Snips and snails and Nike logos
It doesn't matter what kind of diaper Daniel's wearing, he still manages to leak all kinds of pee through his clothes every night, so yesterday I went shopping to buy him a couple more pairs of footed pajamas so I wouldn't have to do laundry every day. So far we've been fortunate not to have to buy many new clothes for Daniel. Between the used rack at Happy Bambino, gifts from friends and relatives, and hand-me-downs, I've only had to fill in some gaps here and there.
So off I went to Kohl's, which is situated in a big, nasty parking lot/mall complex on the west side of Madison, but nonetheless has inexpensive children's clothes and a pretty good selection. Or so I thought. There were certainly racks and racks of things to choose from, but the choices boiled down to:
- sports logos
- ironed-on race cars, trucks and fire engines
- baseball/football/basketball motifs with things like "Daddy's little All-star!" embroidered on
- Green Bay Packers onesies
I didn't spend much time looking on the girls' racks, but a cursory glance showed a selection of flowers, kittens, lots of pink, and a onesie that read "Does this diaper make my butt look big?" I shouldn't have to tell you what I thought of that one.
Now, I'm not a person who gives terribly much thought to what I'm wearing. I've never had a full-time job that required dressing up every day, and I was raised to believe there are better things to spend money on than lots of nice clothes. Things like a college education, travel and good books are more of a priority for me. (Well, and yarn, but I'm trying to be good.) Besides, most of what I wear gets doused with pee, barf, drool and pureed vegetables.
When it comes to little kids, they REALLY don't care what they're wearing, as long as they're comfortable. But at what point do they start noticing that girls are almost exclusively dressed in pretty, flowery, soft clothes, and boys in more aggressive, active, extroverted clothes? As if girls don't play sports and aren't interested in trucks. (When I was little, I loved cement trucks. I still get kind of excited when I see one, but that's a story for another day.) As if boys can't appreciate flowers and butterflies.
After 20 minutes, I settled on the only two pairs of jammies I could stomach, one with little ducks all over, and one with puppies. When I left the store, I was thoroughly disgusted, both with the clothing companies and the store for their merchandise, and a little bit with myself for caring so much.
I know there are other options out there, but I have a feeling they're expensive. I'm conflicted about this. I'm not going to shop designer labels, but I want to avoid making my kid look like a lil' NASCAR fan. I don't have time to make all of his clothes, and I don't think it's worth it considering that he, too, is often covered with pee, drool and all the rest.
I also know that in the scheme of things, this is not a big deal. The war in Iraq, global warming, homophobic legislation - all those things bother me a heck of a lot more than baby fashion trends. But it's still pretty annoying. Maybe I should start a line of affordable, stereotype-free kids' clothes. Maybe I should just get over it.
So off I went to Kohl's, which is situated in a big, nasty parking lot/mall complex on the west side of Madison, but nonetheless has inexpensive children's clothes and a pretty good selection. Or so I thought. There were certainly racks and racks of things to choose from, but the choices boiled down to:
- sports logos
- ironed-on race cars, trucks and fire engines
- baseball/football/basketball motifs with things like "Daddy's little All-star!" embroidered on
- Green Bay Packers onesies
I didn't spend much time looking on the girls' racks, but a cursory glance showed a selection of flowers, kittens, lots of pink, and a onesie that read "Does this diaper make my butt look big?" I shouldn't have to tell you what I thought of that one.
Now, I'm not a person who gives terribly much thought to what I'm wearing. I've never had a full-time job that required dressing up every day, and I was raised to believe there are better things to spend money on than lots of nice clothes. Things like a college education, travel and good books are more of a priority for me. (Well, and yarn, but I'm trying to be good.) Besides, most of what I wear gets doused with pee, barf, drool and pureed vegetables.
When it comes to little kids, they REALLY don't care what they're wearing, as long as they're comfortable. But at what point do they start noticing that girls are almost exclusively dressed in pretty, flowery, soft clothes, and boys in more aggressive, active, extroverted clothes? As if girls don't play sports and aren't interested in trucks. (When I was little, I loved cement trucks. I still get kind of excited when I see one, but that's a story for another day.) As if boys can't appreciate flowers and butterflies.
After 20 minutes, I settled on the only two pairs of jammies I could stomach, one with little ducks all over, and one with puppies. When I left the store, I was thoroughly disgusted, both with the clothing companies and the store for their merchandise, and a little bit with myself for caring so much.
I know there are other options out there, but I have a feeling they're expensive. I'm conflicted about this. I'm not going to shop designer labels, but I want to avoid making my kid look like a lil' NASCAR fan. I don't have time to make all of his clothes, and I don't think it's worth it considering that he, too, is often covered with pee, drool and all the rest.
I also know that in the scheme of things, this is not a big deal. The war in Iraq, global warming, homophobic legislation - all those things bother me a heck of a lot more than baby fashion trends. But it's still pretty annoying. Maybe I should start a line of affordable, stereotype-free kids' clothes. Maybe I should just get over it.
Comments
I buy most of CJ's clothes at Target. I've bought some at Kohl's, and I confess to buying a few shirts from WalMart during a moment of weakness and giving in to the damned corporate devil. It seems no matter where I go, girls clothes outnumber boys clothes by a 4:1 ratio. I tend to buy stripes and solids and lots of bugs, lizards, and dinosaurs. That's not to say I don't get the occasional duck, since I do, and I love the little t-shirts with the Beatles cartoon characters and little sayings like, "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
I think what's marketed to girls is shameful--little hoochie mama tops and suggestive words printed across the seat of too short shorts--last week, while coming home from work, I saw two girls in my neighborhood walking home from the pool. Neither one was older than 12, they were wearing barely there bikini tops and short-shorts, and had smeared eyeliner from the pool water. They didn't look like kids but more like washed out crack whores looking for a trick off Van Buren near downtown. Maybe I'm a prude, but I was shocked, dismayed, and angered--at the girls for having so little self esteem that they think it's cool to look like whores, at the clothing companies and fashion magazine that promote inappropriate sexualization at earlier and earlier ages, and the parents for deciding it's easier to let their daughters look like whores than subject them to teasing at school for wearing something more appropriate.
OK, maybe I should get off my soapbox now since I've gone way off topic. It just really steams me.
1. i am woefully ignorant of business and marketing, and not motivated to learn. entrepeneurship is just not my thing.
2. i don't know if there's a way to do such a thing and make said clothing affordable without employing slave labor.
I remember when my twins were still newborns, a friend was visiting and I was sorting some laundry, and she was like, "Wow. That's an awful lot of red and blue." And I was a) stunned that I was so wiped out that I'd failed to notice myself and b) so frustrated because it was true! Especially since I'm shopping for /two/ little boys, it's hard to only buy the non-blue/red combinations.
I do a lot of clothes shopping at Target (I'm surprised to find I'm more of a clothes horse than I have always thought, so I looooooved the little "surf shack" trend of this summer), and we also keep an eye out for sales at The Children's Place, which has great quality stuff and it's often easy to find things that are solid colors or stripes without logos and junk all over them. Sometimes the online store has stuff deeply discounted too, but it sells out quickly.
Friends of ours have a daughter who's almost three, and they have a /terrible/ time finding clothes for her that aren't either "hoochie mama" stuff, or that don't look like a flower bed threw up on them. They do their best, but it's not easy.
Roy
I checked it out and while there is some really nice stuff on there, there is no way in hell I'm paying $64 for a single outfit. Just no way.
I know there are lots of nice kids' clothes out there. Before Daniel was born, for example, I bought a bunch of stuff on clearance from Babystyle, and was really happy with the quality and colors and so forth. It's the cost that I have a problem with. The more affordable brands are the ones that don't provide choices without the yicky stereotypes.
As for Target contributing to the Republicans...sigh...that's bad news, but they're still not as evil as Wal-Fart.
Do I like Wal-Mart? No.
But do I think the bashing they get is deserved when people praise other retailers in the same breath. No, I don’t.
Roy
And if what Roy says about Target funding the Republicans, then I guess I can see why there's red everywhere in the store. Subliminal politicking, anyone? LOL
i think wal-mart's the worst because they're sexist and racist in their hiring and promotion policies. plus the whole thing about not hiring older, fatter people so they could save $$ on health care costs pissed me off. the thing is, they're the BIGGEST, so they have the capacity to change these things and set an example for everyone else. mcD's now sells fair trade coffee, for example. it's a start.
blech, enough rambling. all i want is a perfect world. is that too much to ask?