Max Power
11-06-2002, 12:02 AM
This is a switch.
http://www.arizonarepublic.com/news/articles/1029modesty.html
Midriff mutiny: Teens fight for modest duds
By Betty Beard and Glen Creno
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 29, 2002
Not all teenagers, it turns out, want to look like Britney Spears.
But teens who prefer clothes that don't reveal cleavages, bellies or lower backs say it's almost impossible to buy anything else.
"It's getting harder to find them, or they are expensive or look all the same and kind of plain," said Amanda Smith, 18, a senior at Mountain View High School in Mesa. "All we can find are older women's clothing."
So today, Smith and other Mountain View students are fighting back by presenting petitions with about 1,500 signatures to Dillard's Phoenix division to encourage all retailers to start selling clothing "that covers the midriff, bust, shoulder, back, legs to the knee and any clothing that shows respect for the body."
The organizers, members of the same ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, say they want stores to offer options, such as tops that are long enough to be tucked into hip-hugging jeans, formal gowns without spaghetti straps or low-cut fronts and boy's jeans that don't hang so low.
Organizers say the issue must strike a chord because it was surprisingly easy to get so many signatures in three weeks from Mormons and non-Mormons alike.
"Our point is not to censor anyone," said Delynn Bodine, one of their LDS advisers. "We want options to be able to buy clothing that represents the standards of these girls' homes."
Dillard's was targeted, she said, because it's a large retailer that used to offer conservative, affordable clothes. She said the store has been sympathetic.
Kent Burnett, chairman and CEO of the Dillard's Phoenix division, said some LDS members in Utah raised the same issue. As a result, the chain has begun carrying some more modest gowns.
"We certainly hear them and we're concerned about it," he said.
He said Dillard's is considering a fashion show of more modest clothing, similar to what Nordstrom did recently at its store in Costa Mesa, Calif. That show attracted about 900 people.
Department stores, under pressure from trendy specialty stores, are under the gun to attract their share of young shoppers.
But Anne Brouwer, a partner at Chicago retailing consultant McMillan-Doolittle, said too much focus on racy styles for teens can chase away the department stores' core customer: the girls' mothers.
Brouwer said that although there may be some consumer backlash, she doesn't detect a groundswell of shoppers demanding change.
Nordstrom spokeswoman Kylie Allensworth said the store may have had a gap in its offering of formal wear. But she said the store has plenty of non-revealing styles.
"There are some women and girls who prefer more daring looks," she said. "They're watching MTV and all the award shows. That's what drives the trend."
Whatever drives the trend, teens and parents say it has become more difficult over the past two years to find modest clothing.
"It's disturbing to see girls sitting with their underwear showing and all their fat hanging out," Brittney Phelps, 17, said.
Ann Despain, a Mesa mother of four, was shocked when she tried to find school clothes this year.
"I was appalled at the slogans and types of shirts they're expecting kids to wear," she said, noting that one shirt had the slogan, "I can make even good boys bad."
Schools have attempted to fight back by requiring uniforms or imposing stricter dress codes. But some parents and students say they are not being enforced.
Melissa Teasley, 40, of Phoenix said she recently chaperoned a dance for seventh- and eighth-graders at Osborn Middle School and that although the school distributed a flier telling students to dress appropriately, many did not. "I was totally appalled as a parent at the type of dressing and music they allowed to happen," she said.
There is some indication that styles are getting more conservative.
Andrea Atkinson, a spokeswoman for Macy's in Phoenix, said the store has turned somewhat more conservative in its buying for next year. "Not so much lace and sheerness in the tops," she said.
Scottsdale merchandise analyst Mike Adams wonders if some of the weak sales at mall specialty stores had to do with too much flashy merchandise rather than the shaky economy. "Some of this stuff, truthfully, I can understand why a parent could find it unacceptable," he said.
But he said it's difficult for department stores to buy beyond the mainstream. The stores often don't have the buying budget to devote to a niche product with no mass sales appeal.
For that to happen, he said, buyers must be willing to take a contrarian view of the market and their bosses need to back them.
"Somebody's got to listen to their consumer," Adams said. "If they're getting calls, there probably is some justification for that possibility. But, again, it would require someone to stick their neck out and the tough part of the environment we're in now, no one wants to do that."
http://www.arizonarepublic.com/news/articles/1029modesty.html
Midriff mutiny: Teens fight for modest duds
By Betty Beard and Glen Creno
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 29, 2002
Not all teenagers, it turns out, want to look like Britney Spears.
But teens who prefer clothes that don't reveal cleavages, bellies or lower backs say it's almost impossible to buy anything else.
"It's getting harder to find them, or they are expensive or look all the same and kind of plain," said Amanda Smith, 18, a senior at Mountain View High School in Mesa. "All we can find are older women's clothing."
So today, Smith and other Mountain View students are fighting back by presenting petitions with about 1,500 signatures to Dillard's Phoenix division to encourage all retailers to start selling clothing "that covers the midriff, bust, shoulder, back, legs to the knee and any clothing that shows respect for the body."
The organizers, members of the same ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, say they want stores to offer options, such as tops that are long enough to be tucked into hip-hugging jeans, formal gowns without spaghetti straps or low-cut fronts and boy's jeans that don't hang so low.
Organizers say the issue must strike a chord because it was surprisingly easy to get so many signatures in three weeks from Mormons and non-Mormons alike.
"Our point is not to censor anyone," said Delynn Bodine, one of their LDS advisers. "We want options to be able to buy clothing that represents the standards of these girls' homes."
Dillard's was targeted, she said, because it's a large retailer that used to offer conservative, affordable clothes. She said the store has been sympathetic.
Kent Burnett, chairman and CEO of the Dillard's Phoenix division, said some LDS members in Utah raised the same issue. As a result, the chain has begun carrying some more modest gowns.
"We certainly hear them and we're concerned about it," he said.
He said Dillard's is considering a fashion show of more modest clothing, similar to what Nordstrom did recently at its store in Costa Mesa, Calif. That show attracted about 900 people.
Department stores, under pressure from trendy specialty stores, are under the gun to attract their share of young shoppers.
But Anne Brouwer, a partner at Chicago retailing consultant McMillan-Doolittle, said too much focus on racy styles for teens can chase away the department stores' core customer: the girls' mothers.
Brouwer said that although there may be some consumer backlash, she doesn't detect a groundswell of shoppers demanding change.
Nordstrom spokeswoman Kylie Allensworth said the store may have had a gap in its offering of formal wear. But she said the store has plenty of non-revealing styles.
"There are some women and girls who prefer more daring looks," she said. "They're watching MTV and all the award shows. That's what drives the trend."
Whatever drives the trend, teens and parents say it has become more difficult over the past two years to find modest clothing.
"It's disturbing to see girls sitting with their underwear showing and all their fat hanging out," Brittney Phelps, 17, said.
Ann Despain, a Mesa mother of four, was shocked when she tried to find school clothes this year.
"I was appalled at the slogans and types of shirts they're expecting kids to wear," she said, noting that one shirt had the slogan, "I can make even good boys bad."
Schools have attempted to fight back by requiring uniforms or imposing stricter dress codes. But some parents and students say they are not being enforced.
Melissa Teasley, 40, of Phoenix said she recently chaperoned a dance for seventh- and eighth-graders at Osborn Middle School and that although the school distributed a flier telling students to dress appropriately, many did not. "I was totally appalled as a parent at the type of dressing and music they allowed to happen," she said.
There is some indication that styles are getting more conservative.
Andrea Atkinson, a spokeswoman for Macy's in Phoenix, said the store has turned somewhat more conservative in its buying for next year. "Not so much lace and sheerness in the tops," she said.
Scottsdale merchandise analyst Mike Adams wonders if some of the weak sales at mall specialty stores had to do with too much flashy merchandise rather than the shaky economy. "Some of this stuff, truthfully, I can understand why a parent could find it unacceptable," he said.
But he said it's difficult for department stores to buy beyond the mainstream. The stores often don't have the buying budget to devote to a niche product with no mass sales appeal.
For that to happen, he said, buyers must be willing to take a contrarian view of the market and their bosses need to back them.
"Somebody's got to listen to their consumer," Adams said. "If they're getting calls, there probably is some justification for that possibility. But, again, it would require someone to stick their neck out and the tough part of the environment we're in now, no one wants to do that."