Eva Mendesis a big fan of letting her daughters play around — even if it means their outfits get dirty in the process.
The actress, who just dropped her latest collection with New York & Co. on March 14, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue that while her girls may be getting older, they’re still at the age where they’re wearing “a lot of T-shirts,” as they’re “constantly” getting messy during playtime.
“They’re at fun ages, but they’re still just babies,” Mendes, 45, says of her daughtersAmada Lee, 2½, andEsmeralda Amada, 4½, whom she shares with longtime partnerRyan Gosling.
“We go through a few outfits a day, again, just because of all the fun stuff — we made some homemade Play-Doh the other day,” the star shares.
“I really let them explore, whether it’s out in the garden or even in our own kitchen,” Mendes adds of her daughters. “I give them a lot of things so theycan have sensory play. So they’re constantly getting dirty, which is great and which is how it should be.”
New York and Company
For that reason, Mendes keeps the realities of motherhood in mind when creating her designs.
“What New York & Co. is so amazing about is they offer fabrics that are easily washable and that you don’t have to take to the dry cleaners and not only spend money on but time,” she says. “You just wantto be able to clean something. The materials we use, the buttons don’t fall off if you dry clean them, the hems don’t change.”
“Everything shrinks at the same rate so you don’t get an uneven lining,” Mendes explains to PEOPLE. “It’s a really great, very specific quality that we have.”
Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling.Dave Allocca/StarPix/REX/Shutterstock
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Though Mendes still likes to dress up for date nights with Gosling, 38, she’s typically more dressed down on a daily basis, as much of her day revolves aroundspending time with their daughters.
“That’s why last year, I created a T-shirt line,” she explains, adding that one of her upcoming releases will be a nod to her two young kids’ creativity.
Eva Mendes in her New York & Company collection.New York and Company
The working mother, who creates memories with her children “all the time,” also remembers a time when she and her daughter Esmeralda put away their casual clothes, dressing up for a special night out atLA Opera, to take in a performance ofHansel and Gretel.
“She did so well for just having turned 4. She was riveted,” Mendes says of her older child’s experience, adding that she was wearing a navy-and-white polka-dot wrap dress from one of her New York & Co. collections.
“That’s a beautiful memory in that dress that I treasure,” she adds.
For more on Eva Mendes’ life, pick up this week’s issue ofPEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
source: people.com
