Alexandra,

My daughter was the winner of the Teres Kids clothes giveaway in Austin.  My daughter turned 5 in October and has rather severe tactile issues.

Since Wednesday the lovely bag of Teres Kids clothing had sat untouched but for the brief moment I held up a few pieces to show my daughter. I told her the bag had clothes made just for kids like her.
As with most children who have SPD she is gun-shy and weary of trying and was defeated before even feeling one item. Usually clothes mean tears and frustration. Hours of searching. Buying- returning…By usually I mean always.

I let the bag sit there and would speak with my husband about it within earshot of my daughter and yesterday morning I saw her peaking in.

First it was the skirt. Pink helped of course- so she decided to try it on. I watched from across the room. There are triggers- waistbands, seams… all the components you would expect. I think the way I would describe her initial reaction was shock. She began squirming and looking for problems. She yelled “Mommy! It doesn’t hurt!” You see my daughter says clothes hurt her. She shrieks in pain.

Next a pair of leggings. Same reaction. Mischa has never worn leggings or tights.

She stopped and put her nightie back on and asked me some questions – why don’t they hurt? Where are the tags? Who made them? Where’d they come from? Where do you get them? And so on…

A couple hours passed and she went back to the bag. We tried on clothes and laughed and twirled and modeled and screamed for an hour! I had to show her the web site to prove we can get more!

In this picture she is wearing a shirt and pants. She never…ever wears these types of clothes. Ever. Ever…. She asked if she can wear them all day. She’s asked if she can get more. She has now worn them two days straight.

I don’t know what to say… I don’t know how to thank you. Our life revolves around trying to find clothesshe will wear- that don’t hurt. We try thousands of items… It feels at times like she is tortured and she has said “I wore that so you would smile but it hurts”. My daughter is a kind and vibrant child. She is magic to me. And she suffers so.

I want to thank you for the beautiful clothes and for a little sliver of hope that my little girl will feel happier. My daughter just wants to look like the other girls and dress pretty. Often times we have to modify pajama pants in the winter and buy larger sizes which result in a rather frumpy approach to a wardrobe. Until we received this bag of clothes she was really wearing one pair of modified fleece pajama pants and one loose top. I wash it constantly. She has two glorious cotton nighties. A handful of very loose A-line sundresses. But winter in particular is excruciating for her.

As for me – I can’t stop crying. If this is any sign of what is to come I can’t help thinking things will get better. I’ve been so stressed thinking about what my little girl will wear to kindergarten and today an image of her on the first day of school flashed in my mind in that sweet little pink hooded dress. And I got to have this moment with my little girl like “normal” moms do- having fun dressing up. That was the first time I have ever gotten to do that. I don’t know if I can adequately describe how amazing it was.

There is hope.

With so much gratitude,
New TK Customer

One of the many joys at Teres Kids clothing are our photo shoots.

While most photo shoots are considered work, Teres Kids shoots are one big playdate! Our most recent shoot featured 9 amazing kids.

Teres Kids photographer, Kendra Lauman, captures their joy of play, friendship and comfort.  To see more photos visit our facebook photo album.

Enjoy.

These two kiddos are thrilled because Bryant Park finally has t-shirts in their size! Just in time for the Holiday Season, we’ve launched a brand new addition to the Bryant Park Shop – an adorable kid’s tee, featuring Granny’s Folly, the lead horse from Le Carrousel.

Our new little t-shirts were designed in partnership with organic clothing experts, Teres Kids. The shirts are made in the USA from 100% organic cotton, with no seams, tags or rough edges. These tees are perfect for little ones with tactile sensitivities, or kids who hate those scratchy tags. And in both indigo and peony pink, there’s a color for everyone. The Bryant Park Kid’s Tee comes in sizes 2T through 8, and is available with free shipping on the The Bryant Park Shop.

To make the world’s most comfortable children’s clothes, Teres Kids quickly learned that we had to use organic cotton and we had to manufacture our clothes in America. This was the easiest way for us to ensure that our clothes maintained the highest levels of product quality and therefore comfort.

Organic cotton clothes made in America also turn out to be incredibly durable clothes. This means Teres Kids clothes deliver outstanding consumer value.

To be honest, I didn’t really start my company thinking about consumer value. Like I said, I started out thinking about comfortable clothes, but the clearest path to comfortable clothes led to organic cotton, then to made in America, then to superior quality, incredible durability, and  – Presto! – consumer value.

Its funny how starting with a simple idea to make little things can grow to where it bumps up against big things.

So now, when I see something like the recent controversy over the US Olympic team uniforms made overseas (big thing #1), I compare it to my experience with Teres Kids. I’m sure the person who decided to make the Olympic uniforms overseas thought they would save on manufacturing costs. I’m also sure they now wish they had made a different decision.

If from the outset, the key question had been, ‘how can we make the best US Olympic team uniforms,’ did someone really say, ‘let’s make them in China.’  What as their core focus starting out? Generating tons of negative press coverage?

At Teres Kids, everything about our clothes and our company grows out of our commitment to our customers. Once people started wearing our clothes, their incredible comfort attracted the attention of a large and growing niche market.

Teres Kids is now the leading brand directly serving the millions of children who suffer from some form of tactile sensitivity including autism, sensory processing disorder, eczema and skin allergies, as well as highly sensitive children (big thing #2).

These children and their families, along with doctors and therapists who work with tactile sensitive children, are now among our most important customers, advocates, advisors and investors.

Teres Kids is a young, emerging brand. In addition to friends and family, we’ve been able to raise some seed capital from investors and secure some small commercial loans. The good news here is that Teres Kids sales volume continues to grow. Children and families love our clothes.

This good thing, however, presents us with a serious challenge. We struggle to acquire the capital and financing to support the increased production we need to keep pace with our growing order volume.  So, we’ve launched a crowd funding campaign on Kickstarter (big thing #3) to help us make more clothes.

Check out our Kickstarter campaign. You can add something small, spread the word and help Teres Kids turn into something big.

Last week we had a photo shoot with Santa Fe based photographer Kendra Lauman.   It is so much fun to see these new Teres Kids clothes come to life.

Here are a few pics, hope you enjoy.

The following petition is going around hoping to ensure that Toys R Us uses Responsibly Sourced Cotton. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/294/648/588/?z00m=20181352

Whether these allegations against Toys R Us turn out to be true or not, exploitative child labor is a serious, widespread problem. At Teres Kids, responsible sourcing is a core ethical business practice that also enables us to sustainably produce higher quality products. Teres Kids remains committed to creating children’s clothing that meets the highest standards for comfort, quality and durability.

I am now recommending Teres Kids clothing for my pediatric patients.  Over the past year I have seen how a simple change in clothing has made a big difference for kids that are considered “highly sensitive.”

As a family medicine doctor I frequently hear from concerned parents about children who are both perceptive and sensitive, but get overwhelmed by loud noises, sounds or smells or have difficulty with changes.  Parents tell me how they had to cut labels out of shirts or had to turn clothing inside out for their kids to be comfortable.  They also tell me about how their children are insightful and ask deep and profound questions.   These children fit the description for a highly sensitive child, and about 1 in 5 children are born this way.

As a doctor, I make it clear from the beginning that parenting a highly sensitive child can be exhausting… they may cry continually, have meltdowns at parties, and “overreact” to seemingly minor discipline.

One of the keys to successfully raising a highly sensitive child is recognizing the gift your child has.  In time, parenting a highly sensitive child can be deeply rewarding, as these children show amazing empathy, creativity, and insight.    If their sensitivity is recognized and managed as the gift that it is, these children become talented artists and thinkers.

It is important to know that highly sensitive kids have very finely tuned nervous systems, that make them more aware of their surroundings – including their clothes.  What may seem like a little tag or seam to you or me, is a huge annoyance to someone who is highly sensitive.

As a physician and the parent of an very highly sensitive six year old, I began to research clothing that could be used for highly sensitive children and I found Teres Kids.  I switched out the clothing for my son and noted what a difference it made.  I then started writing “prescriptions” for Teres Kids clothes for some of my highly sensitive patients.  The reports I have gotten back from parents have been superb… “he stopped squirming… she pays more attention now… he is not irritable anymore.”

I have been amazed, but it really just makes good sense.  Highly sensitive kids are wired differently.  Their nervous systems are taking in a lot of information and if you can help turn down the irritations and distractions, they will turn out to be incredible, caring and loving kids.

There are a number of sites on the web to learn more about highly sensitive kids, but I think the best is at www.hsperson.com, and Elaine Aron’s book, “The Highly Sensitive Child” was a lifesaver for my wife, my son, and me.

John Fogarty MD MPH

Santa Fe, NM

Happy Holiday from Teres Kids!

Thank you for helping Teres Kids have a great 2011.  It’s been a joyous year.

As a gift from us to you, enjoy daily giveaways and discounts December 13th thru December 24th during our Holiday Countdown.

Visit our facebook or twitter pages to discover each day’s holiday event including:

giveaways

2 for 1 days

free shipping

gift with purchase

gifts for mom……and more!

Happy Holidays!

We were a bit sluggish, it being the day after Thanksgiving. We started with much needed coffee.

All hands were on deck to receive, tag and merchandise Teres Kids.

The products look great!

Job done. Time to relax.

Visit Indigo Baby tomorrow November 26th to celebrate Small Business Saturday. If you live outside of Santa Fe, check our store locator for a locations of small businesses near you.

Kathy Marrocco
Tricia Lewis
Heather Ashton
Virginia Ginsburg
Robyn Chandonnet
Susan Haynsworth
Liz Wolfson
Carolyn Dillon
Carolyn Serafini
Esther Roberts
Cathy Anderson
Clementine Wood
Megan Auer
Melissa Sears Moore
Susan Heimbach
Lorissa Longfellow
Aelysea Webb
Romel Pascual
Karen Waters
Wendy Woodhall
Maria Sutinen
Maria Porinchak
Jess Rivers
Rachel Cleary
Elizabeth Beglin
Heather Coburn Snyder
Grace Ly
Dawn Chandler
John Fogarty
Sheila O’Connell
Nina Koh
Julien McRoberts
Lindsey Biel
Angie Thompson
Alison Sarinopoulos
Amy Rasmussen
Shirley Amacher
Nell Merlino
Esha Chiocchio
ADA AKAJI
Lisa Hill