Can you remember when you first started to become fashion conscious? Was it when your Mum put you in that awful itchy polyester sweater and you thought that was one sweater too many? Let’s not forget the dreaded socks and sandals combo!
Now ask yourself how old were you? Maybe you can’t remember but we have the memories of our fashion mishaps made by our parents when we were younger and too young to make our dress sense choices.
Let’s look at children these days and what is available for them in terms of clothes and accessories. It can be said that some of the clothes and accessories available, are smaller versions of adult clothing and accessories.
For example flat caps, tuxedos or handbags. It seems that our children want to emulate us (the adults) by wearing the same things. Are our children becoming a generation of “mini-me’s”?
Take the example of handbags for young girls being available. It could be said that accessories like this are in preparation for a young girls ‘role’ as a lady. It could be suggested that having accessories such as a handbag conditions girls into learning that this is a symbol of becoming a lady, as their mothers and other women in their lives will also have one. They will see this and may naturally want to emulate this.
However is this natural instinct or does fashion play a big part in our children’s lives now more then ever? In the past there have always been discussions of children being bombarded with advertisements aimed specifically at them for toys and computer games.
Looking at fashion now it is safe to say that children are now being bombarded with fashion images of the latest trends. Many more retailers who traditionally catered for a specific audience have now started to cater for Children too. I.e. New Look and River Island.
This could be a contributing factor that influences the parents who shop at these shops to buy their essentials here too, hence creating their own mini-me’s, by dressing and accessorising them in a similar way. This could be the main factor in influencing our children to be more fashion aware then compared to the children twenty years ago.
For example think back to when you were younger, can you remember the shops you used to go to or all your polyester sweater needs? You will probably find it was the obligatory Marks & Spencer, Clarks or C&A. Compare it to what choices kids have now you will find there is a vast difference as there is so much more and hence why the children of today demand so much more.
However some would argue that all this choice for children may be too much, as we make our children grow up ‘too fast’ and in some instances we maybe endangering them by sexualising them too early with certain types of clothes. For example some retailers have come under fire for creating clothing deemed inappropriate for young girls such as padded bra’s, padded bikini’s, hot pants and even thongs.
Its items of clothing like the above examples that should make us stop and think of the other side of influence that fashion has on young people. Some may argue that children like adults need to move on with the times and trends of fashion if they want to keep up with the ever changing times, hence why clothes and accessories are mini versions of what their parents will buy.
Peer pressure from other children may be an influence on children wanting to be more fashion aware and in the latest trends. The playground may not be a ground for disputes over the swings any more but over who is wearing what.
There are definitely reasons to suggest that children are now more influenced by fashion then the pervious generation of children. Let us hope the mini-me generation does not fall under the same fashion trap their parents may sometimes fall into: The pressure of feeling they need to wear certain clothes or look a certain way. They say that children are our future; lets help them by letting them stay children for as long as possible before we let them grow up too fast. Here’s to the mini-me’s being fashion confident as well as fashion conscious.
