KSF Weekend Special Feature: Strollerama - Take a Walk on the Cool Side!
Posted: May 31st, 2008This weekend, Miki brings you a fine selection of prams of strollers to drool over. The form of these baby-movers is just stunning, and their functionality is optimal. Just what every busy Mum needs in her life 
Next weekend: Pram Accessories (including Bags!! Yay!)
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Silver Cross Dazzle
*The* name in prams is, and has always been, Silver Cross - www.silvercross.com.au. If it’s good enough for several generations of the British Royal family then it’s likely good enough for your precious bub!
Silver Cross have really updated in the last few years. Their latest model, the lightweight Dazzle stroller, is an iconic design - fresh, stark and simply beautiful. This is a stroller that really will become a modern classic.
I’m not lucky enough to have one of these (although I’d dearly love one!) but I’m told by people who do own a Dazzle that the build quality is second to none, and they love all the extra little features that come with it: the big viewing window in the hood which is held in place with magnets, the seat that lies almost flat so even the youngest baby can lie in it comfortably (there is also an optional carrycot), the hidden shopping basket, the suspension and foam-filled wheels giving the lucky kid inside a smooth ride, it’s light weight (only 7kgs), the five spectacular colours it’s available in… I’d better stop before I start dribbling.
The Dazzle comes with a ventilated rain cover too - that’s the last time you’ll have to take your raincoat off so the child doesn’t get wet!
The best price for the Dazzle that I’ve found online is from Nought 2 Five - www.nought2five.com. They have the Dazzle stroller for $395 in all colours, or $599 for the stroller and carrycot set. Have a browse around Nought 2 Five while you’re there, it’s gorgeous!
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Stokke Xplory
Another modern classic: the Stokke Xplory - www.stokke.com/en%2Dau/.
This pram made such a splash when it was launched in 2003! The world had never seen anything like it, and they still haven’t because the Xplory is simply in a class of its own. Designed for modern, urban parents, the Xplory motto is ‘higher is better’, and when you look at the pram you can see why.
The central ‘spine’ allows for height adjustability and for the seat to face forwards or back towards you. The extra height means that when walking you are closer to the baby in the seat, which aids eye contact and interaction between parent and child.
And the battle to get a highchair in a crowded cafe? Never again - the Xplory’s height means it can be wheeled right up to the table just as it is.
As you’d expect from Stokke, the quality is extraordinary; in fact, the aluminium and polymer structure is built to the same standards as automobiles and aircraft!
The seat and carrycot are interchangeable which makes this pram perfect from the earliest days of infancy right through toddler-dom.
Stokke are currently running a competition to win a Stokke Xplory: enter here.
The best online price that I can find in Australia is at Bebe Online www.bebeonline.com.au - it’s retailing there for $1499.00, with the bassinet as optional retailing for $439.00. Orders over $100.00 are delivered free! Otherwise if you want the pram-and-bassinet package, the best price is $1899.00 at Babies Galore - www.babiesgalore.com.au.
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Phil & Teds Classic, Sport, Dash and Vibe buggies
LOVE my Phil & Teds - www.philandteds.com - Sport Buggy. It was a present from my beloved aunty when my little boy arrived, and so far it’s taken everything I’ve thrown at it without batting an eyelash. It’s rugged enough for walking all over the grandparents’ country property, it walks daily along the beach with no signs of wear despite all the salt and sand. It’s lightweight enough (11kgs) to throw in the boot for quick shopping trips and it even looks good enough for promenading up and down the city high street!
It has a whole swag of cool features (the big shopping basket, the adjustable handle, the nifty pouch in the canopy (I keep my phone and my shopping list in there), the great colours available. And then there’s the ingenious doubles kit, available for all P&T single prams, which quickly and cheaply converts your single pram into one which can take a toddler and a baby or two toddlers! There just isn’t another pram around which can match the P&T for flexibility, particularly if you have two kids or think you might at some point.
I’m not the only one who loves it - I’m in great company with Holly Hunter and Brooke Shields, to name but a couple of my fellow P&T fans 
Earlier this year P&T released three new models: the Classic, the Dash and the Vibe. These are already proving to be just as popular as the Sport buggy!
Clockwise from left:
Sport Buggy, $699.95 $595.95
Vibe buggy, $1130.00 $899.95
Dash buggy, $859.95 $749.95
Classic buggy - currently sold out in Australia, shows you how popular it is! But I’m sure it will be back soon.
2 Cute 4 Kids - www.2cute4kids.com.au - have the best prices on the P&Ts that I’ve seen in Australia and what’s more, they make these prices even more attractive by including a FREE doubles kit - or if you don’t want the doubles kit, take a further $50 off the price!
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But wait, there’s more!
If none of the prams I’ve shown so far has rocked your boat, then you’d better go and have a look around at Minimee - www.minimee.com.au.
These guys carry some of the top names in prams - Mountain Buggy, Emmaljunga and Bugaboo, among others - at fantastic discounted prices.
These are my picks:
Clockwise from top left:
Emmaljunga Duo Combi - Edge $1299.95 $1202.45
Mountain Buggy Urban Elite Single $869.95 $804.70
Bugaboo Cameleon $1599 $1499
Mountain Buggy Urban Double, $1199.95 $1109.95 (Angela had one of these for her girls and loved it!)
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As a final note, if you’re looking for more info about prams & strollers then go to www.strollersandprams.com.
There are reviews on every pram you’ve ever heard of (and plenty you haven’t), and if you still can’t the answers to your questions then join the S&P forums. As I’ve discovered while researching this week, the members are friendly and helpful and if there’s anything they don’t know about prams (which I doubt) then it’s not worth knowing!
