It’s a struggle parents know all too well. Whether you're shopping for back-to-school clothes, vacation, or just day-to-day life, finding appropriate clothing for your kids, particularly young girls, can be challenging.
The days when kids played dress up to look like their parents are few and far between. Nowadays, it’s all about what their favorite celebrity is wearing.
According to experts, over the past decade, trends for girls have changed. While for boys, fashion trends have stayed relatively consistent and age-appropriate, styles for girls have arguably become more revealing and overall more mature.
Shorts are shorter, shirts are tighter and heels are higher. More often than not, the same styles that can be found in the misses or juniors sections can also be found in the children’s section.
Lynn Boorady, Chair of the Fashion, Textile & Technology Department at Buffalo State College said, “the industry has to do better. We have to start making clothing for all girls, including the ones who love science, who love to explore, who love microscopes. We can’t keep making the same styles of clothing for just one small percentage of society.”
As trends mature, the question of how they're impacting young girls’ and their sense of body image and self-esteem is one of concern.
“I want every young girl to love herself. To develop a sense of security in her own skin. What message are we sending these girls if one day we are allowing them to dress-up in revealing clothes and the next day telling them to cover-up?,” Boorady emphasized.
Erin Casey has owned Rumpelstiltskins Children's Consignment Store in Buffalo for 11 years and says what the young girls pick out is often times very different than what their parents choose, they usually go for the more form-fitting styles.
"I had a woman and her daughter in here last weekend and they were looking for a dress for an event. The mom picked out a beautiful flowing linen dress, the daughter was like, there's no shape to it, I won't do it," Casey said.
But will this last?
Experts say, with fashion changing everyday, only time will tell.
