Janis P.
Would you like some Mango Jam? No, I don’t mean real jam, I mean good quality, affordable children’s clothes. (Although it would be nice to have and taste mango jam!) Mango Jam is actually a children’s clothing company where you don’t have to stand in a long queue in a shop on a hot day. With Mango Jam, you can avoid having to trail around the entire shopping centre looking for clothes all day with screaming, excitable kids. Scroll down for the inside scoop.
MangoJam is a relatively new business created by Alice Smith and Sarah Buggy from Bedford, who, before they set up their company, were not at all entrepreneurial types. Together, Alice and Sarah collect recycled children’s clothes from diverse sources that represent South Africa, Sarah’s homeland and the best parts of England. The name of the business combines Mango (Alice’s favourite colour and an exotic fruit) and Jam (Sarah’s mother’s initials and an English thing) to represent a multicultural clothing company.
The company has acquired its good quality clothing from Alice and Sarah’s friends, car boot sales and charity shops. Some of the items have also come all the way from Denmark, France and Sweden where apparently some of the clothes from Europe are quite chic so your children can be as fashionable as little Parisiens. Bet you’d love that, you fashionistas! Half of MangoJam’s clothes are recycled whilst the other half are designed by them. Alice and Sarah buy the fabric needed to design new clothing (such as jumpers for the coming season) then a local company makes the clothes for different age ranges that come in a variety of sizes.
With the background firmly in mind, let’s move on to what they sell. The clothing is quirky and unusual but if you visit the website, you’ll see that the items are beautiful and nicely handmade. A few of the items are vintage – many date as far back as the 70s! – whilst others are seasonal and at the moment, they are in the process of designing clothes for the winter season. Summer is not yet over, and with any luck you’ve got some winter sun booked too, so you can still buy little angelic French dresses for girls or shorts for boys – they’re still in stock!
OK, now you need to know where to buy these cute little clothes from. MangoJam is a home business so you can’t just drive up to Bedford looking for a shop. You can find Alice and Sarah at a local event in the area, may it be a craft event, fair or festival. At the stall, you should find the two of them surrounded by gorgeous children’s clothes and a range of gifts,
such as framed images or adorable pink bags.
However, if you can’t find them at a local event, try buying online at www.folksy.com where you can purchase the latest additions for under £10 each. Alternatively, you can get in touch with them about their next event via Facebook or use the contact details on the website: www.mango-jam.co.uk.
So treat your kids to something special and tell them to smile for the camera! They’ll look great in MangoJam’s lovely little gems.
