An anatomy of….the Gummies

The Gummies are one of our best selling garments. It is also a garment we get a lot of ‘really happy customer’ emails about.  (An aside, but we have been hugely humbled and surprised by the amount of ‘really happy customer’ emails we receive. This is because, and it is shameful to admit it, it had never occurred to most of the Grubbies team to send a ‘really happy customer’ email to a company – despite having been made very happy indeed by many purchases over the years.  Sorry about that.)

It’s very heartening to be able to report that our Gummies seem to appeal in equal measure to boys and girls and to babies of all sizes.  Without being all smug about it, the Gummies are a bit of a crowd-pleaser. Here’s why we think that is.

1           Gummies are an all-in-together sort of garment. In the summer they look good and feel good over bare bodies; in winter they zip up perfectly over a vest or t-shirt. They don’t fall down, they don’t come unpopped (more of that later), they don’t gape or roll up. They are designed for some people who spend a lot of time laying or sitting down and some slightly bigger people who do a lot of crawling.  All have limited patience for getting dressed and undressed in the morning.

2           Gummies are unfussy:  When designing the Gummies, we spent a lot of time discussing detailing and adornment and ended up designing pretty much everything out. Out went the piping, out went the embroidery and out went the belt loops. This was partly aesthetics – we’re just not into fuss when it comes to children’s clothing – but also because someone who spends much of the day lazing on their back or front does not appreciate lumps, bumps, bows, belts and seams digging in to their baby skin.

3           Gummies have a very, very long zip:  Our decision not to put poppers on the Gummies legs was not uncontroversial. Some customers (and almost, but not quite) customers told us they’d like poppers. But, after testing and surveying and changing our mind many times, we decided poppers were out. We had concerns about the lie of the fabric, about the possibility of draughts and about whether our poppers, like so many other brands, would be a devil to keep popped. Instead we made the zip very long indeed. When a pit stop is required, the Gummies can be unzipped and tucked behind baby without having to take off the whole thing – clever heh?

Oh, and the chunky zips are very jolly colours indeed, just in case anyone is of the ‘less is bore’, rather than ‘less is more’, persuasion.

4           Gummies are very soft inside and out: For baby: the Gummies are lined in British-knitted jersey that is super-cosy and super-soft. They have a long and wide chambray zip guard – designed to ensure that the zip won’t rub against a baby’s tummy or against their neck.

For cuddlers of baby: the Gummies are made of wonderfully soft 100% cotton chambray. The chambray we use is very strokeable when it’s on a roll, but just to make sure, we also ask our Midlands factory to enzyme wash all of our Gummies to make them even softer.  You will find (we say with some confidence) that the more you wash them at home, the softer they become.

5           Gummies make babies look very cute: And in case you don’t believe us, here’s some of our tiniest customers to prove the point.

Oh, one other good thing whilst we remember. Like all of our clothes, Gummies are designed in Great Britain.

So that’s why we think you like our Gummies. Do we have it right?

Photo credits:  Baby with bare arms by Antakee Armoo;  Customer photos with thanks to Betsy, Finley and Hugo.