You can clothe your child in locally manufactured clothes, although you’ll have an easier time of it if you are buying girls’ garments. I don’t know why that is. According to staff I spoke to at children’s clothes stores, there clearly is a demand for local boys’ clothes as well.

Woolworths has a comparatively broad offering of children’s wear made in South Africa, the younger and the simpler the better. Sequins, lots of appliqué or embroidery, however, will generally take you offshore.

At Foschini, you’ll find a good range of locally made girls’ clothes, but no local boys’ clothes. Go figure.

And while Truworths LTD has little local to offer for adults, you can find a fashionable range of viscose, cotton or acrylic knit garments for your girls. No such luck for the boys, unfortunately.

Pick ‘n Pay Clothing sells locally manufactured cotton/lycra and cotton/polyester tops and pants for children. Although generally the more straightforward items are local, licensed character clothes (think ‘Hello Kitty’ or the Disney characters) are often made in South Africa. The denim, fleece or knit items are imported, though. Double-check the label.

Mr Price sells some locally made children’s clothes (don’t bother to look for adult ranges), the younger the child the better. You can find a nice range of fashionable kiddies’ tops and bottoms at the low prices Mr Price aims for.

Ackermans, although equally low in price, does not offer any visible amount of locally produced items. You might get lucky with some children’s cotton clothes.

Precioux is a locally made girls’ label with shops at Cape Town’s Cavendish Square and in Somerset West. It fills a nice niche for over 4s up to younger teenagers – bright, glittery and with cute slogans.

The Little Fire Co also sells girls’ skirts and tops in lovely fabrics.

Homebrewed sells off-the-wall T-shirts for boys and girls.

Eco Punk with its ‘radical’ bunny logo makes cute local kids’ clothes for both boys and girls. The kids love them. Until outgrowing it, it was hard to get my godchild out of her furry vest even when the temperatures outside were at boiling point.

Skinny Laminx, which is probably better known for its cushion covers and towels, now also offers a girl’s dress made from lovely fabric.

Pamplmousse sells girls’ clothes (and a few boys’ items, too) which are not the run of the mill. Worth looking at if you are raising a bolder child.

Hooligans is a local fair trade label for children’s clothes with cartoony African animal characters.

Honeybadger is a small eco-friendly clothing manufacturer on the Garden Route. It offers very pretty organic cotton clothing, as well as some linen and bamboo items.

Hemporium sells kids T-shirts made from hemp, which is often considered a green alternative to cotton.

Bug Zoo makes cotton garments for boys and girls.

Petit Pois Kids offers short and long-sleeved cotton shirts with unusual animal illustrations for children.

Tesora Kids creates timeless cute-looking children’s clothes for boys and girls.

Phoebe & Floyd offers lovely designs for both girls and boys. For the girls: dresses, babydoll tops, dress rompers, swingtops and crossover dresses. For the boys: chino’s, roll-up pants, shorts, shirts and T-shirts.

Bluebelle makes exclusive little girls’ dresses for special occasions. Well, if you have nothing better to do with the moola and think that girls should look like princesses, flaunt it, I say.

Earthchild’s stock is, disappointingly, entirely manufactured in Mauritius.

Keedo, on the other hand, is designed and manufactured in South Africa.

Naartjie manufactures many but not all of its children’s clothes locally. Double-check the label!