Children’s Fashion

Children’s Fashion If you thought that retail shops were trying their best to make you a customer- its time to think again. Retailers everywhere have discovered that children are just as fussy as adults when it comes to making decisions about clothes and are just as design and style conscious. Careful studies, observations and trend analysis have led to a new discovery- that children decide on what they would like to wear and the eventual purchase. Gone are the days when children would wear anything their parents got them. My generation saw plenty of pigtailed, knee frocked girls; but I doubt if you will find any such girls even in your neighborhood nowadays. It is no longer just about teens, because tweens are coming into focus too. Children’s fashion has suddenly grown into a huge industry, with umpteen designers creating new styles and designs specifically for children. What exactly started the trend? It’s hard to put your finger on that question spot on. However, nobody can deny that families today have more disposable incomes to spend than ever before. When people take trouble and spend to look good for themselves, chances are that they will spend for their child too. It’s no longer just about good looking parents; the children matter too. Media and other forms of entertainment can be cited as another reason for the sudden surge in children’s fashion. With so many teenage shows on TV, it’s not hard to understand why your daughter occasionally fakes an accent or why your son refuses to wear his cap the normal way. Children imitate what they see, and when they see their idols on screen wearing trendy clothes, they simply want to dress up like them too. Not surprising then that on screen queens like Miley Cyrus and Ashley Tisdale, have a huge following of adoring tweens who carefully copy their looks and style. For boys, it could be music stars or sports figures who are style idols. Popular fiction usually revolves around run of the mill themes like ugly girl gets a makeover and becomes popular, or geek turns around his style to get noticed. Advertisers are no less shrewd either. Advertisements specifically targeting children and the latest fashion trends are shown during prime time. Some retailers spend huge amounts to create a theme in the sections featuring children’s clothes or even give freebies away with every purchase. So what are the latest in fashion trends for children? Clothing with cartoon characters and other animations continue to draw a huge market. For girls, cuts, styles and patterns are experimented with. Off shoulder looks, halter necks, or sleeveless styles are quite popular. Bottom can range from cargoes, to capris to even hot pants. For boys, since the range of experimentation is quite limited; colors, patterns and other designs are given importance. Accessories such as jewelry, funky bracelets, pendants, caps, bags and even shoes are highlighted so as to complete a look. Whatever the brand, one can’t deny that children’s style is being given huge importance. After all, children are the compelling weakness to get mommy and daddy to spend more.