Posted on 05/23/2004 11:59:52 AM PDT by mhking
BELLEVUE - When Ella Gunderson wanted some new clothes she thought for sure she'd find something in the junior's department of Nordstrom.
But she was surprised by what she found.
"Some of the clothes there just aren't very appropriate," she explained.
She found short skirts and blue jeans that left her belly button bare.
So, Ella took her complaint to the top. She wrote the company a letter.
The letter read: "Dear Nordstrom, I'm an 11-year-old girl who has tried shopping at your store for clothes, in particular jeans. But all of them ride way under my hips and the next size up is too big and it falls down. Your clerk suggests there is only one 'look'. If that is true then girls are supposed to walk around half naked. I think we need to change that."
Ella got Nordstrom's attention. In fact, two executives wrote her back.
Deniz Anders, Nordstrom's Spokesperson, said, "We're always looking at our sales floor to see what kind of merchandise we have and want to make sure we're carrying something for everyone."
Nordstrom told Ella managers would coach sales people to suggest more modest options and they would ask buyers to look for a wide range of clothes.
But Ella knows girls all around her are sent the opposite message by their role models and the models in magazines. Her peers might be a tougher sell than Nordstrom.
"We can be cool and we can be good looking," she said, "but you can still be modest at the same time."
If that message doesn't sell, Ella said at least "I've learned you should stand up for what you think is right and people will listen to you."
Ella and her mother have also helped plan a kids' fashion show at the Hyatt in Bellevue on Sunday, May 23. The fashion show will feature more modest clothing options for girls.
Just damn.
If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...
Kudos to this young girl :) I'd be damn proud of her if I was her dad.
Qwinn
Is Nordstrom's the only department store in town? Although I applaud her for taking the store to task for only offering a "Young Whore" line of teen apparel, she can also just shop elsewhere.
bump
Good for her. People think that designers just give the public what they want, but I believe its often the other way around. The design industry is densely populated by gays, talentless artsy fartsies and other assorted liberal lefties who want everybody to resemble them, so they can legitimatize their corrupt lifestyle. You wouldn't believe the trouble I have finding a plain dark blue cotton civilian shirt or plain black shoes. Everything has gay tutti frutti and tassels on it.
Ella ***ROCKS***
Bless her heart for taking on the big-wigs and standing up for her principals. She's a smart one to know at that age that styles are being manipulated by trashy designers and tramps like J-LO and Brittney Spears.
She is one gutsy little girl!
Actually, most other stores of full of the same pants as Nordstrom. The only women's jeans that cover the belly button are in the "plus" size area. I take this on good authority from my sister.
What a great kid!
My daughter is modest, too.
She doesn't like what she calls "The Hootchie Look".
When did a 11 year old girl, not showing off her abdomen change from being appropriate, to being "modest"?
Sick freaks...
Frankly I don't think low cut jeans look good on ANYONE... the straight line across the hips breaks up the curves and frankly does not look nearly as good as clothing that is above the hips and covers them fully allowing the clean lines of the hips. But that's for adult women.
For Girls, its insulting and disgusting that parents allow their children to wear such things, let alone go out and buy it for them.
My nephew (now an LA cop and DA's investigator) used to work as a stock room guy in the summer at a Nordstrom's in the Bay Area.
One day he was working in the stock room when an elderly man came through the curtain with some clothes over his arm.
"I want to try on these clothes but all of the changing rooms are busy." he said.
My nephew explained that the man wasn't allowed in the stock room, but if he'd wait a minute he'd check for a changing room. He did check and all of the changing rooms were busy. So my nephew went back to the man and let him know that he'd have to wait. The man said he couldn't wait. My nephew looked around at the stock room and told the man "I shouldn't do this but... " and then proceeded to stack boxes in the stock room until they formed an enclosure.
He told the man to use the area to try on the clothes. The man did. When he was finished he left the area, after offering a tip, which my nephew politely declined.
The next morning when the staff got in for their shift the manager called them all together. When they all got there he said "we have a hero in our midst. Mr. Nordstrom was here yesterday and one of our own went out of his way to be helpful."
I love that story. He was a good kid then and he's a good man now.
Is there a Kohl's in Seattle ?
OK, I just went and talked to my wife and her mother--your sister is right; they don't make anything but the low-slung pants for women. I stand corrected, and good on the girl for taking Nordstrom's to task.
She probably will shop elsewhere, but it's important that she's letting the Nordstrom marketing idiots know that there are pre-teen girls out there who aren't interested in looking like sluts.
Who says she didn't shop elsewhere.
Git outta da mall biatch. Let the skanks waste their money.
She could just buy a sewing machine and take up sewing and make her own clothes.
"Queer Eye For Girls They Despise"?
Well I've never been in a Nordstroms, so all I know is that I can't afford it. I do know how hard it is to buck the trend when shopping for clothes. When all else fails, buy boys jeans, and shop in the adult department for shirts that cover. It works for us, but then again my girl isn't skinny.
Old Navy seems to have a decent selection of appropriate clothing. Of course I've never set foot in there, but my little one's father and stepmother bought her some things there, plus some items at the Gap. I've never been in that store, either.
I just realized that I haven't been to a mall in 2 years, except to buy a new washing machine from Sears. I guess I'm just shopping impaired...
Net...ping for general interest. Some kids do "get it".
What a great kid!
Meek - GI Ping!
You haven't noticed the uniform? It is indeed hard for young people (or even not-so-young people) to find clothes that are not replicas. Designed by whatever sluts, weirdos, homosexuals and mysogynists design clothes.
Ping!
Ignore ping - you beat me by 2 minutes!
Got it first! heh heh.
I'm a great believer in modest dress. What people wear affects how they think of themselves as well as how other people "see" them. Women and girls today think it's perfectly natural to dress like a cheap prostitute and it's very very sad.
Used to be, most women and girls wore dresses and skirts, looked feminine, and no doubt felt more feminine. But feminism - which has NOTHING to do with feminine nature - took over. Now women have choice - they can look butch, or like whores.
Sewing one's own clothes is good, but not everyone has the time, or the money to search out expensive or exclusive clothing stores.
I used to sew my oldest girls clothes. Forget about trying to sew a pair of blue jeans. I made their play clothes when they were little, and dresses, nightgowns, and short sets as they grew older. There is a stigma attached to "homemade clothes", though. Jeans are the worst thing to try and sew at home.
Hehehe, my mother in law didn't like me, but one day she came over after I had completed two jumpers for the girls. She looked at them and said they looked just like store bought. I believe that was the only compliment she ever paid me :-)
We made it through the 11-yr-old, nothing-is-modest stage by shopping at Petite sophisticate and JCPenneys and school uniform companies (Lee, French Toast, Elderwear and Sunshine). Kids R Us has uniforms, too.
Size 0 and 2 in petite were perfect for a growing, pre-pubescent child. We found some "cool" modest pants in Kohl's.
Goodwill is an excellent place to shop, especially for girls, who grow out of things but do not wear out the knees.
JC Penney always has cool, tasteful clothing and they usually label the modest clothing "modest" or "4 inch inseam!".
Warning: The more girls are forced to be unfashionably modest in 6th and 7th grade, the more they will rebel in 8th grade. This is what they ALL do: they leave the house in a "nice" shirt that is hiding a spaghetti strap top. They generally wear normal Soffee shorts or denim shorts, that seem just fine. THEN, as soon as they are in the clear, they pull off the overshirt and roll down the wasteband on the shorts. Some girls may wear a skirt over their shorts, then do an off-with-the-skirt!
The young whore line is pervasive.
Shope llbean, and BAss and Lands End.
And the basics at walmart
Ella Gunderson for Governor!
11 years old is a teen?
Clue for Ella:
That's the way skirts and blue jeans are SUPPOSED to fit.
Unless you have a severely misplaced belly button,
the way to keep it covered is to buy a longer SHIRT or TOP.
Thanks for the Ping!
My girls are dress girls. I pray they stay that way!
I've always disliked Nordstrom's intensely.
Hey! There are more girls like her!
http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/163939
>>The next morning when the staff got in for their shift the manager called them all together. When they all got there he said "we have a hero in our midst. Mr. Nordstrom was here yesterday and one of our own went out of his way to be helpful." <<
What a great story!
Willie, In the 90's I was a size 6 and NEVER saw a skirt that was below my belly button. Jeans covered it as well.
It's the style.
I agree, she can get longer shirts but find them. I'm buying my six year old 10/12 shirts to cover and rolling the sleeves.
Bravo! Bravo! Enough of the one slutty option for girls (that or sweat pants). Give my nine granddaughters a choice.
Well I don't wear skirts...
but I have been wearing blue jeans for 45+ years
(yes, I change 'em on occasion.)
And I've NEVER had a pair with a beltline above my navel.
OK, so wimmin's styles are different from men's due to the delightful difference in anatomy,
but IMHO, they should ditch the styles where the beltline is halfway up to the armpits,
those are UGLY.
Land's End.
Conservative styles, great quality, and superb value.
I guess some young girls don't like the fashion world treating them like little whores.
The problem is finding modest clothes for girls that still are feminine and don't have that industrial parochial school uniform look.
Surely, someone can come up with that. Look back to incorporate some of the 50's 'look', dripping femininity without much exposure.
Looking hard that way, and definitely influenced by older siblings and cousins, not to mention pop idols. It won't be long before 'almost 12' is 'almost 13'.
Equal rights! Now girls can have 'plumber's butt' too!
SIGH. It puts less pressure on the piercings ( and less incentive not to.)
Now THAT is sad. Trying to cobble together an outfit for your confirmation. Remember way back when stores like Sears and Kmart stocked First Communion dresses? Hmmm, maybe there is a business opportunity in there, somewhere.
In reply to your last post to me, my mom was extremely old fashioned. My dad finally put his foot down, and I was allowed to wear jeans to school when I was 14. My girls have always worn jeans and sneakers to school. It's hard to hang upside down on the monkey bars wearing a dress. Don't get me wrong, the little one loves dressing up, but she's athletic. It seems more practical(and modest) to send her to school in jeans and tee shirts. She just outgrew her last dress, too. I'm thinking about trying to find all the pieces to the sewing machine, and make dresses for her.
It also allows the popular lower back tatoo to be exposed for viewing.
Ping
" but it's important that she's letting the Nordstrom marketing idiots know that there are pre-teen girls out there who aren't interested in looking like sluts"
Not just Pre-Teens.
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