New Teen Fashion: Modesty!

[3113]

From the L.A. Times:

When it comes to their wardrobes, provocative is out and (gasp) parental approval is in. Off-screen and in the real world, the "tame tween" phenomenon is already making itself felt, with both retailers and trend researchers noticing a general shift away from the edgy. "Kids are more modest than they would care to admit," says Kristen Taylor, owner of Juvie, a tween boutique in Silver Lake that caters to those seeking preteen fashions that straddle hip and wholesome. "They want to be comfortable -- they are still playing in the playground every day at school, after all. They want to be fashionable," she says, but not over the top.

She carries lines like Splendid Tween, Splendid Mills JR (for boys) and Ella Moss Girl: brands, she says, that "offer coverage on top, are long enough so that they hit at the hip rather than the belly button and have enough width so that they are not skin tight." On their feet, girls are wearing Chuck Taylors, Doc Martens, Vans and ballet flats. Lip gloss is still very much de rigueur, she says, with most parent-tween disputes arising over the use of eyeliner.

Franchises such as " Hannah Montana," "High School Musical" and Nickelodeon's "iCarly" are among the biggest style influencers among her pubescent clientele today, she says..."Kids are still buying the skimpy stuff because that's generally what's out there for them -- but they'll layer it and customize it to create their own kind of look," says Jane Gould...Gould helmed an extensive study on tween fashion in February...Following a number of in-home sessions with tweens, her researchers noticed one key thing: Today's tweens want to please their parents, which may have a lot to do with the sweet 'n' sensible styles they're opting for.

...Ten seems to be the magical age when children enter into sartorial consciousness, Gould says, the fig leaf moment when T-shirts stop being things people wear to keep from being naked and turn into part of an outfit....Most interestingly, Nickelodeon's team noticed that today's tweens are very conscious of not upsetting their parents with their wardrobe. And no, it's not just because Mom carries the credit card. Rather, it's because the cultural gap between kids and their parents is narrower than ever. "Every piece of research we have done has shown that the generation gap is closing," Gould says. "Girls and boys truly look to their parents for second opinions, and they want to make sure they are doing what their parents feel is appropriate for them." So kids don't think their folks are square anymore? Apparently not. "Kids tell us overwhelmingly that family is the most important thing around them -- it's no longer the 'us versus them' mind-set," Gould says.

From the article on the clothing in the upcoming Hannah Montana movie:

Clean-cut, wholesome and decidedly demure. Look at the ultra-Disneyfied costumes in this month's "Hannah Montana" movie and you'll see the latest reflection of the accelerating shift toward more parent-friendly tween fashions.

Forget Britney-era bling 'n' bras or clingy American Apparel spandex -- 16-year-old "Hannah Montana" star Miley Cyrus wasn't even allowed to wear leggings while the cameras were rolling. Spaghetti straps were verboten, as were bare bellies, micro minis, one-shouldered tanks and anything resembling a camisole....."When you go out shopping for young girls, colors are acidy and fabrics are clingy," he says. "You see lots of spandex cotton, tank tops and spaghetti straps, really short skirts and tight jeans. Some of this stuff is way inappropriate." With that in mind, he made nearly all the costumes himself....Lawrence...created a series of guilt-free, girly looks -- coquettish Carrie Bradshaw-esque outfits for the glamorous Hannah Montana character, and rustic "Little House on the Prairie" get-ups for girl-beneath-the-star Miley Stewart. "Feminine, pretty clothes -- but the kind a girl can still climb a tree in," Lawrence explains.

According to related articles, the tight stuff is out, as is the belly bearing, ultra-low jeans, ultra-short skirts and thongs. The pendulum has swung back, as it tends to. I'm not sure how to square this with the "sexting" article, but there ya go. Tweens, at least, want to be modest again, at least when it comes to clothes.

 

[xssve]

I wonder if this is like the correlation between economic conditions and skirt length.

i.e., exhibitionism is attractive in a Bull market, modesty attractive in a Bear.

 

[Stella_Omega]

This is not something I'm seeing on the streets yet, god knows!

 

[PurpleTiara]

Weirdly enough, I have noticed that the girls that I counsel are dressing more modestly when it comes to street wear, but they are still fighting us on school uniforms. I think the uniform fight is become a Rite of Passage for private schools, though we did try an experiment to allow them to customize a bit that seemed to help. So we are thinking about making the change permanent.

 

[xssve]

Such things are purely cosmetic, Schoolgirl uniform fetish has been slowly spreading from Japan for a while now.

Slut with a heart of Gold is out, Meek but nymphomaniac Librarians are in.

 

[xssve]

I've always gone for the latter anyway.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

teen slut clothing has always been forbidden at my school and we enforce it, hard. What they do at the mall is a different story, I guess.

 

[jomar]

Well, if THIS is how things are I'm glad I'm not a teen!

 

[3113]

I wonder if this is like the correlation between economic conditions and skirt length.

One of the articles suggested that. Of course, I think in tough economic times that kids become sensitive to what their parents are going through and do their own best to make things easier on the family. Including not asking for expensive things, but also not arguing so much. As the article says, they're more inclined to want to please their parents, and maybe the fact that the parents already are under a lot of stress has something to do with that.

Also...and this could be completely wrong, but I wonder if Obama and his family have anything to do with it. The Bush daughters were party girls, but Obama and his family are subdued and modest. If, as suggested, Obama is our pop-star president, his wife and daughters included in that, then their example will be followed. And their example as a family is very sedate both in manner and clothing.

 

[xssve]

Yeah, it's gonna be... interesting.

 

[SlickTony]

Well, ya know, all the bareness for the last several years has been mostly on the girls' side. (I've thought the fashion of belly-baring shirts and navel jewels somewhat tiresome, especially considering that when I had the body, I had not the nerve.) This has, unfortunately, been complemented by guys wearing clothing so baggy as to reveal exactly NOTHING about them. Can one hope that young men will go back to wearing trousers that fit?

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Well, ya know, all the bareness for the last several years has been mostly on the girls' side. (I've thought the fashion of belly-baring shirts and navel jewels somewhat tiresome, especially considering that when I had the body, I had not the nerve.) This has, unfortunately, been complemented by guys wearing clothing so baggy as to reveal exactly NOTHING about them. Can one hope that young men will go back to wearing trousers that fit?

One can only hope!

 

[amicus]

I wonder if the trend will slide on over to the media and cover up those prodigious breasts on news ladies and maybe even take the skirt down from mid thigh length?

Now if only they would talk slower and usual less emotive facial expressions, we could get back to news and not theatre?

Oh, well, don't get old...there ain't no future in it.

amicus...

 

[JamesSD]

According to related articles, the tight stuff is out, as is the belly bearing, ultra-low jeans, ultra-short skirts and thongs. The pendulum has swung back, as it tends to. I'm not sure how to square this with the "sexting" article, but there ya go. Tweens, at least, want to be modest again, at least when it comes to clothes.

These things always cycle.

I work on a college campus, and I can tell you that while tank tops and shorts are still popular, the "muffin top" (midriff baring shirt + low rise jeans) dissapeared a few years ago.

That said, writers with deadlines are well known to invent or overblow trends. You just need one interview from one person who may have an economic interest in there *being* a trend, and poof! article writes itself!

Of course, anyone who doesn't think Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers are selling sex to pre-pubescent kids is kidding themselves...

 

[Weird Harold]

If, as suggested, Obama is our pop-star president, his wife and daughters included in that, then their example will be followed. And their example as a family is very sedate both in manner and clothing.

I think Hannah Montana -- and High School Musical and other Disneyfied role models, not to mention iCarly and Nickelodeon's trend setters -- have more to do with tween/teen fashion that the President does.

Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers may still be selling sex, but they're not selling the "in your face, nothing left to the imagination" kind of sex Britney or even Madonna sold.

 

[Jack_Samuel]

I think Hannah Montana -- and High School Musical and other Disneyfied role models, not to mention iCarly and Nickelodeon's trend setters -- have more to do with tween/teen fashion that the President does.

Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers may still be selling sex, but they're not selling the "in your face, nothing left to the imagination" kind of sex Britney or even Madonna sold.

Hannah and her ilk always need to be different and stand out.

This will be but another trend and our children will look at us and say we are the ones who should put on some clothes

 

[Vermilion]

Of course these articles are talking about tweens, not teens...

 

[JagFarlane]

Well, ya know, all the bareness for the last several years has been mostly on the girls' side. (I've thought the fashion of belly-baring shirts and navel jewels somewhat tiresome, especially considering that when I had the body, I had not the nerve.) This has, unfortunately, been complemented by guys wearing clothing so baggy as to reveal exactly NOTHING about them. Can one hope that young men will go back to wearing trousers that fit?

Somehow I don't think so. Thats going to depend more on the people that they get their fashion from, hip hop and rap stars.

I think Hannah Montana -- and High School Musical and other Disneyfied role models, not to mention iCarly and Nickelodeon's trend setters -- have more to do with tween/teen fashion that the President does.

Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers may still be selling sex, but they're not selling the "in your face, nothing left to the imagination" kind of sex Britney or even Madonna sold.

Agreed there. As much as one can say the Bush girls were party girls, after a little while they were old news. There is also a huge age difference where Obamas oldest is 10, and the twins were already 20 when dad took office. Also, consider this. The low slung jeans and midriff shirts were already popular when I was in high school...when Clinton was president...and Chelsea was not a party girl in the least.

 

[3113]

I think Hannah Montana -- and High School Musical and other Disneyfied role models, not to mention iCarly and Nickelodeon's trend setters -- have more to do with tween/teen fashion that the President does.

Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers may still be selling sex, but they're not selling the "in your face, nothing left to the imagination" kind of sex Britney or even Madonna sold.

Well, duh! That's what the articles asserted and as I don't live under a rock, I do know who is in vogue and how they're being copied. As I said, it was just musing on my part--no evidence or facts to support it at all. I was riffing on the way the president and his family are so often, themselves, referred to as "pop stars."

 

[3113]

There is also a huge age difference where Obamas oldest is 10, and the twins were already 20 when dad took office. Also, consider this. The low slung jeans and midriff shirts were already popular when I was in high school...when Clinton was president...and Chelsea was not a party girl in the least.

The Obamas oldest is exactly the right age given this article--notice how it mentions 10 as the magic age? And the Clintons weren't as popular with kids or seen as fashion icons quite as much as the Obamas are (Hilary's fashion choices didn't get nearly the scrutiny or reporting blitz that Michelle's wardrobe has)--but Chelsea's cat did have a lot of influence

 

[JagFarlane]

The Obamas oldest is exactly the right age given this article--notice how it mentions 10 as the magic age? And the Clintons weren't as popular with kids or seen as fashion icons quite as much as the Obamas are (Hilary's fashion choices didn't get nearly the scrutiny or reporting blitz that Michelle's wardrobe has)--but Chelsea's cat did have a lot of influence

Well from what I understand Michelles wardrobe gets the reporting due to its change of pace from the norm.

But yeah, figured more from what you meant from the post you made before the one I'm responding to now.

 

[3113]

Well from what I understand Michelles wardrobe gets the reporting due to its change of pace from the norm.

But yeah, figured more from what you meant from the post you made before the one I'm responding to now.

Hah! So you acknowledge how much influence Socks the cat had on your current pet situation!

 

[Stultus]

Meek but nymphomaniac Librarians are in.

Hallelujah! I've always been extremely partial to the naughty librarian look!

Om Nom Nom!

 

[Xelebes]

I wonder if this is like the correlation between economic conditions and skirt length.

i.e., exhibitionism is attractive in a Bull market, modesty attractive in a Bear.

When the testosterone is flying high, women seek. When the testosterone sinks, women protect themselves.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

When the testosterone is flying high, women seek. When the testosterone sinks, women protect themselves.

Tweens are not women! They're rather tall babies.