Posted on 11/26/2006 7:00:04 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Gucci and Prada for the under-13 crowd
By Alana Semuels, Times Staff Writer
November 24, 2006
Dressed in pink Uggs, Seven jeans and a matching pink sweater and cap, Elizabeth Cohen looks the epitome of hip as she winds her way through the holiday crowds at the Grove shopping center in Los Angeles.
She is a discerning consumer — her Ugg boots are not knockoffs, and she names Prada and Dolce & Gabbana as her favorite brands.
She's also 10 years old.
"I ask her, 'What do you need these for?' " said her mother, Jane Cohen of Bel-Air, who shops mostly at vintage stores and garage sales.
But the 10-year-old is hardly unusual. Elizabeth and other "tweens" — kids who are 8 to 12 — are expected to contribute to growing demand for luxury goods this winter.
Today, the season shopfest begins in earnest with day-after-Thanksgiving sales, crowds and traffic jams. For tweens and their older teenage counterparts, the search is on for expensive accessories, belts, purses and perhaps a pair of shoes such as those seen in fashion shows and glossy magazines.
"There's a huge uptick in teens shopping for traditional luxury brands," said Jim Taylor, vice chairman of the Harrison Group, a strategic marketing firm that recently conducted a survey of teenagers' preferences. "Having a Gucci scarf is part of being a kid today."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
You can tell who's running THAT household. What's she going to do in real life when someone tells her no and means it?
At least, they are from rich families, but these days just about every girl is pitching in to become a princess. You will have a large population of princess wannabe's who are utterly unhappy about their life because they are short on money to buy all those outrageously expensive stuffs.
more evidence that kids today are growing up way too fat, sigh! :(
Why are people complaining about how others spend their own money?
If you don't want designer clothes for your kids, fine. Mind your own business if other people spend money that way.
um, faSt.... sticky "s" key :(
Because they are social hazards. We are not talking about people who can afford such spending sprees.
I know how these spoiled folks grow up to be in large numbers.
And it was just as brutal... but people are nostalgic and want to forget the bad things that really happened.
My dad tells me the "rich white kids" acting like "poor black kids" phenomenon was popular even in the 1950s.
Nothing changes.
This year we put my daughters in private school.
Last year they were in public school, and they hated it.
Besides all of the standard benefits of private school, my kids have gotten a lot more thankful about material things at home.
We can't afford to do as much or have as much now that the girls are in private school. My kids don't ask to go to the movies, they ask if they can rent movies. If I say I can't afford to buy something for them, they don't whine about it.
I'm not even worried about the designer thing. I don't think my kids care if their clothes are from Target or Old Navy.
I will assume you said that as a libertarian, and not as a parent who wants to foster the right attitude and values in his kids.
*APPLAUSE*
One of my friends that has scrimped and sacrificed to send her four kids to private Catholic school has the nicests kids. I love hanging out with them, or watching them for the weekend for her.
My favorite niece and nephew also attend a private Catholic school, and I, myself, went to a private Lutheran School until I was in Junior High and we moved due to a better paying job for my Dad.
Wish I had had more of a say in how my StepSon was educated, but I had his Bio-Mom to cow-tow to for many years. Believe me, I did a LOT of de-programming on a daily basis, LOL! (He turned out fine. He's attending tech college now.)
Which was always based in envy. Needlessly.
Someone with a cheap car needs to vandalize the luxury owner's in order to feel good. Same thing.
"My daughter wanted a pair and loves them, the boys kind. ... At least she doesn't dress like a hooker."
Are you certain there is no touch of jealousy in all of this?
People are free to dress as they please. There is no need to call kids names for it.
Still got a Members Only jacket around the house somewhere....sad to say ;)
Members only jackets, leather jackets, Nikes, etc. All over $100 20 years ago. It goes in waves. Those that feel the need to fit in whine to their parents to buy them. And their parents remembering what they went through 20-30 years ago stupidly enough do.
Sure they can dress as they please, but if they dress like a hooker, that's what people are going to think. The early sexualization of little girls is inexcusable.
Jealous of what? That my daughter doesn't dress like a hooker? No.
Hey, that stuff back from that long ago is really *hot* (as they call it) these days. It's referred to as *retro* and is extremely poplular. And if you can get the original stuff, no less....
"Hey, you wern't cool if you didn't wear Converse All Stars. I remember how tough it was to convince my Mom to spend $6.99 on sneakers! :)"
Dude! You are like, Sooo old! Were they low cuts? I remember Keds and Howdy Doody.
I wanted to get high tops in black, but that was too juvenile delinquent. But better white low tops than PF Flyers (Run faster! Jump Higher!)
"Why are people complaining about how others spend their own money?"
It's fun.
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