Saturday night, I took the kids shopping for Easter clothes.
And I pined for the days when Kate sat complacently in her stroller, eating Cheerios and not giving me any lip about the clothes I picked out for her.
But I digress.
I could not – could not – believe some of the dresses I was seeing. In the little girls section. Of Macy’s! It’s not like we were in Forever 8 or anything. (That’s me trying to be clever, like Forever 21. Get it? No? Ok, anyway…)
Even Macy’s must be ashamed of themselves, though, because they don’t have any of the questionable dresses that grace their store on their website. So I’ve spent the better part of the evening trying to find pictures to prove my point.
(I won’t tell you about the google searches I’ve performed during this quest for fear that other weirdos with similar searches will wind up on Mommin’ It Up, but I’m hoping this post will be proof enough that I had a good reason for searching those terms when the authorities come a callin’.)
In any case, I present to you example one. Note that this dress is available in sizes 4-6x, perfect for the preschool crowd.
Isn’t that lovely? Because, you know, every little girl needs some black lace.
And how about this one?
Perfect for Easter Sunday… or Dancing with the Stars.
And this… this one is my personal favorite. Again, available in sizes 4-6x.
Really, these dresses aren’t even as bad as the ones I saw the other night, but they were the best examples I could find without going to jail online.
Call me a prude, but five- and six-year-old girls should not be sexy!
Quite honestly, Kate was eyeing some of the very dresses that made my skin crawl – they were pink and sparkly and sequin-y and appealing to her. I was quick to say HELL NO no, but obviously someone’s buying them or they wouldn’t be hanging on the racks.
It seems a great disservice to our daughters to allow them to be sexualized at such a young age.
Between the images in the window of Fredrick’s of Hollywood that we couldn’t miss as we walked into the Stride Rite next door, the pelvic bones of the boys on the signs for Abercrombie and Fitch, and the dresses in the little freaking girls’ section, I felt like I should have blindfolded my kids just to walk through the mall.
So here’s what Kate will be wearing on Easter, and Christmas. And prom.
Of course, I am making a joke in very poor taste kidding.
Here’s the dress I picked for Kate to wear on Easter.
Isn’t that gorgeous? I just love it.
Unfortunately, Kate did not. (see pining for pre-conversational days above).
We did, however, settle on this one, which is also quite pretty (and much prettier in real life!).
So, um, happy Easter shopping to the rest of you. And don’t forget your blindfolds.
That is why I am so happy that God blessed me with 2 boys! God knew that I couldn’t handle the stress of girl clothes. Why is it that the clothing industry wants our little girls to grow up so fast? I don’t get it?
I’m sure I will be freaking out when my own little diva gets to be that age.
I was really pleased to find a beautiful Maggie and Zoe dress at Marshalls for $14.99. They had a bunch for $12.99, but I fell in love with the one I chose.
There will come a day when you won’t be able to get her in a dress AT ALL…she will want to live in sweats and gym shorts…then 2 years later you will be begging her to wear a pair of sweats under the “skirt” she claims to be wearing.
Hold me, I’m scared.
I have no kids, but am totally scared of what fashion has in store for me when I do have a child, and at this rate it won’t be for 10 years. Sexy and 4 to 6 year old should never go together, really!
P.S. I love the blue dress.
I love the dress you picked out! And the fact that you care what you’re little one is wearing. So many people will just buy it because it’s the “latest” thing, not thinking about the message it sends.
Oh honey, wait until you are shopping for a Homecoming dress! Most of the ones my 16 year old saw should have come with their own pole.
i couldn’t agree with your post more!!
so sad! i love the dress you chose!
I TOTALLY agree! My little girl is not even two, but I was bothered by my Christmas dress choices! Why does she need to be in a short skirt dressed like she’s going to prom just for Christmas? I don’t even want to think about Easter shopping…and even worse, like you said, all the years to come when she has an opinion! I think you did a great job, though!
apparently you have never wandered into one of the many stores that sells THONGS for 8 year olds. Yes, it disgusts me as well! Setting up women to hate their bodies and see themselves as a sex object at a pretty young age. oh, society what have we done? 🙂 happy easter
I completely agree. I can’t stand it when I see clothes for my almost-3-year-old that make her look like a teenager. I’m sewing her Easter dress. She doesn’t get to choose 🙂
LOL – when I got to the second one, I was totally “Dancing with the Stars” and then I read your comment. We’re soul sistas!
I love that blue one, where did it come from? The compromise dress is gorgeous. “Jesus” will be very proud to show off his family. Wink wink…
Excellent post! Since I’m in a High School everyday where everything worn is from either Abertrampy and Skank or from Hos R’ Us, nothing surprises me. As long as people keep buying them, they’ll keep making them. My wife’s sewing gave her many more choices for our daughter!!
I KNOW!! I know, I know, I know. My oldest just turned four last winter and is a GIANT for her age, so I am buying size 6s for the summer. I cannot BELIEVE some of the stuff I see in the “girls” sections. It makes my stomach hurt, literally. I can’t imagine how much worse it will get as she gets older. And she totally loves all the sparkly inappropriate stuff, too.
Better start brushing up on my Mean Mom skillz.
I’ve been waiting for this post since I saw your Tweet about looking for slutty dresses, lol!
I have 3 little girls, and it just ASTOUNDS me that ppl make these dresses (and shirts, and skirts) for little girls!
Luckily, I avoided all the “drama” of choosing a dress for each girl when DD2 was with me in Sam’s. She saw a lilac dress for $17, and I grabbed two more just like it. My girls will be identical on Easter Sunday.
Great post… get the word out that we Momma’s don’t like slutty dresses for our toddlers… or preschoolers… or 1st graders… shall I go on?!
Ugh – I know this pain.
Related note, you might find the book “Stop Dressing Your Daughter Like a Skank” by Cecilia Rivenbark funny. Some of it’s a bit off-color, but hilarious.
Thanks for the warning. We barely let our older daughter wear tank tops anymore, because a 5-year-old girl doesn’t need to be wearing spaghetti straps or low-cut v-necks. It’s ridiculous!
I totally agree! I hate that kids are subjected to sexuality at such a young age. So sad! Thanks for sharing!
I’m lucky that my girls aren’t prissy, and my church is very casual. I got two matching dresses off of the Target clearance rack earlier this week, both for less than $8. And, I bought matching sweaters just in case it snows on Easter… again.
Three thoughts. First, I love the dress you picked out. Second, I am so scared of the day my daughter starts telling me how she thinks she should dress.
And third, I understand now why my mom didn’t want me to wear a black dress to prom. At the time, I thought it was ridiculous that I couldn’t wear black, because it made me look too old. Actually, that’s still a little crazy. But I understand where the crazy was coming from.
I totally totally agree with you. Which is why I make a lot of my daughter’s clothes…. they are still cute and stylish, just don’t, you know, show her belly or other questionable regions.
Do you still have the Easter Dress I passed you from when my girl was 5? Is it too big? Very pretty, very appropriate.
Just wait until you have to shop in the size 7s and up; horrid, “whore”id, clothes for our little girls.
Yet another reason why I love Catholic schools — UNIFORMS!!
😉
this makes me thankful that i have 2 boys……i thought i wanted a girl but now i am not so sure
My little ones are not quite big enough yet for this to be a worry. But shopping for swimsuits was a nightmare last year. Bikinis for a 6 month old baby, anyone? In the end, I found little wetsuit type things that zip up the back. As for Easter, our church is also very casual, and we’re going into autumn at that time of the year, so the clothes are a bit more modest. I agree though, having seen what’s on offer for young girls today. *shudder*
Hilarious post. Unfortunately, it doesn’t get any better the older they get. 🙁 I couldn’t stop thinking of your post when I walked through Macy’s last night. All of the prom dresses are out and it dawned on me Easter is a Pre-schooler’s prom. Ha.
I hopped over here from Jo-Lynne’s site and I couldn’t agree more. I have 3 daughters and it is not fun to shop for them.
I actually design children’s clothes and I make the majority of my daughters clothing for this exact reason. Nothing wrong with age-appropriate attire. If they are wearing the aove at 6 what will they want at 16???
I am amazed at some of the slutty clothes for little girls. Mine is still a baby but I can see what is coming. My 1 year old does not need a bikini or a midriff bearing short or high heels (have you seen those?)! I may end up paying a fortune at Hanna Andersson but at least I can let her go out of the house!
I am so glad to find that others feel this way. I have spent hours upon hours looking online for an Easter dress that would suite of 5 year who I would love to buy a size 7 dress so that I could get more than 1 season out of $60 some dollar outfit. Atlas, when you cross over into the size 7, all the “cute” goes away and the “very questionable” comes into play! I think I may resort to making my own dresses. I love hartstrings website (but their dresses kind of all look the same, just different pattern) and “my little blessings” website has some cute dresses. Would love to have the pocket book to shop “Wooden soldier”, but not in these economic times!
YIKES! So this is what I have to look forward to in a few years??
Are you serious? I am in so much trouble. I blame it all on Bratz dolls. I accept that my daughter will have cuter clothes than me. There is no way she will ever have sexier clothes than me. At least not until she’s out of this house (or sneaking out in them under her “school outfit”)
You are absolutely right about some of the inappropriate dresses out there. I created a page at http://www.squidoo.com/easter-dresses filled with pretty little dresses that are affordable and practical. Nice for Easter but wearable on any day. I hope it helps some Moms out there trying to find nice dresses for their daughters.
Brenda