 🙂
Karen Bell says
I love the look of that skatepark, loads of fun and well done to Amelie for doing so well on the skateboard. The tutu looks great, my girls would love it!
Thanks for linking #LetKidsBeKids
Merlinda Little (@pixiedusk) says
Your daughter is so rock n roll =) #countrykids
Elizabeth says
Thanks! 😀
The Reading Residence says
That place looks brilliant! Love that tutu that your daughter is rocking, too!
Elizabeth says
Thanks 🙂 It is a pretty awesome skatepark and I know we’ll be there as often as we can get. Super good fun!
Sara (@mumturnedmom) says
I think that video is the best product review I’ve seen! Awesome 🙂
Elizabeth says
Aw thank you! 🙂
Vohn McGuinness says
😀
Vohn McGuinness says
That is one very cool tutu, which your very cool daughter wears so well. Awesome review Amelie! GO YOU! x
Elizabeth says
So glad you like it 🙂 She really is a shy thing, our Amelie, but once she lets loose – why – the things she can do! 😀
Holly Nelson says
I love this so much – your daughter totally holds her own on that skatepark!! And that video is amazing! Tell your daughter that I think she is awesome!
Elizabeth says
Heehee, thank you, I will do! She’ll be so chuffed 😀
Jacqueline says
What a gorgeous looking tutu, Think ive found the just present I was looking for for my daughters birthday.
Elizabeth says
Fantastic! Yea, I’m really quite pleased with it. I would have loved one of these when I was younger (and if I’m being honest I wish I could get away with wearing one now!)
Julia says
Fantastic review Amelie! I agree – the tutu looks awesome!
Elizabeth says
Thanks Julia! x
Claire @Itsy Bits Children's Boutique says
Thank you and Amelie for this ‘awesome’ review. I never expected a rock video, I think you have got a little superstar on your hands there. Brilliant! ♥
Elizabeth says
So very delighted that you’ve enjoyed it! We had so much fun with this product review, best one yet! 😀 Thank you for the opportunity!