Excelle

I absolutely agree!!  There seems to be a conspiracy among girls and teens clothing manufacturers to make hookers out of our daughters.  My sister in law used to have me go shopping with her and her daughter to mediate.  She wanted to dress like the women on tv.  I can reme,ber her coming out in the blouse that was so sheer, tight and short, that I wanted the saleclerk to justify the expense when there wasn't 1/4 yard material and it covered nothing. During her developing years the favorite phrase became, you can have it as long as you understand it doesn't go beyond your bedroom door!

When did it become acceptable for our young ladies to start looking like their pandering their bodies?  What kind of message does that send them?  Is it any wonder so many of our young girls suffer from non-existent self esteem?  Even clothing for the younger groups (6-11) has taken on a very disturbing illicit look to them.  How about allowing our girls to grow into young womanhood instead of "forcing" them to take on roles they are not ready for.

I get a headache just thinking about evening wear ( this turns into a war) and bathing suits .

Uh "problems with rape and sexual misconduct" have absolutely nothing to do with skimpy clothes. Did I fall asleep and wake up in the 1950's version of Excelle? That was one of the more offensive things I've read on this site. You can read more about how misguided those statements are here.

I think that part of this problem is that children typically want to dress like the adults they see. As our culture has grown more permissive with clothing standards, children have been mimicking what they see. Let's not point the fingers, though: if parents weren't buying these clothes to the exclusion of more "age appropriate" clothing, they wouldn't be sold.

As to skinny jeans and leggings, I don't see a problem with that. I wore those when they were in fashion the first time around, as a child in the '80s. Sexualizing every little thing because it's "sexy" when someone grown wears it is almost as big a problem as assuming that skimpy clothing leads to rape.

Yeah I'm pretty sure that rapes happen because ... wait for it ... men rape. That's pretty much the one factor right there. The rapiness.

Reminds me of this:

"How to Prevent Sexual Assault



1. Don’t put drugs in people’s drinks in order to control their behavior.



2. When you see someone walking by themselves, leave them alone!



3. If you pull over to help someone with car problems, remember not to assault them!



4. NEVER open an unlocked door or window uninvited.



5. If you are in an elevator and someone else gets in, DON’T ASSAULT THEM!



6. Remember, people go to laundry to do their laundry, do not attempt to molest someone who is alone in a laundry room.



7. USE THE BUDDY SYSTEM! If you are not able to stop yourself from assaulting people, ask a friend to stay with you while you are in public.



8. Always be honest with people! Don’t pretend to be a caring friend in order to gain the trust of someone you want to assault. Consider telling them you plan to assault them. If you don’t communicate your intentions, the other person may take that as a sign that you do not plan to rape them.



9. Don’t forget: you can’t have sex with someone unless they are awake!



10. Carry a whistle! If you are worried you might assault someone "on accident" you can hand it to the person you are with, so they can blow it if you do.



And, ALWAYS REMEMBER: if you didn’t ask permission and then respect the answer the first time, you are committing a crime- no matter how "into it" others appear to be.

I will start out by saying I am not a parent. And I am not conservative by any means. But I was bewildered the day a friend of mine said that she had seen thong underwear.. for sale.. in childrens sizes. Who on earth would buy thong undies for their 7 yr old?? What buyer in the corporate office thinks that is a product that would sell?? Who is concerned with a 7 yr olds VPL?? Honestly! She wrote the company a letter voicing her disgust. Yikes you parents have it tough.

Victoria's Secret is the number one offender of selling this sort of stuff to younger-than-intended kids. Their Pink campaign and line was designed to target girls between 7-13, with the idea that the kids would get hooked on the cotton version of the thongs (decorated with cute animals and hearts) and graduate to the lace and satin version of the same undergarmet. And most parents fed into that, which is what kept the company afloat the past few years.

Well say a prayer, I promised to take her shopping on Friday for clothes. Always interesting. Again she is only 11 and I would like her to stay that way !

Well, as a mother of 2 girls (older one is 6), as well as a child of the 1970's and 1980's, I would say the following.

First, this is NOT a new phenomen...

• I look at the pictures of me as a 9-yr-old in the 1970's and see a girl with 2 long braids (in ponytails high on my head), wearing a tight nylon top with cap sleeves and VERY slim-fitting jeans, low on the hips, with wide-ish bottoms.  In fact, this was a picture taken in the school playground, and some girls even had those short shorts.  Back then even kids wore platform shoes.  So, in short (no pun intended), it's NOT a new phenomenon.  As someone said, they're just copying what the teenagers are wearing. 


• Remember those tummy-bearing fuzzy sweaters that were popular in the 1980s?  Think Madonna.  We're talking TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO.  What were the teens and tweens wearing then?  Yup -- Madonna-like clothes (with some editing).  Now fuzzy bolero sweaters are popular.  At least they cover their tummies with a tank top under the sweater. 


• Remember the dancer-style clothes in the 1980's?  Long tunic-like sweaters with tight leggings, off-the-shoulder tops, leg warmers?  I wore them at about age 13 (and I absolutely LOVED the leggings and big sweater -- very comfy).  Guess what has come back?

Second, I agree that some of it has gone overboard.  For example, I REALLY don't like seeing 4-yr-old girls wearing black with skulls. 

• JFORBES hit the nail on the head ... if parents didn't buy into it ("aww... isn't that cute???"), then it wouldn't sell. 


• Realistically, girls want to look like their favourite figures -- Hannah Montana, Disney Princesses, etc.   That's why fluffy and glittery clothing/accessories are so popular now.  Ever look at the Disney Princess' dresses?  Off the shoulder, sleeveless, sequins. 


• Even children's names these days are what, 10 years ago, we would have considered for romance novels only. 

Let's look at the reality of what young girls actually wear ...

• My daughters and almost all their friends find short shorts uncomfortable, and so refuse to wear them.  They want SKORTS instead (nylon or cotton shorts attached under a short skirt).


• They don't want clothes that they continually have to tug on.  So those leggings that ride up, the straps that fall down, the short skirt that keeps exposing their bottom ... all are too much trouble.  My older girl tried all of them once, found them annoying, and never wore them again.


• Almost all the girls I know (ages 2-12) wear "normal" sorts of clothes, maybe with some glitzy accessory.  Skorts and tops.  Leggings with skirts, ballet flats or boots, regular top.   Jeans, sneakers, a top with some glittery paint or sequins/rhinestones for decoration.  Hello Kitty, Hannah Montana, retro-70's symbols, some black with roses. 


• As for thongs, I guess they could be a solution to underwear under a gymnastics leotard.  However, I bet they would be immediately discarded as "too uncomfortable."

Although I see some of the "rocker-style" clothing for girls in the stores I go to, I always find something that both my girls and I like.  After all, pink and purple are still the colours of choice!  Target and Wal-Mart still have reasonable clothes, as do Kohl's and JCP.