Kids dressing like adults

[angelandbump]

Do you think children are dressing too old now a days?

There was a recent study that showed children who are dressing older are more likely to be victums of abuse and also are more likely to be from a family living on benefits.

Thought please?

 

[angelandbump]

There is a fine line to looking sweet and looking tarty in kids now a days. I was walking in the metro centre and two kids ages 7 if that had mini skirts on, knee high boots and no word of a lie, crop tops! the amount of stares they got was un nerving but i am more concerned for them as you don't know who is out there looking...

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

As long as its not OTT then it does not matter. I do not like my 4yr old DD wearing very grown up things though? I love the little frilly party dresses and cardigans. She is only 4 after all x

 

[Laura2919]

Yes I do. When I went to school I never dressed like some of these young girls, nor would my dad let me. I worry what it will be like when my girls are older.
The retail shops dont help matters.
I dont really agree with young girls wearing high heels, my neice has a pair that my friend gave her and I hate them. I do however do my make up in front of the twins and when I am straightening my hair they will come over and I will straighten a little bit but its all about where you set the boundaries.

 

[smokey]

To dress up within the home is one thing and perfectly fine, afterall what child doesnt try tottering around in mums high heals, makeup smeared everywhere with mums bra on the outside of their tshirt (and that was just my brother)

But its when it leaves the home that I think alot of it has gone too far, I was in a shop the other day and noticed padded bras in the 7-12 section of kids clothes.
a few months back while walking down the road this little girl come tottering along wearing high heels that I would even find it hard to stand in trying to keep up with her mum as they walked down the road, the girl couldnt have been no older then about 7-8 but could barely walk and was hunched over taking tiny little steps just to try and keep up, I couldnt help think what that was doing to her posture, spine, knees, ankles at such a young age nevermind how disturbing it looked.

I am a bit of a prude though, I dont even like bakinis on under 16 year olds but thats just me

 

[annawrigley]

I thought this thread was going to be about babies dressed in "mini adult" outfits, which I have no problem with and think it looks cute, but I know alot do. Thats harmless IMO.

However what your threads actually about, I think its awful, it makes me physically cringe seeing little girls dressed like hookers. Why would you let your kid go out like that? And smokey thats disgusting about the padded bras for 7-12 year olds. I got boobs at about 11/12 so had a bra but the LAST thing i would have would be a padded one, I was embarrassed enough I didnt want to draw more attention to them! Who would even come up with making them for that age?!? Just why?!

It makes me wonder if they choose these clothes themselves or if its their parents dressing them up in it... I know I didnt even wear sleeveless tops, like just plain vest tops, until I was about 14 cos I thought it was inappropriate! (I think differently now, was just a bit shy I suppose). My mum let me choose what I wore, and unfortunately she didnt tell me if I looked stupid (see picture ) but I think if I looked like a mini hooker she would have something to say about it. Why would the parents even BUY those clothes for their children? It baffles me...

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

It took me about 6mths to find a dance club for my daughter (who is 4!) that didnt involve dressing in next to nothing with fake tan for tournaments! Awful!

My daughter wears jeggings etc because they are comfy and they are more legging with jean print, not tight jeans if you get me lol. I do love older fashion style clothes, I wont put her in stuff I think is to "old" or inappropriate, Its sad really that some do. I just got her a new swimming costume, size 5-6 plain pink with bows on, They had bikinis and costumes with a cut out bit in the same size :S weird!

 

[indy and lara]

There is a big difference between dressing your LO in fashionable outfits and dressing them in provocative clothes. This is one of my pet hates. It is not really a new thing though. Over the last 10 years I have seen the outfits that the girls wear to school discos/ parties become more and more suggestive.

I think that this is a wider issue than just what girls are wearing. Childhood is becoming shorter and shorter. I don't want that for my daughter. I don't want her to be concerned about her appearance/ how others think she looks for a long time yet. It is all around us but as parents we can fight back.

 

[Laura2919]

I was still playing with dollies at 11 some girls these days are having sex!!!

 

[LoraLoo]

I'm having this with my eldest at the moment, she is 10, 11 this year. I pick out nice, girly clothes- dresses with tight etc, and she picks out high heels and Minidresses

Its a battle of wills at the moment. I have let her buy a pair of low heels, just to wear for party's, and sometimes I'll let her put a bit of lipgloss on too. I hate to see young girls dressed like you describe. They're not children for long, they should be kept innocent as long as possible.

 

[special_kala]

I dont like seeing children in things that i would wear. It just doesnt seem right.

River wears things like jeggings but i wont buy her short skirts or crop tops until she is much much older.

Personally i think bikinis are not appropriate for children they just seem to adult

 

[morri]

I guess with dressing like adults you mean dressing like adult sluts?

(Meaning I don't think you mean that Boys who like to wear suits (Business attire) get more abused)

Firstly , If a kid dresses in a skimpy outfit(low cut jeans and bare belly skin fitting shirts for example than they dress in a sexually enhanced way. Which makes it more attractive for a possible offender.

second: thats a social course- Low income families often also have a low level of knowledge and may not care as much what their children are wearing as people from a higher income class which have a close eye on what their kids are wearing. Of course there is the opposite possible as well but the latter is more prominent.

 

[smokey]

I think also that upper class families have more of a social image type attitude when it comes to children as well.
Alot of these families are very much "dont show us up" sort of thing so they wouldnt have their children wearing clothes that made them look degrading for want of a better term

 

[cleckner04]

I definitely think kids are dressing too 'sexy' and 'adult' these days. I'm another that doesn't like bikinis on babies or kids. I will put Emma in a tankini but even that is pushing it for me. Even baby clothes are kind of skimpy at times. Little halter tops and miniskirts. I really don't understand it.

It's no wonder you hear more and more stories about little girls being kidnapped by pedophiles in the news. It's so sad.

 

[OmarsMum]

A family friend dresses her daughter in sexy, showy outfits since she was tiny. Now at the age of 9 she's soo aware about her body & curves, & she asks if she looks "sexy"

On her 7th birthday she was wearing very very short shiny pink shorts with sleeveless top that showed all her tummy. Her mum was soo proud as her little princess looked soo "sexy"

She has 2 older sisters who are 22 & 24 (who are married with children), & she tries to dress like them & sometimes grasp the attention of their husbands. SHe sits on their laps, & she's shameless.

I met this family through DH when we go engaged 4 yrs back. She was only 5 yrs back then. DH was soo fond of her.

The little girl visited us alone after we got married & she wanted to take a look at my lingerie. Her mum took her shopping to get me a gift before she visited us, & she got me a sexy babydoll & the girl asked me to try it on!! I was really shoked & I didnt know how to deal with it. When I told her mum, she laughed & told me that she's only a kid!

I love little girls dressed in old fashion flowery dresses or simple jeans & t-shirts.

 

[Nic1107]

My DH and I have discussed this at length. We're fully agreed that half of the stuff we see in the shops isn't going on Carmen until she's old enough to buy it herself! No high heels, no halter tops, no short skirts or booty shorts, no belly-baring shirts, no strapless/tube tops, no bikinis, no padded bras. No make-up, no sweatpants with words written across the bum.

She'll probably hate us for it, but oh well. Right now, Carmen does have a lot of "mini big kid" clothes, like jeans and a little t-shirt with attached vest (I forget what you lot call those), little ruffled jumpers and that sort of thing; I don't feel the need to dress her in really 'baby-like' clothes but I'll be damned if she's going to be running around looking like a little you-know-what. It's unreal what some people will have their kids wear!

 

[Nibblenic]

I have to say I dont like to see children dressed 'sexy' showing too much skin. I dont really mind the mini adults thing too much as long as the clothing isnt too fitted or showy.

Currently I dont reall see much where I think I wouldnt put Lo in that. However shes still in the younger girls range. My friend daughter wh is 4 has recently gone into 5-6 clothing the trouble with these ranges is the same clothes go up all the way to 11 years or even 16 years now there is a world of difference between a 5 year old and a 11 year old and another wold between that and a 16 year old. However thier clothes are in the same range in stores.

 

[redpoppy]

I find young girls being so aware of fashion, beauty and 'sexiness' extremely disturbing. I think there's always been an element of it as girls always tend to want to dress like mum or their older sister or know someone at school who dresses like their older sister etc. I have a friend who has a nine year old and apparently she's become very aware of fashion recently and her mum is worried but she's never worn anything inappropriate. Yet!

My niece is 13 which is obviously a little older but some of her friends facebook photos that pop up are just SO disturbing for me. In shorts and vests and pouting for the camera. All perfectly normal in the privacy of their own homes at that age but I do wonder why on earth their parents are not keeping a check on their online activity!!!!?

I do think it is up to parents to do something but it is such a shame that at that age you really, really want to fit in and with some parents not giving two hoots about stuff like that means that the trends spread.

Also, I do think in the culture we live in where women are many times only valued for their beauty or how sexy they are girls need to be aware a develop a strong value for their own intelligence and personality being their measure of worth and not what cup size or dress size they fit into. Having seven year olds wearing g strings or padded bras or provocative clothing means they become brainwashed into the system at a very young age before they even have enough of a sense of self to be aware of.

I just hate it.

 

[RedRose]

Nibblenic makes a really good point about the size ranges.

I remember when I was about 10/11 and I was so miserable because my friends dressed in high heels and mini skirts etc and I wasn't allowed. I'm thankful now that she didn't let me, but I dread my baby girl growing up and being upset because I won't let her dress in a tarty way.

What actually scares me though are the music channels. They are fucking pornographic, and pop acts that are specifically marketed towards young girls, like the pussycat dolls and Katy Perry, disgust me. I think pop music is a big part of our childrens culture, and I'm sick of slutty greased up women making fuck faces at the camera pretending to be gay honestly what chance do boys and girls have watching that?

 

[redpoppy]

Nibblenic makes a really good point about the size ranges.

I remember when I was about 10/11 and I was so miserable because my friends dressed in high heels and mini skirts etc and I wasn't allowed. I'm thankful now that she didn't let me, but I dread my baby girl growing up and being upset because I won't let her dress in a tarty way.

What actually scares me though are the music channels. They are fucking pornographic, and pop acts that are specifically marketed towards young girls, like the pussycat dolls and Katy Perry, disgust me. I think pop music is a big part of our childrens culture, and I'm sick of slutty greased up women making fuck faces at the camera pretending to be gay honestly what chance do boys and girls have watching that?

I totally agree with the music channel thing. I think it's so disturbing. For both boys and girls but far more specifically for girls. I think I would like to cancel music channels as my baby girl gets older. It's just not the aspiration a girl should have. So many young girls want to be "famous" now but not for any particular reason, they just want to be famous. Not be really good at something or be successful at something but just simply be famous.