Today i am thinking about clothing choices for pre adolescents. It forces me to think back to when i was thirteen and try to remember what my feelings about clothing were then and how that relates to today.
I remember Sister Margaret Mary making me and the rest of the girls kneel in front of her to be sure that our uniform skirts touched the floor. I also remember rolling the waist band back up again when she walked away, so as to return the skirt to its former mini status. Mini being the operative word. There was probably a good foot of bare leg between our knee socks and our hems!
I remember walking downtown to shop wearing a winter coat this was half off and half on my shoulders and my mother yelling at me to zip it up. What??? And risk warmth to be cool?? I don't think so.
I remember my first two piece bathing suit which felt scandalous to wear because a 2" strip of my belly skin showed between the top and bottom!
Later, I remember wearing holey and raggedly patched dungarees. Looking back at the whole Woodstock era pics appalls me now. We looked like nothing more than dirty and displaced orphans! < BTW i still have a pair of those threadbare jeans somewhere in the basement with those old clothes that I just can't seem to throw away, i believe they were a size 3 ha ha ha dream on>
What I am trying to say is that girls have always been aware of and very influenced by society and what's in when we decide what we are going to wear. Though i never did the Madonna fashionista scene i do remember some of my daughters' generation dressing like her.
So i guess it should come as no surprise to anyone that the "in" wear at the moment is somewhere between Lady Gaga and Megan Fox. No, the girls are not yet wearing meat but the skirts are scandalously short again and some of the getups are remarkably creative!
And just like my parents, my generation tsks tsks over the amount of skin shown and the tarty look of many of the fashions that preteens and teens choose to wear.
But i am not saying that I condemn this trend. On the contrary, I just want to remind people my age that they themselves went through some pretty awful fashion periods, and survived to become relatively well dressed and stable adults!
The look that teens choose is one of their own peer group and time period. And also will change as they mature. I guarantee that these young people will not go on their first job interview dressed like Beyonce!
My only suggestion to today's teens is to be sure that the style you choose fits you and your body shape. Nothing worse than looking like a stuffed sausage in a mini skirt!
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Who else could we place here?
support for all
