OTOT fashion whine

When DH & I were in Utah a few years ago, I noticed how modestly dressed the
teenagers & adult women were. Some stores advertise that they carry
"modest" clothing. I took a one day class at a quilt store & the teacher's
teenage daughter came by after school. She had jeans & a t-shirt on. She
appeared to be modestly dressed to me, however, she had been called to the
principals office that day, because when she reached her hands over her
head, you could see a slit of her midriff- this was unacceptable in the
public school that she was attending. I believe the modesty factor can be
attributed to the large Mormon population in Utah, but, if they can force
the stores to not carry "hoochie mama" clothes, it would seem that could
happen all over - if parents were monitoring what their daughters were
buying. I live near a middle school & sometimes my jaw drops when I see
what the girls are wearing to school. DH just shakes his head. We do not
have children, so I have no idea how difficult it is to enforce a dress
code on your kids.

Okay - I'm off my soapbox now

Pauline
Northern California
"Rita L. in MA" wrote in message
...
It really is difficult. I am 58 years old. Most stores carry clothing
suitable (maybe) for ages 17 or 97. I'm going to have to go back to
sewing my own clothes which will take away from my quilting time. Sigh!

Meanwhile, check out the latest in prom dresses
http://concreteloop.com/2008/05/news...rom-handcuffed

Rita L.


Polly Esther wrote:
It has always been difficult to be a junior high size - at 18, 21, 41, 61
... well, Always. Today it became even worse. I puzzled that all the
women on the tv news, weather and whatnot were wearing low-cut New Year's
Eve party clothes and their WonderBras. Today it hit home.
I ordered a nice tunic for a very special graduation ceremony.
FedEx.
Tracking it, it went from MO to MS to KS to TN back to MO back to TN
back to MS and finally here. Twelve days. I showed the delivery guy the
tracking chart. He said they must smoke a lot of the fun stuff at the
center.
I tried on the tunic. Lovely. Elegant. Understated. Unless, of
course, you consider the concern that I don't have a new ring for my
bellybutton.
Had to remove the sleeve caps, take out about 3" from the neckline
and replace the sleeves. Not a big deal. Easy, actually. Good grief.
Where do we buy clothes if we are not wanting to look like a Happy
Hooker? with apology to my crocheting friends, Polly

Omigod Connie! That story was awesome! As Carolyn pointed out, I can't
believe the way some parents treat their children as little adults and
sexualize them. What are these people thinking? "Slut" on a 13 yr olds
tee-shirt?

Although I live in NV and so it seems that clothes are a little more scanty
than when I lived in cooler parts of the country, you can still dress
yourself and your kids tastefully. I don't wear plunging necklines or bare
my tummy or wear shorts up around my butt cheeks. However, skirts and
shorts may be a little shorter, and necklines slightly lower. It's all a
matter of degree, and some people don't seem to know the difference.
--
Michelle in NV
http://community.webshots.com/user/desert_quilter


"SewVeryCreative" wrote in message
...
I can tell you, as a mom of a budding (and I mean BUDDING) teenage girl
(13, though she looks 16 -- and she doesn't even wear make-up -- too
tomboy-ish) it's almost impossible to shop for her. Me, I don't shop for
clothes often. I like t-shirts and jeans ...

But I can tell you it OUR fault (meaning, the mothers of teenage girls)
that the selection is what it is. Enough of us ARE buying this crap that
the stores are confident enough that they can sell it.

We stop buying that skankwear and they won't stock it.

But I'll mention this, just to scare ya'll ... I got into an argument with
another mother when our school system went to uniforms (EVERYONE, it
seemed, was furious over that). One mother came into the school while I
was there volunteering and screamed bloody murder at the secretary about
the uniform policy. She screamed, whined, yelled, hollered and made an ass
of herself over the "school stifling her daughter's sense of
self-expression." The school was "violating her daughter's right to
freedom of expression." That nutcase even threatened to get the ACLU
involved.

The secretary was seconds away from calling security, her face was red,
and she looked like she was about to cry. That made ME mad, but I didn't
say anything until I saw the mother's daughter walk in the door:
Cut-off shorts (we're talking above the butt-cheek, here, folks),
bare middy t-shirt that said "Slut,"
fingernails long enough to kill someone three rooms over (how do you think
she did homework with those things???!! Boy, I'd feel really sorry for her
if she ever happened to pick her nose -- she'd hit brain matter!!),
and enough makeup to make a prossie choke.

So I said, in as nice a voice as I could (which I think, knowing me, was
actually pretty damn nice): Well, maybe if you didn't dress your kid like
a slut MY daughter would still have the freedom of "self-expression."

And then the cat-fight began. I got asked to leave (though with
thank-you's from the staff) for a little while, while everyone calmed
down, SHE got banned. VBEG

And her precious kid STILL had to wear the uniform!

--
Connie :-)
FREE patterns n' FREE eZine at my blog:
http://sewverycreative.blogspot.com
"Carolyn McCarty" wrote in message
m...
I totally agree, Polly. It seems the clothing departments are all stocked
by Sluts R Us. Everywhere I look, the clothing is something to be worn by
an underage streetwalker. Target and Wal-Mart seem to be the worst, at
least here in Tucson. I see prepubescent girls going to school in clothes
that would make a prostitute blush. What their parents are thinking, I
can't imagine. And finally, when did it become fashionable to wear
clothes so tight and so low/high cut that every roll of fat and every inch
of cellulite is exposed to the world?

Makes me think of the woman at the beach who blushed at the way bikinis
expose skin, then saw a young lady in a one-piece with the back cut in a
very deep V. Her comment was, "Lordy! What they don't show, they point
to!!"

Sorry, folks, my R&R chip kicked in early this morning.

--
Carolyn in The Old Pueblo

If it ain't broke, you're not trying. --Red Green
If it ain't broke, it ain't mine. --Carolyn McCarty

If at first you don't succeed, switch to power tools. --Red Green
If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer. --Carolyn McCarty

"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
It has always been difficult to be a junior high size - at 18, 21, 41,
61 ... well, Always. Today it became even worse. I puzzled that all
the women on the tv news, weather and whatnot were wearing low-cut New
Year's Eve party clothes and their WonderBras. Today it hit home.
I ordered a nice tunic for a very special graduation ceremony.
FedEx.
Tracking it, it went from MO to MS to KS to TN back to MO back to TN
back to MS and finally here. Twelve days. I showed the delivery guy
the tracking chart. He said they must smoke a lot of the fun stuff at
the center.
I tried on the tunic. Lovely. Elegant. Understated. Unless, of
course, you consider the concern that I don't have a new ring for my
bellybutton.
Had to remove the sleeve caps, take out about 3" from the neckline
and replace the sleeves. Not a big deal. Easy, actually. Good grief.
Where do we buy clothes if we are not wanting to look like a Happy
Hooker? with apology to my crocheting friends, Polly

Oh, I should have mentioned the little girl I saw at my son's elementary
school (she looked to be about, what? 8? 9, tops) ... her little shorts were
so short, you could see her bloomers!! DD (13) commented "Yeah. Give it
about 5 minutes. Then she's going to be sent home." Sure enough, before we
even left the drop off zone, I could see a teacher pulling her aside and
pointing towards the office!! "Dad" just ignored the whole thing and kept
walking away ...
*rolls eyes*

You know, when DD was in 6th grade (she's in 8th now), we went on a school
bus trip to Wild Adventures in AL. On the bus was another 6th grader that
I'd known for about 4 years (her parents are big in our church) ... that
little girl was putting on foundation an inch thick, blemish concealer,
blush, eyeliner, heavy eyeshadow, mascara ... more makeup than I've ever
worn!! She's a really pretty girl ... don't know why she'd hide it under all
that goop at such a young age! I wasn't allowed to wear makeup until I was
16!! o_O

I don't know why we let our kids do this crap ... I think the same people
that scream about letting their kids do what they want (dressing skanky,
oodles of makeup, having sex, etc) are the same ones that scream how society
let the consequences happen (pregnancy -- we've got 8 girls in my DD's 8th
grade class leaving early because of being pregnant)!!!

I once even went to DD's school to meet her for lunch and overheard 3 girls
my DD's age discussing the finer points of ... ahem ... pleasuring men
without having to take your britches off (hopefully, I'm not being too dense
in my choice of words -- want to get the point across without being
offensive!!)! Needless to say, I was shocked!! I asked DD about it later
(how much sex is talked about in school) and boy, was I in for an
eye-opener!!!

Yeah, here in FL it gets hot enough to fry an egg on the grass, but we (most
of us, anyway) manage to wear clothes tastefully without succumbing to heat
stroke. Why in *&#$@ world can't these kids??!!!

--
Connie :-)
FREE patterns n' FREE eZine at my blog:
http://sewverycreative.blogspot.com
"Michelle C" wrote in message
...
Omigod Connie! That story was awesome! As Carolyn pointed out, I can't
believe the way some parents treat their children as little adults and
sexualize them. What are these people thinking? "Slut" on a 13 yr olds
tee-shirt?

Although I live in NV and so it seems that clothes are a little more
scanty than when I lived in cooler parts of the country, you can still
dress yourself and your kids tastefully. I don't wear plunging necklines
or bare my tummy or wear shorts up around my butt cheeks. However, skirts
and shorts may be a little shorter, and necklines slightly lower. It's
all a matter of degree, and some people don't seem to know the difference.
--
Michelle in NV
http://community.webshots.com/user/desert_quilter


"SewVeryCreative" wrote in message
...
I can tell you, as a mom of a budding (and I mean BUDDING) teenage girl
(13, though she looks 16 -- and she doesn't even wear make-up -- too
tomboy-ish) it's almost impossible to shop for her. Me, I don't shop for
clothes often. I like t-shirts and jeans ...

But I can tell you it OUR fault (meaning, the mothers of teenage girls)
that the selection is what it is. Enough of us ARE buying this crap that
the stores are confident enough that they can sell it.

We stop buying that skankwear and they won't stock it.

But I'll mention this, just to scare ya'll ... I got into an argument
with another mother when our school system went to uniforms (EVERYONE, it
seemed, was furious over that). One mother came into the school while I
was there volunteering and screamed bloody murder at the secretary about
the uniform policy. She screamed, whined, yelled, hollered and made an
ass of herself over the "school stifling her daughter's sense of
self-expression." The school was "violating her daughter's right to
freedom of expression." That nutcase even threatened to get the ACLU
involved.

The secretary was seconds away from calling security, her face was red,
and she looked like she was about to cry. That made ME mad, but I didn't
say anything until I saw the mother's daughter walk in the door:
Cut-off shorts (we're talking above the butt-cheek, here, folks),
bare middy t-shirt that said "Slut,"
fingernails long enough to kill someone three rooms over (how do you
think she did homework with those things???!! Boy, I'd feel really sorry
for her if she ever happened to pick her nose -- she'd hit brain
matter!!),
and enough makeup to make a prossie choke.

So I said, in as nice a voice as I could (which I think, knowing me, was
actually pretty damn nice): Well, maybe if you didn't dress your kid like
a slut MY daughter would still have the freedom of "self-expression."

And then the cat-fight began. I got asked to leave (though with
thank-you's from the staff) for a little while, while everyone calmed
down, SHE got banned. VBEG

And her precious kid STILL had to wear the uniform!

--
Connie :-)
FREE patterns n' FREE eZine at my blog:
http://sewverycreative.blogspot.com
"Carolyn McCarty" wrote in message
m...
I totally agree, Polly. It seems the clothing departments are all
stocked by Sluts R Us. Everywhere I look, the clothing is something to
be worn by an underage streetwalker. Target and Wal-Mart seem to be the
worst, at least here in Tucson. I see prepubescent girls going to school
in clothes that would make a prostitute blush. What their parents are
thinking, I can't imagine. And finally, when did it become fashionable
to wear clothes so tight and so low/high cut that every roll of fat and
every inch of cellulite is exposed to the world?

Makes me think of the woman at the beach who blushed at the way bikinis
expose skin, then saw a young lady in a one-piece with the back cut in a
very deep V. Her comment was, "Lordy! What they don't show, they point
to!!"

Sorry, folks, my R&R chip kicked in early this morning.

--
Carolyn in The Old Pueblo

If it ain't broke, you're not trying. --Red Green
If it ain't broke, it ain't mine. --Carolyn McCarty

If at first you don't succeed, switch to power tools. --Red Green
If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer. --Carolyn McCarty

"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
It has always been difficult to be a junior high size - at 18, 21, 41,
61 ... well, Always. Today it became even worse. I puzzled that all
the women on the tv news, weather and whatnot were wearing low-cut New
Year's Eve party clothes and their WonderBras. Today it hit home.
I ordered a nice tunic for a very special graduation ceremony.
FedEx.
Tracking it, it went from MO to MS to KS to TN back to MO back to TN
back to MS and finally here. Twelve days. I showed the delivery guy
the tracking chart. He said they must smoke a lot of the fun stuff at
the center.
I tried on the tunic. Lovely. Elegant. Understated. Unless, of
course, you consider the concern that I don't have a new ring for my
bellybutton.
Had to remove the sleeve caps, take out about 3" from the neckline
and replace the sleeves. Not a big deal. Easy, actually. Good grief.
Where do we buy clothes if we are not wanting to look like a Happy
Hooker? with apology to my crocheting friends, Polly

YeSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! We need more like you Connie. I wouldn't have spoken
up and then would have scolded myself the rest of the week because I didn't.
Good job!

--
Kathyl (KJ)
remove "nospam" before mchsi
http://community.webshots.com/user/kathylquiltz
"SewVeryCreative" wrote in message
...
I can tell you, as a mom of a budding (and I mean BUDDING) teenage girl
(13, though she looks 16 -- and she doesn't even wear make-up -- too
tomboy-ish) it's almost impossible to shop for her. Me, I don't shop for
clothes often. I like t-shirts and jeans ...

But I can tell you it OUR fault (meaning, the mothers of teenage girls)
that the selection is what it is. Enough of us ARE buying this crap that
the stores are confident enough that they can sell it.

We stop buying that skankwear and they won't stock it.

But I'll mention this, just to scare ya'll ... I got into an argument with
another mother when our school system went to uniforms (EVERYONE, it
seemed, was furious over that). One mother came into the school while I
was there volunteering and screamed bloody murder at the secretary about
the uniform policy. She screamed, whined, yelled, hollered and made an ass
of herself over the "school stifling her daughter's sense of
self-expression." The school was "violating her daughter's right to
freedom of expression." That nutcase even threatened to get the ACLU
involved.

The secretary was seconds away from calling security, her face was red,
and she looked like she was about to cry. That made ME mad, but I didn't
say anything until I saw the mother's daughter walk in the door:
Cut-off shorts (we're talking above the butt-cheek, here, folks),
bare middy t-shirt that said "Slut,"
fingernails long enough to kill someone three rooms over (how do you think
she did homework with those things???!! Boy, I'd feel really sorry for her
if she ever happened to pick her nose -- she'd hit brain matter!!),
and enough makeup to make a prossie choke.

So I said, in as nice a voice as I could (which I think, knowing me, was
actually pretty damn nice): Well, maybe if you didn't dress your kid like
a slut MY daughter would still have the freedom of "self-expression."

And then the cat-fight began. I got asked to leave (though with
thank-you's from the staff) for a little while, while everyone calmed
down, SHE got banned. VBEG

And her precious kid STILL had to wear the uniform!

--
Connie :-)
FREE patterns n' FREE eZine at my blog:
http://sewverycreative.blogspot.com
"Carolyn McCarty" wrote in message
m...
I totally agree, Polly. It seems the clothing departments are all stocked
by Sluts R Us. Everywhere I look, the clothing is something to be worn by
an underage streetwalker. Target and Wal-Mart seem to be the worst, at
least here in Tucson. I see prepubescent girls going to school in clothes
that would make a prostitute blush. What their parents are thinking, I
can't imagine. And finally, when did it become fashionable to wear
clothes so tight and so low/high cut that every roll of fat and every inch
of cellulite is exposed to the world?

Makes me think of the woman at the beach who blushed at the way bikinis
expose skin, then saw a young lady in a one-piece with the back cut in a
very deep V. Her comment was, "Lordy! What they don't show, they point
to!!"

Sorry, folks, my R&R chip kicked in early this morning.

--
Carolyn in The Old Pueblo

If it ain't broke, you're not trying. --Red Green
If it ain't broke, it ain't mine. --Carolyn McCarty

If at first you don't succeed, switch to power tools. --Red Green
If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer. --Carolyn McCarty

"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
It has always been difficult to be a junior high size - at 18, 21, 41,
61 ... well, Always. Today it became even worse. I puzzled that all
the women on the tv news, weather and whatnot were wearing low-cut New
Year's Eve party clothes and their WonderBras. Today it hit home.
I ordered a nice tunic for a very special graduation ceremony.
FedEx.
Tracking it, it went from MO to MS to KS to TN back to MO back to TN
back to MS and finally here. Twelve days. I showed the delivery guy
the tracking chart. He said they must smoke a lot of the fun stuff at
the center.
I tried on the tunic. Lovely. Elegant. Understated. Unless, of
course, you consider the concern that I don't have a new ring for my
bellybutton.
Had to remove the sleeve caps, take out about 3" from the neckline
and replace the sleeves. Not a big deal. Easy, actually. Good grief.
Where do we buy clothes if we are not wanting to look like a Happy
Hooker? with apology to my crocheting friends, Polly

Yeesh, don't say that, Kathyl. I still feel ashamed that I made such a stink
in the middle of my DD's school!! Even if the other "mom" didn't know
better, I sure as heck should have (if my momma knew about it, she'd come
switch me a good one -- regardless of us being over a 1000 miles away!!). I
wouldn't have said a single word if it weren't for the secretary being so
upset.

She and I got into a real doozy. I've never been known for letting sleeping
dogs lie -- I usually poke'em with a pointy stick until they bite me in the
butt. And this time was no exception. I swear, if campus security hadn't
shown up when they did, it might have come to blows. And I don't need a
police record -- she really wasn't worth it. :/

Hugs!!!
--
Connie :-)
FREE patterns n' FREE eZine at my blog:
http://sewverycreative.blogspot.com


"KJ" wrote in message
news:T6%Wj.165211$yE1.57771@attbi_s21...
YeSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! We need more like you Connie. I wouldn't have spoken
up and then would have scolded myself the rest of the week because I
didn't. Good job!

--
Kathyl (KJ)
remove "nospam" before mchsi
http://community.webshots.com/user/kathylquiltz
"SewVeryCreative" wrote in message
...
I can tell you, as a mom of a budding (and I mean BUDDING) teenage girl
(13, though she looks 16 -- and she doesn't even wear make-up -- too
tomboy-ish) it's almost impossible to shop for her. Me, I don't shop for
clothes often. I like t-shirts and jeans ...

But I can tell you it OUR fault (meaning, the mothers of teenage girls)
that the selection is what it is. Enough of us ARE buying this crap that
the stores are confident enough that they can sell it.

We stop buying that skankwear and they won't stock it.

But I'll mention this, just to scare ya'll ... I got into an argument
with another mother when our school system went to uniforms (EVERYONE, it
seemed, was furious over that). One mother came into the school while I
was there volunteering and screamed bloody murder at the secretary about
the uniform policy. She screamed, whined, yelled, hollered and made an
ass of herself over the "school stifling her daughter's sense of
self-expression." The school was "violating her daughter's right to
freedom of expression." That nutcase even threatened to get the ACLU
involved.

The secretary was seconds away from calling security, her face was red,
and she looked like she was about to cry. That made ME mad, but I didn't
say anything until I saw the mother's daughter walk in the door:
Cut-off shorts (we're talking above the butt-cheek, here, folks),
bare middy t-shirt that said "Slut,"
fingernails long enough to kill someone three rooms over (how do you
think she did homework with those things???!! Boy, I'd feel really sorry
for her if she ever happened to pick her nose -- she'd hit brain
matter!!),
and enough makeup to make a prossie choke.

So I said, in as nice a voice as I could (which I think, knowing me, was
actually pretty damn nice): Well, maybe if you didn't dress your kid like
a slut MY daughter would still have the freedom of "self-expression."

And then the cat-fight began. I got asked to leave (though with
thank-you's from the staff) for a little while, while everyone calmed
down, SHE got banned. VBEG

And her precious kid STILL had to wear the uniform!

--
Connie :-)
FREE patterns n' FREE eZine at my blog:
http://sewverycreative.blogspot.com
"Carolyn McCarty" wrote in message
m...
I totally agree, Polly. It seems the clothing departments are all
stocked by Sluts R Us. Everywhere I look, the clothing is something to
be worn by an underage streetwalker. Target and Wal-Mart seem to be the
worst, at least here in Tucson. I see prepubescent girls going to school
in clothes that would make a prostitute blush. What their parents are
thinking, I can't imagine. And finally, when did it become fashionable
to wear clothes so tight and so low/high cut that every roll of fat and
every inch of cellulite is exposed to the world?

Makes me think of the woman at the beach who blushed at the way bikinis
expose skin, then saw a young lady in a one-piece with the back cut in a
very deep V. Her comment was, "Lordy! What they don't show, they point
to!!"

Sorry, folks, my R&R chip kicked in early this morning.

--
Carolyn in The Old Pueblo

If it ain't broke, you're not trying. --Red Green
If it ain't broke, it ain't mine. --Carolyn McCarty

If at first you don't succeed, switch to power tools. --Red Green
If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer. --Carolyn McCarty

"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
It has always been difficult to be a junior high size - at 18, 21, 41,
61 ... well, Always. Today it became even worse. I puzzled that all
the women on the tv news, weather and whatnot were wearing low-cut New
Year's Eve party clothes and their WonderBras. Today it hit home.
I ordered a nice tunic for a very special graduation ceremony.
FedEx.
Tracking it, it went from MO to MS to KS to TN back to MO back to TN
back to MS and finally here. Twelve days. I showed the delivery guy
the tracking chart. He said they must smoke a lot of the fun stuff at
the center.
I tried on the tunic. Lovely. Elegant. Understated. Unless, of
course, you consider the concern that I don't have a new ring for my
bellybutton.
Had to remove the sleeve caps, take out about 3" from the neckline
and replace the sleeves. Not a big deal. Easy, actually. Good grief.
Where do we buy clothes if we are not wanting to look like a Happy
Hooker? with apology to my crocheting friends, Polly

Connie, I just stood up and applauded.

Conne wrote So I said, in as nice a voice as I could (which I
think, knowing me, was
actually pretty damn nice): Well, maybe if you didn't dress your kid like a
slut MY daughter would still have the freedom of "self-expression."

I'm not really sure how you lived to tell the story but I'm proud of you.
Atta girl. Polly






"SewVeryCreative" wrote in message
...
I can tell you, as a mom of a budding (and I mean BUDDING) teenage girl
(13, though she looks 16 -- and she doesn't even wear make-up -- too
tomboy-ish) it's almost impossible to shop for her. Me, I don't shop for
clothes often. I like t-shirts and jeans ...

But I can tell you it OUR fault (meaning, the mothers of teenage girls)
that the selection is what it is. Enough of us ARE buying this crap that
the stores are confident enough that they can sell it.

We stop buying that skankwear and they won't stock it.

But I'll mention this, just to scare ya'll ... I got into an argument with
another mother when our school system went to uniforms (EVERYONE, it
seemed, was furious over that). One mother came into the school while I
was there volunteering and screamed bloody murder at the secretary about
the uniform policy. She screamed, whined, yelled, hollered and made an ass
of herself over the "school stifling her daughter's sense of
self-expression." The school was "violating her daughter's right to
freedom of expression." That nutcase even threatened to get the ACLU
involved.

The secretary was seconds away from calling security, her face was red,
and she looked like she was about to cry. That made ME mad, but I didn't
say anything until I saw the mother's daughter walk in the door:
Cut-off shorts (we're talking above the butt-cheek, here, folks),
bare middy t-shirt that said "Slut,"
fingernails long enough to kill someone three rooms over (how do you think
she did homework with those things???!! Boy, I'd feel really sorry for her
if she ever happened to pick her nose -- she'd hit brain matter!!),
and enough makeup to make a prossie choke.

So I said, in as nice a voice as I could (which I think, knowing me, was
actually pretty damn nice): Well, maybe if you didn't dress your kid like
a slut MY daughter would still have the freedom of "self-expression."

And then the cat-fight began. I got asked to leave (though with
thank-you's from the staff) for a little while, while everyone calmed
down, SHE got banned. VBEG

And her precious kid STILL had to wear the uniform!

--
Connie :-)
FREE patterns n' FREE eZine at my blog:
http://sewverycreative.blogspot.com
"Carolyn McCarty" wrote in message
m...
I totally agree, Polly. It seems the clothing departments are all stocked
by Sluts R Us. Everywhere I look, the clothing is something to be worn by
an underage streetwalker. Target and Wal-Mart seem to be the worst, at
least here in Tucson. I see prepubescent girls going to school in clothes
that would make a prostitute blush. What their parents are thinking, I
can't imagine. And finally, when did it become fashionable to wear
clothes so tight and so low/high cut that every roll of fat and every inch
of cellulite is exposed to the world?

Makes me think of the woman at the beach who blushed at the way bikinis
expose skin, then saw a young lady in a one-piece with the back cut in a
very deep V. Her comment was, "Lordy! What they don't show, they point
to!!"

Sorry, folks, my R&R chip kicked in early this morning.

--
Carolyn in The Old Pueblo

If it ain't broke, you're not trying. --Red Green
If it ain't broke, it ain't mine. --Carolyn McCarty

If at first you don't succeed, switch to power tools. --Red Green
If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer. --Carolyn McCarty

"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
It has always been difficult to be a junior high size - at 18, 21, 41,
61 ... well, Always. Today it became even worse. I puzzled that all
the women on the tv news, weather and whatnot were wearing low-cut New
Year's Eve party clothes and their WonderBras. Today it hit home.
I ordered a nice tunic for a very special graduation ceremony.
FedEx.
Tracking it, it went from MO to MS to KS to TN back to MO back to TN
back to MS and finally here. Twelve days. I showed the delivery guy
the tracking chart. He said they must smoke a lot of the fun stuff at
the center.
I tried on the tunic. Lovely. Elegant. Understated. Unless, of
course, you consider the concern that I don't have a new ring for my
bellybutton.
Had to remove the sleeve caps, take out about 3" from the neckline
and replace the sleeves. Not a big deal. Easy, actually. Good grief.
Where do we buy clothes if we are not wanting to look like a Happy
Hooker? with apology to my crocheting friends, Polly

*blush*


Still, though ... I should have remembered those manners my momma worked so
hard to teach me ... but then again, if she had seen that kid (and heard the
mom using "blue language" in front of kids), she might have agreed.

Though I still would have received a whuppin' ... on principle. But followed
up by a thick slab of cheesecake -- or cornbread and pinto beans (homemade!!
Yum!!).

Again, thanks for the kudos!

--
Connie :-)
FREE patterns n' FREE eZine at my blog:
http://sewverycreative.blogspot.com

"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
Connie, I just stood up and applauded.

Conne wrote So I said, in as nice a voice as I could (which I
think, knowing me, was
actually pretty damn nice): Well, maybe if you didn't dress your kid like
a
slut MY daughter would still have the freedom of "self-expression."

I'm not really sure how you lived to tell the story but I'm proud of you.
Atta girl. Polly






"SewVeryCreative" wrote in message
...
I can tell you, as a mom of a budding (and I mean BUDDING) teenage girl
(13, though she looks 16 -- and she doesn't even wear make-up -- too
tomboy-ish) it's almost impossible to shop for her. Me, I don't shop for
clothes often. I like t-shirts and jeans ...

But I can tell you it OUR fault (meaning, the mothers of teenage girls)
that the selection is what it is. Enough of us ARE buying this crap that
the stores are confident enough that they can sell it.

We stop buying that skankwear and they won't stock it.

But I'll mention this, just to scare ya'll ... I got into an argument
with another mother when our school system went to uniforms (EVERYONE, it
seemed, was furious over that). One mother came into the school while I
was there volunteering and screamed bloody murder at the secretary about
the uniform policy. She screamed, whined, yelled, hollered and made an
ass of herself over the "school stifling her daughter's sense of
self-expression." The school was "violating her daughter's right to
freedom of expression." That nutcase even threatened to get the ACLU
involved.

The secretary was seconds away from calling security, her face was red,
and she looked like she was about to cry. That made ME mad, but I didn't
say anything until I saw the mother's daughter walk in the door:
Cut-off shorts (we're talking above the butt-cheek, here, folks),
bare middy t-shirt that said "Slut,"
fingernails long enough to kill someone three rooms over (how do you
think she did homework with those things???!! Boy, I'd feel really sorry
for her if she ever happened to pick her nose -- she'd hit brain
matter!!),
and enough makeup to make a prossie choke.

So I said, in as nice a voice as I could (which I think, knowing me, was
actually pretty damn nice): Well, maybe if you didn't dress your kid like
a slut MY daughter would still have the freedom of "self-expression."

And then the cat-fight began. I got asked to leave (though with
thank-you's from the staff) for a little while, while everyone calmed
down, SHE got banned. VBEG

And her precious kid STILL had to wear the uniform!

--
Connie :-)
FREE patterns n' FREE eZine at my blog:
http://sewverycreative.blogspot.com
"Carolyn McCarty" wrote in message
m...
I totally agree, Polly. It seems the clothing departments are all
stocked by Sluts R Us. Everywhere I look, the clothing is something to
be worn by an underage streetwalker. Target and Wal-Mart seem to be the
worst, at least here in Tucson. I see prepubescent girls going to school
in clothes that would make a prostitute blush. What their parents are
thinking, I can't imagine. And finally, when did it become fashionable
to wear clothes so tight and so low/high cut that every roll of fat and
every inch of cellulite is exposed to the world?

Makes me think of the woman at the beach who blushed at the way bikinis
expose skin, then saw a young lady in a one-piece with the back cut in a
very deep V. Her comment was, "Lordy! What they don't show, they point
to!!"

Sorry, folks, my R&R chip kicked in early this morning.

--
Carolyn in The Old Pueblo

If it ain't broke, you're not trying. --Red Green
If it ain't broke, it ain't mine. --Carolyn McCarty

If at first you don't succeed, switch to power tools. --Red Green
If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer. --Carolyn McCarty

"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
It has always been difficult to be a junior high size - at 18, 21, 41,
61 ... well, Always. Today it became even worse. I puzzled that all
the women on the tv news, weather and whatnot were wearing low-cut New
Year's Eve party clothes and their WonderBras. Today it hit home.
I ordered a nice tunic for a very special graduation ceremony.
FedEx.
Tracking it, it went from MO to MS to KS to TN back to MO back to TN
back to MS and finally here. Twelve days. I showed the delivery guy
the tracking chart. He said they must smoke a lot of the fun stuff at
the center.
I tried on the tunic. Lovely. Elegant. Understated. Unless, of
course, you consider the concern that I don't have a new ring for my
bellybutton.
Had to remove the sleeve caps, take out about 3" from the neckline
and replace the sleeves. Not a big deal. Easy, actually. Good grief.
Where do we buy clothes if we are not wanting to look like a Happy
Hooker? with apology to my crocheting friends, Polly

Pauline wrote:
When DH & I were in Utah a few years ago, I noticed how modestly dressed
the teenagers & adult women were. Some stores advertise that they carry
"modest" clothing. I took a one day class at a quilt store & the
teacher's teenage daughter came by after school. She had jeans & a
t-shirt on. She appeared to be modestly dressed to me, however, she had
been called to the principals office that day, because when she reached
her hands over her head, you could see a slit of her midriff- this was
unacceptable in the public school that she was attending. I believe the
modesty factor can be attributed to the large Mormon population in Utah,
but, if they can force the stores to not carry "hoochie mama" clothes,
it would seem that could happen all over - if parents were monitoring
what their daughters were buying. I live near a middle school &
sometimes my jaw drops when I see what the girls are wearing to school.
DH just shakes his head. We do not have children, so I have no idea
how difficult it is to enforce a dress code on your kids.

Okay - I'm off my soapbox now

I find it quite easy with James: OK, so don't wear it: you can just
wear XYZ that is too small, or go naked! He gets dressed! As I'm
buying the kit, what I say goes!

Mind you, school is no problem, usually: they *all* wear uniforms here!
And they carry a uniform card where he is: if they infringe the
unifprm rules, they get the card signed. If the card is filled (five
signatures) they get a detention. If they don't have the card with
them, that's automatically a detention. If James gets detained after
school, I extract the taxi fare from his EARNED pocket money. At £7.50
a shot, that's an expnsive uniform infringement!

--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

I've just been looking for a nice basic warm weather dress -- not a sun
dress, not a clingy poly/spandex knit. I can't just wear my old stuff --
it's all too big since I lost weight over winter. Not really a bad
problem to have, though a bit frustrating to shop. I finally ended up
ordering a nice shirtwaist style from Eddie Bauer. I hope I like the fit
when it comes.

Julia in MN

Pauline wrote:
I feel your pain Polly. I've been looking for a nice dress to wear to
an evening wedding next month. There are lots of sun dresses out there
& lots of "hoochie mama" dresses, but next to nothing in what I consider
to be a suitable dress for this occasion. I'm going to try to make a
dress & with Pati in PHX's help with pattern sizing, I'm going to work
on it this weekend. What do middle aged & older women do when they need
something simple & elegant!!!

Glad you were able to make the necessary alterations to your tunic, so
it is wearable for you!

Pauline
Northern California

"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
It has always been difficult to be a junior high size - at 18, 21, 41,
61 ... well, Always. Today it became even worse. I puzzled that
all the women on the tv news, weather and whatnot were wearing low-cut
New Year's Eve party clothes and their WonderBras. Today it hit home.
I ordered a nice tunic for a very special graduation ceremony.
FedEx.
Tracking it, it went from MO to MS to KS to TN back to MO back to
TN back to MS and finally here. Twelve days. I showed the delivery
guy the tracking chart. He said they must smoke a lot of the fun
stuff at the center.
I tried on the tunic. Lovely. Elegant. Understated. Unless, of
course, you consider the concern that I don't have a new ring for my
bellybutton.
Had to remove the sleeve caps, take out about 3" from the neckline
and replace the sleeves. Not a big deal. Easy, actually. Good
grief. Where do we buy clothes if we are not wanting to look like a
Happy Hooker? with apology to my crocheting friends, Polly



--
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L, you just hit a sore spot... VBG "Whatever happened to Home Ec.????"
Let me tell you a bit about that. G (I taught jr. high "Home Ec.", now
usually called "Life Management" or "Life Skills" or such, BTW, for 6
and a half years. Or tried to.) Budgets have been cut, salary dollars
are at a premium, and supplies/equipment cost too much. When I was
teaching I usually had classes of 28 or more, and 10 sewing machines. We
had 3 "kitchen set up" and had to accommodate everyone in the class. I
got very creative with all of that. And we didn't always manage to get a
cooking session in. (The kids had to "earn" that privilege and show that
they could do regular class stuff first. Another whole story there. G)
For sewing we ended up with some projects that included both hand and
machine work, so they could share machines.
And trying to keep an eye on/corral that many students with no other
adult helper could get "dicey".
The last year I was there, one of the kindergarten teachers wanted to
move into the former "art" room next door. So I got moved too.....into a
portable. And by Feb. I still had no bulletin boards or chalk/white
boards!!! Then I got told, by the principal, that the kids didn't want
to learn what I was teaching so I should change my curriculum!!!!! That
is when I gave up. Literally.

But blame over crowded classrooms, no money for equipment/supplies, plus
the need to "teach to the standardized tests"(which cuts way down on
class room time for other stuff) for the decline in Home Ec, shop and
other classes.

Sorry, I will get off my soapbox now. VBG

Pati, in Phx.

L wrote:


Probably they are thinking "WHY can't I find modest but not old-fashioned
clothing for my daughter"?

I started sewing because, in the 60's, 5'8" was considered tall. I can let
down a mean hem. But, other than a simple dress or skirt, my fashion-sewing
skill is very limited (much easier to sew a set-in seam in a quilt block
than to sew a nice looking blouse - at least for me).

Once, in desperation, I spent EIGHTY DOLLARS(!) at a Lord & Taylor
department store for a knee length skirt for my oldest to wear to bible
study, as she had had a really quick growth spurt. The first day she wore
it, someone remarked that it 'rode up' when she sat down, to about 3 inches
above the knee.

She never wore it again.

I found a wonderful seamstress and had some clothes made in a classic style
that have lasted some time. But, we have lost so many local fabric stores in
our area that it has been some time since I've seen nice fabrics with which
to replace the old stuff. TSWLTH has a very poor selection of fabrics for
clothing, IMO.

As for me, I'm BIG. I have no problem with my size, but I DO have a problem
finding clothes. Even in the larger sizes, the clothing seems to be cut with
less and less cloth.

With fewer resources for learning to sew (whatever happened to home ec?),
fewer local resources for finding materials, and less time for 'hobbies',
the manufacturers know that we will buy what they sell. Hoochie mama style
is, after all, cheap in every sense of the word.