Kids fashion designers, we need to talk.
Is it just me, or is anyone else offended by some of the clothing marketed towards young girls? Maybe, I’m just getting old and boring, but mini skirts and leopard print string bikinis on a 5-year-old? I know this is a debate that has been around for while but recently, I was really confronted by it.
On a trip to the shops, I was shocked. Not by the price of a piece of banana bread I had to buy to keep my son quiet in the pram ($6.50 are you friggin kidding me!?) or by the lines outside Apple (it’s just a phone people!) but by the clothing available for girls aged under 12.
Now, I want to make this clear. I’m not a prude in any sense of the word. In fact, I’m probably a little more out there than most. I mean, I have an excellent vocabulary, none of which is publishable. I’m generally pretty laid back and don’t take offense to a lot. But this particular day, I’ll tell you, I was offended. And, I was thankful to have boys. Why? Because as I trawled through the aisles of department stores in search of a gift for my friends three-year-old girl, I found myself lost in a sea of clothes that would honestly, be right at home in a Britney video.
I saw shorts that would rival Kylie Minogue's, crops which would look more at home in the ladies underwear department and knee length boots which, back when I knew them, used to have a far edgier name. They were called that for a reason, because they promoted something. Not something we want or need associated with children. And the slogans... whoa don't get me started on the slogans.
I tried unsuccessfully for so long to find something appropriate in the clothing section and eventually, I just gave up and found the toy aisle.
On the way there, I saw two young girls who's mother obviously didn't feel the same way I did about girls clothing and really, I just felt really awkward. I wasn't looking at a girl, I was looking at a little doll, done up to look much older than she actually was. And there she was, with absolutely no comprehension of what her "look" said to other people.
Seeing the options out there for young girls, I can see how hard it is for a mother of young girls to shelter them from an over sexualised world where for some reason, it seems perfectly okay to sell shorts barely covering a bum, to a child.
Hats off to you mums. I mean that. Peer pressure, social media, the entertainment industry, all there to force your child to grow up much faster than they should and at the end of the day, you end up being the bad guy saying no (understandably) to a skirt which shows the world exactly what you had for breakfast.
Really, well done. I don't think that's an easy one to navigate.
When did this become okay? Is there really a need to market clothing like this to kids? Obviously there is. They wouldn't make it if people didn't buy it I guess. Surely there is nothing wrong with t-shirts that don't offend Nannas (and me) and pants that don't require child sized g-strings (please tell me these don't exist too).
Kids have plenty of time to discover their bodies and their sexuality. I really don't think it needs to be promoted and encouraged front and centre on racks at the local department store.
Maybe I'm just getting old and fashion is passing me by? Am I the only one that has a problem with booty shorts in a size 5?
What do you think of the clothes available for young girls? Would you let your children wear this sort of clothing?
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