We ask the questions: Q&A with style-savvy parenting blog Nonchalant Mom
Posted by Anthony on April 28th, 2009
Carina Scott brings both a combination of 20 years’ experience in fashion and a progressive parenting attitude to Nonchalant Mom, her child-friendly blog and online kids’ clothing boutique. We asked her about what 
inspired her to set up such a unique business, what gets her excited in the world of kids’ fashion, and the terrors of travelling with toddlers…
Hi Carina, and welcome to the Smith Travel Blog. Tell us a bit about Nonchalant Mom – what got you started with it, and what keeps you going?
On the birth of our first child, I’d felt that there was so little information about raising your child healthily, naturally, and free of the constraints that parenting can have when you are very new to the whole idea. Raising a child in the States really feels like like it’s influenced by large companies and pharmaceutical giants, which is such a shame because having a child is such a natural thing, and it should stay that way. So along came the idea for Nonchalant Mom, a place where I could share tips and information on natural parenting – not telling people how to parent but just giving people other choices and new ideas, and to help address the road-blocks that come up in parenting when you think to yourself ‘what are other parents doing in this situation?’
I needed to have an income and I needed to follow my intuition. So I figured I should follow my experience in fashion and start a kids’ store together with my tips on parenting in a more natural way. I knew that I had some friends in New York who were making very interesting kids’ clothing that I wanted to share with the world. Then a friend happened to call me a ‘nonchalant mom’ one day in response to my parenting skills – and I realised that was the name we were looking for! Once I started, I realised that I really loved what I was doing – it felt so natural and GOOD! If you love what you are doing it usually works.
We totally agree. Luckily, at Mr & Mrs Smith, it’s hard not to love amazing boutique hotels and camera-meltingly beautiful destinations around the world, so we tend to get very excited about the work we do – hopefully that shows in our books and on the website.
You’ve lived in all sorts of places, and travelled an enormous amount – what’s been your best experience when travelling with your children?
All of our travels with our kids have been terrific. My husband and take them on trips individually (we have two kids, our older boy is seven and our daughter is three) and from time to time we travel together. They probably get more travel in than we do! They love hotels and think it’s wonderful to go and stay in places. We like to do our research when travelling and choose a place that is unique for us and fun for the kids – we’re not the types to follow the ‘waterpark’ crowd. It is great to experience new and different things, and, fortunately, my kids are pretty flexible!
…and your worst?
When we were workin
g on our house renovations early on I took our son with me to Italy for three weeks while my husband stayed home to work. For whatever reason, my son (who was about 18 months’ old at the time) cried for the entire seven-hour flight. I felt so bad for him – I was crying too in the end because I didn’t know what to do, then he fell asleep in the last half hour of the flight. When we disembarked, everyone had a special comment for me and a few were even understanding. I felt terrible!
Do you ever travel alone, or just as a couple? What are the pros and cons of travelling without kids?
We both travel alone quite a bit, we have to make a special time to travel as a family otherwise we forget about it. When we do travel without the kids we both constantly think about how much better the trip would be if the kids were there! It’s so much fun to see a place with new eyes, so to speak. Our biggest challenge is food: we’re always on the lookout to eat well and locally while travelling and that can be difficult sometimes.
Any tips for first-time parents on holiday with children in tow?
My advice is to not try to pack too much in a day when travelling with kids – there’s so much joy for kids in the smallest thing and it’s not good to whisk them from one thing to the next. It’s always good, if it’s a longer stay somewhere, to have a day in the park or playground that they can just be normal kids for some time. And I think it’s good for the kids to play with kids from other cultures, and even better when they have a language barrier, as it teaches them so much about where you are staying and how really different, but the same, it is…
You used to be professionally involved in the fashion industry to a huge degree – what brands or designers do you keep an eye on? Is there anyone we should be looking out for, style-wise, in future?
Oh, I LOVE this question! I think that you have to keep your eye on the little guys! They are truly innovative. I think that shopping is really changing and the ‘big box’ is no longer desirable, it’s all about this or that designer who is creating something unique. I think that big brands have a really hard time being unique these days, I’ve worked for big brands and I know what kind of people they employ and believe me if you are truly talented you don’t need to be at a big company. If you’d like to see some of the designers of the future, then I’d have to say that you should visit NonchalantMom.com. Everyone I work with has something interesting to offer. I look all over the world for smaller scale designers doing things slightly differently. But I believe simple style is everything.
Here’s my top 10 for adults and kids’ clothing:
- Matta (adult clothing) I’m trying to talk them into doing some kids’ things. It’s the kind of clothing you can wear every day – you always feel cool wearing Matta.
- Lucky Fish (kids’ T-shirts) Just really unique, the designer makes some things for adults too.
- Makie (kids and adults) She is a little less hippy that my other favourites but her clothes are super-chic. Her mother was a tailor and so is Makie – you can see it in all of her clothing.
- Odd Molly (adults) I don’t sell her clothing but I probably should, I love her approach; it’s very comfortable and slightly kooky.
- Shampoodle (adults and kids) These guys are Swedish and the stuff they produce is really unique. They only make a few styles but they are spot-on. This season, they’ve focused on travel-wear, which I think is a great idea.
- Erica Tanov (adults and sometimes kids) This collection’s been with me since I started Nonchalant Mom. She has a great casual look, her fabrics are wonderful and she is not afraid of the most simple styling.
- Rosenberg (adult, kids and home) Everyone needs some of these wonderful graphic and fun prints in their life.
- Play Mountain (kids, home and garden) I love to go to their website just to get inspired! Things for home, kids and the garden. They’re connected with a kids’ line called Chigo that I really love!
- Nico Nico (kids) I will have their organic Fall collection in my store and I can’t wait. It’s just fun kids’ clothes that are wearable and exciting.
- Antik Batik They’ve been around for a long time, but I still really love their children’s and adult lines.
Your fashion career took you all around the world – do you have a favourite country? If you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be?
Another lovely question! Even though I have travelled quite a bit there are so many places that I need to see before I decide! I still don’t know about Japan, Morocco and South Africa so I can’t answer your question yet! I do have this dream of starting a summer camp on the eastern coast of Canada, with chic cottages, great food and yoga and public speakers/teachers – I just have this feeling about it.
What about your perfect weekend away? What’s a nonchalant mom’s idea of a great break?
My husband and I like to do very different things – I like to lie around and do nothing and my husband likes to see everything everywhere we go. I think it’s like this with just about every couple. So my perfect weekend away would be somewhere with a beach where the kids can play in the sand. I like staying somewhere nice – it doesn’t have to be luxury but I do like comfortably chic. I really like the Agritourismo kind of set-up that Italy has as it usually offers good local food. When we were in Portugal a year or so ago, I was quite happy to lay at the beach in Ericeira or this wonderful hotel that we found in the hills above. But, my husband was very interested in taking the kids (and me grudgingly at first) to explore the beautiful town of Sintra, which is a Unesco World Heritage Site. I’m glad he dragged me away from the beach for those two days.
Tell us about your corner of the world: where do you live and what do you love about it?
I love Rhode Island for its big, beautiful sky. We live overlooking the Atlantic in a very small beach town – one of the top surfing spots in New England. Even though my husband was raised in California, we don’t surf – yet! But we do go down to the beach quite a bit in the summertime. Rhode Island isn’t flashy like the Hamptons in New York, it’s very down to earth and easygoing – a little ‘salt of the earth’ in some places. We often like to stay at home and work in the garden while the kids play in the pool and run around amongst the trees. We frequently go to the various islands – it’s like being on the edge of the earth and it’s good for the kids to experience coastal life. We go out to Block Island, a ferry ride away – it’s almost like a mini Ireland; the beaches are secluded and the waters crystal-clear. We have some excellent dinning in Providence at Al Forno, a world-class Italian restaurant. You have to look hard to find the gems in Rhode Island, but that’s what makes it special. One minute you can be buying your lobster straight off the boats at the harbour, dressed only in some ragtag summer clothes, the next you can be engaged in some very fancy party experience.
We imagine it can be hard have a Mr & Mrs Smith-esque weekend à deux when you have children. What’s the most romantic place you’ve ever been with your partner?
My husband thinks it’s Camogli – in Italy. Before we got married and I was working in Italy we took a weekend drive there — we hung out on the rocky beaches and had drinks in this cave-like place that was as small as an igloo. The food was wonderful. We also had a big fight about getting married. My favourite romantic place is either the Parker in Palm Springs, or Tulum in Mexico. Both places I remember for having a wonderful atmosphere and relaxed sensibility. We’re also big fans of yoga – probably not your typical romantic couple.
That’s Mr & Mrs Smith all over – romantic but far from ordinary. Thanks so much for talking to us, and keep us posted on your new collections.
Thank you – that was fun… now back to work! Ugh!
Ugh, indeed…
Psst… Check out Tamara and James’ interview on Carina’s blog.
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