Teen Fashion

One of my kids has recently out grown practically all her clothes. Fortunately we home school, so that means she can hang in her pajamas all day until her overly busy mom has a chance to take her clothing shopping. Hopefully, that will be this afternoon.

I'm a cheapskate. My kids hardly even know the mall exists, which has been just fine for my two olders, whom I've quite successfully inculucated with my cynical brand of anti-materialism. They like shopping thrift stores and have added their own environmentally conscious self righteous aspie-teen veneer to the process. All is well.

Now my youngest. She also doesn't know about that mall, and I plan on keeping it that way, but she's definitely developing in the more typical pre-teen directions. The other day she was standing in the bathroom, facing the door and I asked her what on earth she was up to. "I'm trying to see if it's possible to stand in here for one minute without looking in the mirror, mom....it's IMPOSSIBLE!!!!!"

Ah, yes.

And so it has begun.

So, in preparation for taking my daughter shopping, I've been cruising some teen fashion websites, just to see what is what. Ok, so she's 11, but it seems like the only difference between "teen" and "pre-teen" is the size label. Really. I'm just as strict at any age, so let the mom-brainwashing continue. Bwahahahaha.

Now, just so you know where I'm coming from: If it were up to me, girls up to the age of fifteen or so would wear loose jumpers with tiny pastel print flowers on them, that hit half way between knee and floor lenfth. Har har har. With demure blouses or t-shirts underneath.

But don't worry. None of my kids actually dress like that. It's just a dark glimpse of my own skewed fashion sense. Neither do I force them to wear coulottes instead of shorts. But I digress. Back to the topic at hand: teen fashion.

I have been looking around to see what I'm up against. Now I begin to understand why some of the young ladies I've seen here and there are dressed as they are. I can only imagine the battles at home their poor mothers and fathers have fought. Not much good is available.

What currently are being sold as dresses, they are SHIRTS!!!! so why does the label say they are dresses???? And is the fashion industry TRYING to make a nation of anorexics with those "skinny jeans"? They might as well call them what they are: Leggings. Might look cute under some of those dresses that are so short they should be called shirts.

Everything is trashy and trampy and ugly. I know. Big yawn. It's all been said before.

Seems like layering and vests and jackets and those ever present neck scarves (which I don't disapprove of at all) are universally popular. Those things are fine.

It's the tight jeans, the too short skirts and dresses and the ugly, ugly print t-shirts and the fabric/colors of the current trends that give me 80's-flash-back-hives...or is that heaves?

Perhaps, what this means is the the lose flowing floral print dresses of the 1990's will be back in style soon? I think I never quite left that decade. Sigh.

It will be interesting to see how the day goes. Fortunately, as long as I resepct her opinion and don't force my taste down her throat, my dd has thus far shown herself to be compliant with modesty standards. And she doesn't know what Aeropostale is yet, thank goodness.

Comments

elizabeth said…
yeah. i am shocked also by the sweaters that those in thier 20's wear; this year they are droopy at the front and the material it is made from screams CHEAP and I know they are getting these at the mall. what happened to decently made clothes that are affordable? goodness.
Bohemimom said…
I dont think I even know what Aeropastale is.
Laura said…
Good luck...it's a jungle out there, even for kids my daughter's age (9).
Unknown said…
There actually are some skinny jeans so skinny that they are called jeggings! Fortunately one pair of skinny jeans (and wearing some jeans she had outgrown) convinced my daughter that bootcut was more her thing-yay!

She definitely knows about Aeropostale, Abercrombie, Hollister, Ralph Lauren, etc., but fortunately she is, so far, content to scour the consignment & clearance racks for designer items whose price tags and modesty levels will pass my standards.

She has a better sense of style than I've ever had but we've had our share of battles about modesty. One time in Kohl's she brought me a "dress" and I said to her, "I'm your mother, not your pimp." Several women within a few racks heard me and immediately chimed in. A conversation ensued and my daughter quickly walked away to hang up the offending item before anyone else realized she was with the crazy lady from the Middle Ages! Heehee.
Alana said…
I LOVE that line, Tabitha!!! "I'm your mother, not your pimp."

Modesty has not thus far been a battle at my house.