Real Glamour is Back

A recurrent theme I hear from parents of young girls is that they wish it was easier to find clothes that didn’t make their daughter look like a tramp. Understandably. It seems Abercrombie & Fitch would rather prefer young daughters to be bait for a child pornographer and they take pride in their aggressive but often disturbing marketing agendas. Recently, while out and about shopping, I overheard a mother complaining about how Target Corporation is also marketing thongs to young girls, "juniors". As far away as Australia, here is a Mom who is "ready to barf" at Target, and I can't blame her -- in Australia, Target is selling padded bras to girls as young as six, mimicking Bratz dolls.

One stand-up comedian hits it right on, “I feel sorry for the prostitutes these days! After all, what are they supposed to wear so that they stand out from the other girls?” 

There is fun news though. A couple I know, Tom and Jodi, have started a business, Upstream Girl, that offers a line of clothing that won’t insult the dignity of young girls, nor the respect of thoughtful parents. At a recent Mother & Daughter party hosted by Upstream Girl, the girls attending loved the clothes so much they bought them on the spot, wore them home, wore the outfits around everyday, and others took them to camp with them. Tom and Jodi say about their business, “We reach these girls by taking an upbeat, fun, modest approach to providing fashionable clothing.”

They canvass many suppliers to find high quality, reasonably priced, fashionable clothing each season. A buyer from one of the major mass retailers, after meeting with Tom and Jodi, commented on their business plan. She said, “Oh, so you mean you don’t want to dress your eight year old daughter like a prostitute?” Reflecting the power of mass merchandisers like Target and Abercrombie, that buyer knew exactly the problem Tom and Jodi were addressing.

No doubt starting a fashion business has it challenges – getting the word out, securing start-up investment, carefully designing marketing efforts, managing seasonality of merchandise etc. But more and more folks are taking the entrepreneurial plunge, recognizing the opportunity the mass merchandisers are ignoring.

Along that same line, for older girls and women, I met recently a very talented young fashion designer, Sonelle, who specializes in custom designs that are very feminine, alluring, stunning. Her designs range from casual outfits to dresses and formals that have the grace of an Audrey Hepburn with a decidedly modern, glamorous flare – with no hint of the boring brown-sack stereotypes our opponents misguidedly seem to believe we endorse.

Her designs are fitted, gorgeous, stylish, unique.

Sonelle is in the midst of building her business plan and when she finishes, I say to the many fashion designers out there who are far less classy: watch out--

Real Glamour Is Back.

Comments

[Elizabeth S.]

Great point Jeannine!

You are so right!
As a grandma of three granddaughters, ages 2,4,6, I am continually challenged to find cute, appropriate outfits to buy them. The childrens' wear today is outrageous! Thanks for letting us know there is an alternative offered by Upstream Girl. How could I contact them?
Perhaps there is hope for womens' fashion in the not too distant future. Thanks for letting us know that there are people out there who are finally recognizing and becoming sensitive to the needs of ALL women.

[Jeannine]

Elizabeth,

You can contact Upstream Girl via their website, www.upstreamgirl.com -- they have an email address contact and phone numbers there.

Thanks for your nice comment!

Jeannine

[SisterChaos]

I work in the children's and juniors sections of my local branch of a very famous department store. I am embarassed at some of the clothes that are for sale. Halter dresses in sizes 7-16? Come on! Several customers (looking for children's clothes) have complained that some of the clothes we offer are too "grown". In juniors, I was unable to find a relatively modest homecoming dress (no deep necklines, relatively long, relatively high neck) for a girl who wore a size 1. I was shocked at how things had deteriorated since I was in high school looking for homecoming and prom.

Hooray for Tom and Judi and Upstream Girl!

[ada]

Hi, I work at a pregnancy resource center and just found this site a month or so ago.

I am looking for an article that was written by a married woman about being modest even in marriage,saving your exposed body for your husband, and being able to have a conversation with a male friend without it being unconfortable for both because of the way the woman is dressed. (that's a loose description of the article) Anyone know what I talking about? Thanks