Not All Young Girls Want To Dress Like Snooki, Thank Goodness

The New York Times went back to school shopping with a bunch of teenage girls recently, and they discovered that most don’t want to wear short, clingy garments or cut-offs. Those who read fashion magazines and keep abreast with trends just want to look their age.

The Times reports the super sexy looks with lots of skin to offer are considered “out” according to fashion-savvy young ladies:

”The uber-sexy thing has reached a saturation point,” said Jane Keltner de Valle, the fashion news director at Teen Vogue. ”It’s no longer cool or edgy.” She pointed to young actresses and budding style icons like Elle and Dakota Fanning, Chloë Moretz and Hailee Steinfeld (a current face of Miu Miu) as examples of looking ”cutting edge, age-appropriate, respectful of themselves ”” and wearing Prada straight off the runway.”

The girls featured in the piece describe the wonders of “grandma chic,” preferring long skirts, high-wasted pants, and big sweaters. Makeup-less faces and eyeglasses are also in to the 18 and under set, as modesty has returned with young style icons like Emma Watson.

Sixteen-year-old Ashley-Nicole Anglin had this to say about her fashion choices this fall:

”I have come to realize that looking good isn’t about how much skin you show but how well you carry yourself and look in whatever you’re wearing,” she wrote in an e-mail.

A pretty astute realization from a teenager, and one that many parents hope to instill in their daughters despite the constant sexualization of kids at exceedingly younger ages.

I don’t believe in judging girls for their apparel choices, as whether girls opt for a halter top or a turtleneck, they should be respected by their peers and by adults no matter what skin they expose. I grew up in the unforgiving Los Angeles heat and was assumed to be a wanton harlot of an 11-year-old girl simply for wearing sundresses in the merciless June heat. But the quotes from these young girls about wanting to be seen as attractive without showing off their bodies, about carrying themselves well no matter what they wear, makes me think these teenagers have more than a sophisticated fashion sense.

(photo: Shutterstock)