Dear Target,
Ever since I first discovered you in college, when I went away to school to a Land That Had a Target when my hometown did not, I have loved you. I was very happy when, by the time I graduated and moved back home, we had Targets galore in my city. And now, if I think, as I often do, “I need to go to Target!” or more likely, “I need to find an excuse to go to Target because I LOVE TARGET!” I can rest assured knowing there are not one, not two, but three Target stores equidistant from my home and two more a little further out if need be. Whew!
All that to say, Target: I love you long time.
I love your bright lights, clean aisles, and your printable, mobile, and Cartwheel coupons. I love your clearance. I love your Red Card that is linked to my checking account and saves me 5% every time I shop.
What I DON’T love? Your girls department. To be honest, most of my 7-year-old daughter’s clothes are very nice hand-me-downs, and I’ve never really taken a good, hard look at your girls’ department until last night, when I was trying to find her something appropriate for “super hero dress up day” at school. And then, I took a very good, L-O-N-G look.
You know what I found in the girls’ department? Minnie Mouse, My Little Pony, Ever After High, and Hello Kitty. You know what I found in the boys’ department? Batman, Superman, SpiderMan, the Avengers, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Forgive me if I’m just a little frustrated.
There should be hero options in the girls’ department. There should be options beyond pink and sparkle. Does my daughter LIKE pink and sparkle? Yep. Does she LIKE Hello Kitty? Yep. Does she LIKE superheroes? Yep. Should she have OPTIONS available for both types of clothing? Absolutely. I wasn’t even looking for a GIRL superhero necessarily (although a little Wonder Woman never killed nobody. Right?) but some of those lady Avengers would’ve been cool. But I’d also have been cool with SpiderMAN, BatMAN, and SuperMAN t-shirts in the girls’ department. Because you can be a fan of a superhero regardless of said hero’s gender.
In the end, after a l-o-n-g tour around every part of the store I thought could POSSIBLY offer a solution to this problem, I bought my daughter a Batman t-shirt from the boys’ department, a Batman hat from the boys department, a yellow mask attached to a set of underoos from the boys department, and a pair of black leggings from the girls’ department. It turned out pretty cute:
But my shopping experience left me jaded. Target, my friend, our girls deserve better options. So why don’t you go back to the drawing board and make more and better t-shirt options for them? My daughter loves Super Mario Bros., Sonic, LEGO, and pretty much everything else that’s available in the boys’ department. And while we’re at it, why not make KIDS some t-shirts with real heroes on them, too? Like Amelia Earhart or Neil Armstrong, for instance. I’d buy those t-shirts.
I love you, Target. But I know you can do better. So DO better.
Love,
Jenny
We had the same problem looking for Lego shirts. All three of my older daughters wanted Lego movie shirts and there were none to be found in the girls section. We found some but they are obviously boy shirts. Such a bummer because a pink Lego shirt would be cool.
Slow clap… Also, I bought Molly super hero underwear at TJMaxx, but that doesn’t solve your problem.
And why can’t there be an Elmo shirt for a toddler girl?? It’s all Abby and Zoe, with maybe a Big Bird thrown in for fun. Elmo’s are always in the boys dept.
IMO, everything in the Target girls section is ugly. I love their little kids clothes. But I don’t want sassy clothes for my daughter just because she’s no longer a 5T and under. I HATE screen printed shirts. I miss being able to buy her things without stupid sayings or logos on them. Or stuff that is clearly not age appropriate. Target girls section is a major fail and just sends me straight to Crazy 8, Childrens Place, etc etc etc.
100% agree with you. I can find oodles of cute things in Target for my 2 year old daughter but rarely anything for my 9 year old girl. And it gets worse in the summer! My daughter is not going to wear booty shorts or mini skirts – and don’t get me started on their swimsuits! The last time I went to my local Target I don’t think there was a single one piece or full coverage tankini in her size – but tons of bikinis with triangle tops.
No thank you, Target.
Also, they did have cute superhero outfits for girls in the infant/toddler section not long ago. Cute Batman and Superman tutu dresses. I don’t know why they couldn’t progress that to the big girl section.
Even then, though – pink and sparkle. Not all girls want that (I certainly didn’t as a kid!). Character stuff could just be gender neutral, imo.
I agree. And check this out: I love these shirts and the shorts look awesome. Next up they are going to design underwear. I can’t even THINK about looking at the undergarments section for girls at a dept. store. Can’t even. http://girlswillbehq.com/
I love this SO MUCH.
Me too! Might’ve supported them on Kickstarter if I’d known! And the “team” is two adult sisters & a brother, which make me love it more.
Also? I have like zero memory of what kind of clothes I liked as a kid! Zero!
Large floral prints and British Knights.
You are welcome.
I have so many thoughts on this that I don’t know where to begin.
And not one word about the skankiness and age inappropriateness of most of the girls clothes.
Great blog, just thought you’d be going down that aisle too!
A-Men. Throwing a Wonder Woman party for the girl is proving to be a problem. I have to order EVERYTHING online. There’s Justice League stuff, but WW is left out.
And I echo Emily–too much thoughts.