On dressing girls - Page 5

[dreadmama]

There are a few selling cute clothes for boys and girls at
Seasons Originals. Today at noon PT is the grand opening!
http://www.seasonsoriginals.com

http://www.babybubblebottoms.com/shop/index.php
http://www.patchworkprincess.com/

Also, http://www.jomamaco.com has adorable hemp/cotton clothes for babies and kids, but not as much for older children yet!

You can find tons at http://www.topkitty.com

As for buying cheap clothing, as a single mother NOT receiving any child support, I'd rather pay more for clothing to support a small family business and know that it is not paying a huge corporation using sweat shop labor practices! Consumer practices is political, and I'm using my dollars wisely! I'd rather buy fewer pieces of well-made clothing that will last through many washings than lots of cheaply made clothes that may fall apart!

Just my view on it.

Peace,
Karen

[ericaz]

ITA with absinthe.

while i'm horrified whenever i see a young girl (let's say under 12 or so) wearing revealing clothes, i do not want my daughter to ever feel like she has to hide her body. i mean, here i am constantly whipping out a boob in front of anybody who happens to be nearby. a woman's body is something to be admired. no matter what shape isadora turns out to have when she's older, i want her to feel confident and self-assured.

of course, it's one thing to look feminine and womanly and another to look trashy and be objectified.

right now at 7.5 months, she's long and slim and i have serious trouble finding pants that fit her correctly in the waist. too wide for her narrow body - and when it does fit there, most pants/shorts are too short in the crotch. and i like flared pants. i wear them and don't find them slutty or ugly or whatever. in fact, i think tapered pants are kinda stupid.


fwiw, i loathe those shorts and pants that have stuff written on the butt - and most teens and tweens i see wearing them roll up the waist band so their butt hangs out the bottom.

eta - i bought isadora a tiny polka dot bikini and she looks unbelievably adorable in it. the only problem i have with it is that her diaper sticks out of the bottoms. her little belly and chunky thighs! oh, i could just eat her up!!

[Mamid]

5.99$ won't even cover the cost of fabric.
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I was at the market today and found a lady selling girl's (toddler to kindergarten at least) sized clothing she hand makes. She gave me her card when I told her about this thread and said it was ok to post her email address since she doesn't have a web space yet. [e-mail] The stuff I saw was cool, covering and not a single word or bare belly among it.

[Greaseball]

In my town, it's only the low-income families whose kids dress like that. That's all they can afford - they go to Fred Meyer or Factory 2U and buy whatever is on sale there. The richer kids get to go to the bigger cities and get GAP stuff, or shop at the little locally owned kids clothing stores here.

Even if you stick to thrift shops, you are likely to find the cheaper quality pop star clothing.

But that's why I like the option of the boys dept, where you can buy sweats and t-shirts. Even if you buy low-slung pants in the girls dept, you can get a solid color shirt in the boys dept to cover the waist. If only parents weren't so hung up on making girls dress like girls...

And with swimsuits...why does a child need a suit, anyway? Why not just dress them in a swim diaper, which they will have to wear anyway for awhile? Even a girl can get away with wearing boys swim trunks for a few years.

[ericaz]

good point, Greaseball re: swim suit.

this is OT, but what do you recommend in the way of swim diapers? i'm on a hunt.

i just thought the polka dot bikini was so cute i had to get it. not that it really matter since i'll be wearing her in my solarveil sling when in the pool anyhow.

[Greaseball]

We've only been swimming with dd a few times, so we just bought a package of disposable swim diapers, but I think swimming pools sell cloth swim diapers, and I'm sure other cloth diaper retailers sell them too. Maybe you can even use a regular cloth diaper.

Our local swimming pool now has a rule that disposable swim diapers are not allowed? I don't know why that is...

I wanted to get matching bikinis for dd and I, but I thought she might find the neck strap uncomfortable.

[Persephone]

Thanks, dreadmama. I'm totally with you on supporting WAHMs. If I can't buy from them I'll buy secondhand or make it myself. It'll be easier to find non skanky clothes that way, plus they'll be cheaper. Kids outgrow their things so fast anyways.

[Lousli]

I'm kind of not sure how I feel about this. I don't like many of the clothes I see on the children at my school (I'm a teacher) and I too find the slogans like "sexy" on the butt of pants to be objectionable. But I live in a place that gets to be 110 in the summer, so tank tops, shorts, skorts (that look a lot like a miniskirt), and even an occasional halter top are currently in my dd's wardrobe. My understanding about pedophiles is that they are attracted to children because they are children, and not because they look like small adults. Plus, the reality is that I have to teach my daughter about her self, her body, her sexuality, and her right to say no and that is what has a better chance of protecting het against those creeps than anything.

I don't know, while I type this, I can think back to how I dressed at 15, and I just about gave my mom a stroke. Yet, I was confident, smart, and strong, as well as sexy. And I felt okay with being sexy and looking sexy at that age (even though my parents didn't). many of my friends' parents put restrictions on what they could wear, so my friends would wear what they wanted, and then cover it with an "approved" outfit. When they left the house, they would just take off the top layer. They always thought my parents were great to allow me to dress how I wanted, and I was much closer to my parents and more respectful of the rules they set up for me, because i believed them to be fair.

And something about the use of the words "slutty", "skanky", etc. on this thread is bothering me. It's that messed up double standard of female sexuality. There is no equivalent word for men. If a woman is sexy, or has sex with multiple partners, she's a "slut" but a man? I understand that in the context of this thread we are talking (mostly) about little girls, but it still bothers me. I'm not sure what it means to say that a two year old looks "slutty". certainly i can see that there is clothing out there which I would call inappropriate (due to the child's age) or highly sexualized. I'm not sure if I'm saying this right, but hopefully you get my drift.

[eilonwy]

Originally Posted by Lesleyluu

And something about the use of the words "slutty", "skanky", etc. on this thread is bothering me. It's that messed up double standard of female sexuality. There is no equivalent word for men. If a woman is sexy, or has sex with multiple partners, she's a "slut" but a man?

Heck yeah. :LOL I always called them sluts, at any rate! And I'm not nice about it.

I don't think this thread is about summer clothing, but about Britney-wear; there's a huge difference between a tank top with a flower on the front of it and a piece of fabric which wraps around the neck leaving room for 'cleavage' to show.. as if anyone who wears a girl's size 6 has cleavage that they want to show off. There's a difference between a short skirt on a 4 year old and a skin-tight piece of fabric that says "bootylicious" on the butt of a 4 year old. kwim?

Tank tops, miniskirts, short shorts, bikinis.. they can all be adorable, but they can also be taken too far. I've also seen sweats which I would classify as obscene before, say, a pink halter top and a little skort.

There's also a *huge* difference between a 15 year old wanting freedom to explore and own their sexuality and a 5 year old who wants to look like Britney Spears. (Or who just can't find a pair of jeans that look reasonable on her because she happens to have long legs, or her mom can't afford to shop at HannaAndersson.com or GapKids).

[Lousli]

Elionwy,
ITA about the inappropriate nature of some clothing for little girls. But I did see some posts where people were describing clothing that seemed to be normal summer wear in hot climates, or flared jeans, which i can't figure out why people would object to, other than if they happen to dislike the fashion. Flares don't seem sexy to me, and short skirts or shorts that aren't tight, shirts that show a little toddler belly, those things don't bother me.

About the "slutty" thing. I guess I just don't think this is a term that should be applied to anyone. I don't have an issue with people being sexual, and who or how many partners a woman has is none of my business. I get annoyed by the frequency I see this term being applied to women by other women. It's just another line to divide us, the "good girls" vs. the "sluts". Ugh.

And about the difference between a 15 year old wanting to explore vs. a 5 year old. Yes, you are right about this. I thought I saw a few mom of older girls (teens) saying somet hing about how their daughters dressed, and I think that is what I was aiming towards. I absolutely do not like seeing little girls dressing like adults, or in tight sexually suggestive clothing. And believe me, if there's any way I can afford it, my dd will be wearing gymboree clothing for a long time to come.

[Shann]

I don't have girls (I have 2 boys) but I still wanted to put my 2 cents worth in. While I'm not a prude in any way, shape or form (I don't see anything wrong with girls showing some ass sometimes cause i don't see bodies as being "bad" or "nasty" at any age), but I was "surprised" recently when a friend of mine (who always has been somewhat of a "prude") bought a string bikini for her 9 year old dd and also some thong (yes, I said THONG) underwear for her.

[Greaseball]

So, at what age is thong underwear OK? If we are concerned that the underwear may be sending some sort of "sexual message" to the wearer, should it not be worn until age 18? Or until marriage?

(I'm talking about underwear that is always covered, BTW.)

[Mamid]

There was actually a complain made on the news last year about the "way too sexy" clothing for teen girls. A bunch of (mormon?) girls were complaining that clothing makers weren't giving them a choice of whether to cover up or not and still be stylish.

Me? I'm goddess sized. I'd like to see clothing that looks flattering but isn't something Mimi (drew carey show) would wear!

[chicagomom]

This bothers me as well - sexy as well as legible clothing for children. I shudder when I see off-the-shoulder sequin numbers for my 14 month old, or bikinis for that matter. What am I telling my daughter if I buy this? I'd rather teach my dd to be proud and confident of body by teaching her gymnastics, soccer or some other sport that encourages coordination.

Legible clothing bothers me too - I don't want my children to be walking billboards for someone else's greed. Between the two, it's pretty hard to find anything for dd to wear these days.

[lab]

Originally Posted by Greaseball

So, at what age is thong underwear OK? If we are concerned that the underwear may be sending some sort of "sexual message" to the wearer, should it not be worn until age 18? Or until marriage?

(I'm talking about underwear that is always covered, BTW.)

Good question!


I'm not sure what age thong underwear should be considered ok or normal....


I would venture to say that the girls that do wear thongs in my daughters 2nd grade class are too young.....

[Greaseball]

I read an editorial from a guy who thought it was wrong that Abercrombie and Fitch was making thongs for 14-year-olds. Why is 14 too young? I didn't get it. Besides, aren't most 14-year-olds able to fit into thongs not especially made for their age group?

[Mamid]

The only time a pre-teen should be allowed to wear a thong is when its for a costume. ie: dance recital, etc.

Other than that, they shouldn't be allowed to wear them until they can buy it themselves.

I bought two as a teen. One, still in the package, I gave to my GF. Her mother confiscated it. We were 15/16.

[Greaseball]

I started wearing them at 15. I don't really like them now, but sometimes they are good for when you don't want any lines. Though pantyhose with no underwear work just fine.

[Mamid]

My daughter was doing that when she was 3-5 years old in foster care. But then it was the Spice Girls. And no one thought to say anything about it! AUGH! It was "cute" and "girl power" and shit like that. When instead, to me, it was a bunch of hos teaching girls to be just like them!

The stuff that was coming out of that little mouth should only be said in the bedroom between lovers! Add in the choreographed moves and ... Ick!

At least she wasn't wearing Spice Girls stuff..

What really pissed me off is that they had a concert in Vancouver and hundreds of little girls -3 to 10 - were there with their parents. Not teenagers. Not adults. Little innocent girls who should be playing with dolls, not lipsynching to "Naked" and other songs.

Little girls!

AUGH!

[Suzannah]

Sort of OT, but in the vein of dancing and over-sexualized moves: SO and I went to a basketball game, and during timeouts they had three dance teams perform. The first was aprox. 5-7 year olds, 2nd was probably 8-14 or so, and the final was the team's dancers (grown wome). The littlest kids came out, and they were adorable. They lined up, and got ready to dance, and the whole arena leaned forward. The music came on, and these little kids started the most incredibly SEXUAL dancing I have ever seen little kids perform. My DD wiggles here hips when she dances, but these little girls were laying on the floor doing this humping thing, and THRUSTING. I don't remember the song, but I remember the lyrics ("Give it to me/oo, yeah..." with heavy breathing). I was floored, and almost hysterically pissed.

So then the next group of girls come out, and the same thing happens, only there are boys with them, and in pairs the boys are going around to the girls, grinding on them. There was one move where the girls were kneeling before the boys, simulating the obvious (no open mouths, but hips thrusting, etc.). The final move was the girls doing "the Elevator," which I can't quite describe, but includes wide open legs in a squat that gets lower and lower as the hips thrust forward.

Then the women come out, and their dance was FANTASTIC. Yes, some hip-wiggling, but mostly athletic and more hip-hop than sex. I couldn't BELIEVE what I was seeing. Everybody thought the little girls were cute; SO also thought they were cute until I asked him how he would feel about DD down there, grinding away in front of 25K people. He got it, but wasn't as upset as I was.

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