You Wear It Well

We're taking a break from our usual repertoire to discuss something that I saw earlier today.  Articles like this make me want to make sure my kids go to a school where uniforms are required.  When L's first niece was born, I happily went on a shopping spree for all kinds of clothes for her.  It's fun to shop for kids' clothes!  But I also remember telling one of my co-workers at the time that I was completely shocked and appalled but how slutty some of the girls' clothes were.  I grew up wearing smocked dresses (I'm lucky enough to have a mother who enjoyed sewing and knew how to smock with like a professional) and clothes from a store called Chocolate Soup (I have no descriptors except to say that they were conservative kids' clothes, but then, it was the '80s, so what kids' clothes weren't conservative by today's standards??) as a little girl and by the time I was in elementary school, I had to wear a uniform.  When it came time for church, Mom had me and my sister in Maggie Breen dresses.  I just looked for some pics online but luckily for little girls today, the fashions of the '80s are no longer en vogue.  Here's a mental picture for you: picture tea-length taffeta (any color will do), short sleeves (sometimes puffy, other times not), a large collar (usually white, often with a lace trim), and many times a satin sash that tied in the back in a big bow.  We were definitely the very essence of girly girls.  But I don't regret it.  I fully intend to dress any daughters L and I may have one day in smocked dresses (maybe even some of the ones my sister and I wore, because of course Mom still has them stored away and word on the street is that they are in mint condition) and any boys in john-johns, at least while they are really little boys.  L is opposed to the john-john, but I grew up in a southern state with undoubtedly Southern parents and I think that's going to outweigh L's feelings of john-johns being... um... fruity.  Because here's the thing: little boys can only wear them until they're about 2.  That's not fruity; it's cute.  But that's a whole other parenting discussion that's completely irrelevant until we actually decide to start a family. 

Kids have the rest of their lives to grow up and buy trendy clothes like velour sweatsuits and skimpy clothes.  Why not actually dress them like what they are, which is kids??  They're only young once.