Current fads you wish would die off today...

[MRD]

Remember the old Coppertone ads with the little girl and the dog was pulling her bathing suit bottom and you could see her little butt? She was also topless in the ads.

Everyone thought those were adorable. I guess now, it would not considered to be that way.

My daughter often went topless at the age of 2 or 3 when outside in our backyard or splashing in her wading pool.

[misskitty]

Would it bother anyone to know that roller girls with tight retro outfits and leg warmers are back!

[remote_goddess]

RG, I can appreciate the challenges you would have with a 12-year-old. I think that's definitely the age where you have to help them make appropriate clothing decisions. I was thinking more about girls (so unfair boys don't have to go through this stuff) the age of my own daughters, who are so very young and don't really have any grasp of what kind of clothes are "right".

Stephanie's post illustrates the point I was trying to make, actually. A tiny child in a two-piece suit used to be considered "cute" - now it's looked at with disapproving eyes. It seems terribly unfair that a preschooler would be expected to wear a full set of clothes to go into a pool.
Anyway, if a child is still in diapers or pull-ups, a two-piece is far more convenient for changes than having to yank a wet one-piece off.

I see what you are saying, and I completely agree with your points regarding toddlers and younger children.

My point and my concerns are dealing with my daughters' age groups - 9 and 12, and some of the items I wouldn't have thought twice about letting them wear at a younger age are now no longer clothes I really want to see them wear out of the house!

So, a while back I posted that I didn't like the ballet flats that are so popular around here right now. Well, I went and bought a pair a week ago and I've worn them almost every day since... I may hate the look, but good-golly they are comfortable! I just avoid looking at my feet, since everyone else seems to think they're so cute!

[katgib13]

So, a while back I posted that I didn't like the ballet flats that are so poular around here right now. Well, I went and bought a pair a week ago and I've worn them almost every day since... I may hate the look, but good-golly they are comfortable! I just avoid looking at my feet, since everyone else seems to think they're so cute!

I have a pair of them. I wasn't a fan, either, but my hubby went shoe shopping with me and made me try a pair on and I ended up getting them. I wear them quite a bit, especially if we are going somewhere where we have to walk a lot...like the mall...

[MRD]

I loved the ballet flats. I went through a period BEFORE they became popular where I wore regular ballet shoes with EVERYTHING! I had them in white and black and I would wear them until they got holes in the sole and then buy more. I guess I was ahead of my time.

But then I had those Sam and Libby ballet shoes with the big bow on the toe in almost every color. Wish I still had them, they'd be very in style now.

I just heard that my favorite shoe place: Payless shoes is trying to get out of the cheap shoe market and go upscale. I was seriously upset. I have ALWAYS loved Payless because they did have inexpensive shoes and I could buy lots of shoes for the same price I might pay for one pair elsewhere. I am really bumming now as that is definetly my preferrred shoe store.

So if they are getting into more expensive shoes, they need to change the name. It will no longer be "payless".

[katgib13]

Maybe they will rename it "Paymore, saveless"?

I have a serious shoe addiction. While I don't have any Jimmy Choo's or Manola's (from lack of money, not lack of want), I do have a few pairs of Coach shoes, including my ballet flats. I buy a lot of shoes from Payless, too. They just have really cute sandals and slip ons there. I also have a serious handbag addiction and prefer Coach and Dooney & Bourke. I get a new one every year and I can't destroy those suckers for nothing! If I buy a purse at Wal-Mart, I end up ripping it or the strap breaks...or something happens where 2 months later, I have to buy another one. I'm very hard on purses. I carried my last Dooney & Bourke purse for an entire year..and it still looks brand new.

Clothing, I shop everywhere from the mall to Wal-Mart. I actually hunted all over hells half acres to find a swimsuit this year. Dillards, Macy's, JCPenny, the specialty shops in the mall and I finally found the perfect suit at Wal-Mart for under $25.

We also have an Aeropostle outlet near us. I go at the end of winter and stock up. They always have sweatshirts and hoodies for $6 a piece and shirts for the boys at about the same price. They also have an OshKosh store and one summer I found 2 pairs of jean shorts, a pair of sandals and a polo shirt for my little guy and paid about $20 for everything. The original price tags were on them and the total would have been about $60 if I'd gotten them at the mall.

I also hit garage sales and used clothing stores for summer play clothes for my little guy. Although there are a few things I won't skimp on (athletic shoes and handbags), I do love to bargain hunt and shop for good deals.

Sorry for being so chatty, but I've been surrounded by children for 2 whole weeks and I just need to gab! Heehee!

[talldede]

My point and my concerns are dealing with my daughters' age groups - 9 and 12, and some of the items I wouldn't have thought twice about letting them wear at a younger age are now no longer clothes I really want to see them wear out of the house!

That's my issue as well. Not toddler girls, but girls around 8-12, the new TWEEN age group that is being talked about.

[remote_goddess]

talldede, it's hard for me because my oldest is very curvy already. She isn't really aware sometimes how the clothes she chooses look on her. She isn't allowed to wear makeup yet, but she's a mature looking 12 year old, and when she decks herself out in tight jeans and lower cut tops, I cringe inside. Not because she doesn't look good (she does, too good...), but because she looks like a girl older boys are going to chase after and I'm not quite ready for that. She just wants to wear what her friends are wearing, but those girls have mosquito-bite breasts and slim boyish hips.

My other issue is that my youngest is built like me - tall and skinny and a late bloomer. So she can wear certain items of clothing without them making her look vamped up and too sexy for her age. Older daughter finds this extremely unfair, and we have recently had a few arguments about it. My solution is not to give in to older daughter, like I'm sure she thought I would, but to limit and adjust what I let younger daughter wear, too. She's much less fashion conscious and just doesn't really care as long as it's clean and cute. Problem solved, IMO.

I know that these issues will only get worse the older she gets and I can't really control what she wears forever. I'm just trying to teach her what is appropriate - even if you've "got it" you don't always want to "flaunt it"... Hopefully as she matures and showing off her body becomes less of a novelty she will make good (appropriate and modest!) clothing choices.

Sometimes I feel like a hypocrit because I think of myself as a relatively progressive and "hip" mom - both my girls and all their friends think so! But this is just one issue I can't really see myself budging on any time in the near future.


I love Payless Shoes! I tend to get all my "fashion" shoes there - shoes that go with one or two outfits and that I don't want to spend a ton of money on for such limited wear!

Kat, we must be related somewhere down the line, because I too am handbag and shoe addicted. Seriously addicted. Dooney's are my favorites, too, but I also really like Fossil for a little less expensive fix. Got two new purses for Mother's Day - the new Madras Dooney and a brown bucket Fossil. My ex-husband usually gets me a gift card for Dillards for both Mother's day and my birthday, and between the two holidays I can usually afford one more new expensive purse. But I love 9 West for affordable, everyday purses!

[AJane]

Speaking of Payless - my 8-year-old is a shoe girl, and she has long, skinny feet. She wears a size 1 or 2, and several times I've been taken aback at the "adult" shoes that come in that size. Does she have big feet for her age? High wedge heels on sandals and chunky-heeled boots - of course she loves them, but I'm afraid she's going to break her neck. I bought her an overpriced pair of those ballet-style rubber-soled shoes and she has a couple of pairs of flip-flops, but I can't find a dressier pair of shoes in her size that don't have heels.

[katgib13]

remote_goddess
Kat, we must be related somewhere down the line, because I too am handbag and shoe addicted. Seriously addicted. Dooney's are my favorites, too, but I also really like Fossil for a little less expensive fix. Got two new purses for Mother's Day - the new Madras Dooney and a brown bucket Fossil. My ex-husband usually gets me a gift card for Dillards for both Mother's day and my birthday, and between the two holidays I can usually afford one more new expensive purse. But I love 9 West for affordable, everyday purses!

Ooh! A couple of years ago, I bought this really cute Fossil purse! It was tan on the bottom half and this pretty melon plaid on the top half. I still carry it every now and then because I have this fabulous top in the same color and sometimes a girls just gotta match! The new Madras bag is adorable! Last year I bought the Tartan bucket bag in black. Ok. I could talk handbags all day long....