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Sexy at 7? Parents Question Appropriateness of Clothes for Little Girls

Posted on: Friday, 21 March 2008, 06:00 CDT

Padded push-up bras. Plunging necklines. Platform sandals.

The typical teen girl's wardrobe?

Guess again.

Take a quick survey of discount and department stores, and you'll find this kind of merchandise aimed at younger girls as well.

Some South Sound moms say they're tired of struggling to find appropriate clothing for their 6- to 10-year-olds.

"I can't stand many of the clothing styles I see for little girls today," says Suzie DeWitt, a Puyallup mom of two daughters, ages 8 and 9.

Gina Varden of Tacoma, who has a 7-year-old daughter, says she sees fashion trends for teens -- short tops, short skirts, high heels -- "drifting down to 5-, 6-, 7-year-olds."

She calls it a dangerous trend: "It's opening up a whole can of worms for pedophiles and people who want them to look older."

DeWitt cites one odious trend: Low-rise pants for girls who are too young to have hips to hold them up.

"The pants rise on little girl pants are too low to be practical," she says. "Kids run, jump and hang on monkey bars. With these fashions, their bottom is hanging out at recess."

Sara Smith of Tacoma got so fed up she wrote a letter to Nordstrom telling the retailer she couldn't find anything in their store for her 7-year-old daughter to wear. Someone from the company wrote back, she says, pointing out that the store is merely trying to offer what's popular.

"I think it's a chicken-and-egg thing," says Smith. If the only choices for children are miniature versions of what teens and adults buy, then parents may feel they have no alternative but to buy it, she says.

Other parents fear that mature clothing for kids is accepted by some parents.

"Too many parents believe their daughters need to be making some sort of fashion statement at ages 6 or 7," says Varden. "It almost seems to have become a contest between these women to see who can spend the most money on their children."

"Why not let little kids be little kids?" asks Robin Sims Fisher of Fife. "Parents who want to live the glamour life through their children should grow up and see their little girls as they truly are -- young, childlike, free of care (hopefully) and with such a short time to be a kid and play."

While most moms who responded to a News Tribune query about kids' clothes had complaints about girls' clothing, Kaylin Snodgrass of Puyallup says she also sees disrespectful trends in boys' clothes.

"Not only are the values and bodies of our young girls being exploited by these fashions, but what kind of effect is this having on our boys?" wonders Snodgrass, who is the mom of 6-year-old girl, a 2-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy.

"It will be a cold day you-know-where before my son wears a shirt that says 'Blame my sister,' 'Sister for sale' or something worse," Snodgrass says.

Sassy sayings on kids' shirts and pants are a big target for angry moms. Words saturated with sexual innuendo or negative messages -- messages like "Little Miss Trouble""Spoiled Rotten" or "Knockin' Boots" -- don't belong on little girl shirts, they say. Neither does girls' underwear need to be printed with slogans like "Butterfly Love" or "Triple Threat." Even the popular "Princess" label bothers some moms, who say it insinuates an attitude of privilege they'd rather not encourage.

"Nothing needs to be on my child's rear end," says DeWitt. "It doesn't need to have any words at all."

Moms were almost unanimous in condemning a brand of clothing called Juicy Couture, with makes a line of popular track suits and sportswear. While the brand offers clothing for teens and older women, it also has a children's line. Its trademark is the name "Juicy" stamped across the clothing. Moms say they find it suggestive, and offensive, to see a size 6 jacket labeled "Juicy Princess."

There are some welcome trends. Moms were unanimous in their relief at the apparent waning of the bare midriff top. It's been replaced this season by baby-doll tops, which hang below the waist and offer generous coverage. Summer tops with thin straps are often on display with a T-shirt layered underneath. The popularity of leggings takes some of the sting out of short skirts.

But until those trends prevail, moms say, they will cope by refusing to buy objectionable clothing, boycotting stores where suggestive styles rule and patronizing ones that offer more modest attire.

"I won't compromise on the sexual look," DeWitt says. "I'll just stop shopping somewhere and wait it out. I wish more parents would do that. Then the designers might get the point."

Source: The News Tribune

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