Recycling Fashion: Who is buying this stuff

Recently I spent some quality time in the youth departments of a number of stores.  The clothing selection leaves much to be desired.

The good news is that if you desire to have your toddler, pre-teen or teenage daughter look like a hooker, you can find it at nearly every store.  If, however, you value modesty and having children look like children, you have your work cut out for you.

This year's styles recycle the 1980's.  Fortunately I lived through that decade and have a good idea what it is supposed to look like.  However, the new spin on the old look of long shirt over leggings is to skip the leggings.  This leaves a long shirt that barely covers the derriere.  Again, who wants to wear this? Who wants to look at it on a 8 yr old? Or a 12 yr old? Or a 28 yr old?

I'm taken aback by the proliferation of lingerie for toddlers.  As most girls don't start to fill out until late elementary school, I am baffled why bras are necessary in the toddler department.  And why some companies are starting to produce very adult looking bra and panties styles in toddler and child sizes?  There are even bikinis for babies.  Why do some think that sexualizing young girls is a good idea?

For little girls, it seems tutus, glitter and pink are in.  The more garish, the better.  Most clothing features peace symbols, which seems to now be devoid of meaning.  I say this because most of the time the peace symbol is on a shirt with Barbie, Hello Kitty, dolphins or palm trees.  I'm not sure what Barbie or Hello Kitty has to do with war and peace, but I'm pretty certain that dolphins are not the animal kingdom equivalent of Genghis Khan and palm trees are not the new poison ivy.

For teens, strapless shirts, spaghetti strap tanks, and short shorts fill the stores.  While some of these things are used as layers, there are a lot of girls walking around with minimal clothing on in part because it is what the stores are selling.  Does a 13 yr old need to look sexy?  Does a 6th grade boy notice these things or are they really for the viewing pleasure of adults?

Shopping for a daughter has become a very difficult process because the choices available in the stores leave a lot to be desired.