Has anyone else noticed how impractical some girls’ clothes are in shops? Girls shorts are the length of hot pants and the t-shirts are mostly fitted. I often need to buy my daughters clothes from the boys’ section. Why do I need to do this?
I know I know, there are very nice boutiques and brands which have the clothes that I am looking for, but we shouldn’t need to shop at the high-end stores to get decent clothes for girls. I am referring to our regular national retail outlets where people go for quality and affordable clothes.
My primary concern is for my daughter to be comfortable when she plays and not being put in a box of what to wear because she is a girl. Although this seems insignificant, it is important because it signals to our girls what they can and cannot do. Oh, you should be pretty in pink and sit still, but boys, please go outside and be adventurous. And that is okay if it’s their choice. However, that is not okay if the choice is made for them.
These are basic things that can be improved
1. T-shirts for girls are always ‘fitted’ t-shirts. My daughter prefers the looser t-shirts and we often end up buying t-shirts from the ‘boys’ section’. The loose-fitting t-shirts are much more comfortable.
2. Shorts are CRAZY short and this is a real problem. I often need to buy my daughter shorts from the boy section. The boy shorts length is a decent length and loose-fitting.
3. Girls clothes all have very demure slogans. “Beautiful’ and “Princess’. Now these are all cute and have their place. But really, can we not get some more options for girls? Girls also like t-shirts with adventurous slogans.
4. Pink. For heaven’s sake, why should everything be pink. Most of the moms of girls I speak with (now, I didn’t do a survey with a cross section of the population), they wished there were more non-pink clothes. Yes, pink is pretty and we love pink in our house – but come on. Let’s live on the wild side and have green dresses. I must admit I have seen some changes in the retail stores, pink is still overwhelming but I can see stores trying to bring in different colour palettes.
We buy ‘boy’ clothes in our house for both our girls (infant and preschooler). In fact, just now during winter, most of the warmer clothes were for boys? Very bizarre. The other reasons we buy boy clothes is that it gives us more variety and colours to work with and it’s just more practical. We also buy dresses and skirts for our preschooler, which she loves and adores too.
When faced with comments from our children about what girls or boys should or should not do, how should we deal with it?
This happens to us where my daughter expresses ideas about what girls and boys should wear or do.
1. There will be messages that our children are being exposed to outside of the home, and that is okay, that is life. No matter what values you espouse inside your family, they will get exposed to messages outside the house. This needs to be accepted. The best thing is to do your best to be a good role model most of the time.
2. When a statement is made that is gender biased, e.g. I want to be a boy, because boys run fast. Say something like ‘you don’t need to be a boy to run fast, girls can also run fast too, did you know that?’.
3. Let them be. This is the most important one. If your child wants to wear whatever let them. Don’t ‘strongly encourage’ your daughter to wear dresses and skirts, or the other way around (I am guilty of this, when there are functions). Let them express themselves so that they can develop their own voice. Don’t discourage girls from running around and climbing trees.
Am I making a big deal out of nothing?
My view is that this is a big deal, as I do think girls are often placed in a box. The messages that they get through subtle cues as they grow up impacts their choices later in life. Whatever my daughter likes whether it’s soccer, glitter head bands, or tulle skirts, or all of it, it’s okay if it’s her choice. Not mine or that of society.
What do you think, does it matter that much that boys have clothes that encourage adventure and outdoor play and girls’ clothes typically do not?
Featured Image: istock
Great post! I have two daughters and this is something that’s always irritated me! I do think that things are slowly starting to change here in the US… brands are becoming aware that we need to empower girls and that they might be just as interested in dinosaurs and trucks, as they are in princesses and fairies!
Thanks Polly, seeing the wheels turn slowly. Uplifted when I see active girls clothes in different colours. We live in hope and influence where we can.
Agree! Emilie is a tom boy and we have always done the same. I still sometimes do although she is becoming alot more girly. Glad to see that the wheels are turning a bit in some shops. But really some of the clothes I can only shake my head! Definitely a good topic to be talking about I totally agree!
It Should really just be clothes and they can pick. It links in nicely to what you saying that you shop in both sections.
I love this post you are so true. I have a girl and it is hard to escape the very girly stuff. I am actually going down the more funky quirky look with her as she is only 1. Leggings are all she ever wears as the are comfy in her. I pick up a lot of jersey dresses and tunics because they are comfy
I love the leggings and tunics, they are super cute! 🙂 We do love the girly things in our house though, but i think we all saying lets just have more variety 🙂 Its okay to like more than one type of clothes
Well … I still buy Tees from the boys/men section … go figure …
Even tho I have a boy, this is something I very much agree with. And sometimes I’m a bit baffled at the slogans they put on the t-shirts for teen girls or young women. But that’s another topic alltogether