Depression Era Orphan Clothing

I wanted to love the French children's clothing. Really, I did. I've looked long and hard to find a store that sold girls' dresses in a pretty pastel color or an airy floral print. Petit Bateau is good for some items, but their clothes tend to be more casual. I need more formal dresses that my daughters can wear to birthday parties and other special occasions. I've checked out all the big names: Bonpoint, Jacadi, Tartine et Chocolat but sadly (and surprisingly) all their clothes tend to look the same. Each season it seems that a color 'theme' is chosen for children's clothing and all the clothes in the store are made using only those colors; example: baby blue and beige. And while I could envision a boy wearing such an outfit, trying to get either of my daughters to wear a beige dress with a baby blue Peter Pan collar would be unlikely. I even checked out the Bonpoint store on the Rue Royale the week after Michelle Obama was spotted there shopping for her two girls. Looking around the store I could not for the life of me imagine what she purchased for them. All the dresses in the store were shades of brown. They were arranged in the window from dark brown to light beige with little Peter Pan collars that were either mauve or grey. Mauve? Grey? For little girl’s dresses? These children's clothes may be chic and hip by Paris standards, but I just think they're ugly. It seems like the designers are trying to make kids clothing look sophisticated, so the kids look like 'mini-adults'. I, however, think kids should dress, well, like kids. If you don't believe me, just take a look at the photo included in this post. I stole it directly from the Bonpoint website. It would look great on Tiny Tim or Oliver Twist but it looks rather somber to be worn by a 21st century kid. At this point I've pretty much given up shopping at Parisian boutiques because I don't want my daughter's looking like depression era orphans. Of course, this is the best news my husband has heard all year.