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Beyoncé sexing up children's clothing
Filed under: Big Kids, Tweens, Media, Decor
Back in 2004, singer Beyoncé and her mother Tina started their own fashion line, House of Deréon. The look, dubbed "where the sidewalk and catwalk meet", is designed to embody sexy sophistication for the modern woman. Finding some success in dressing grown-up ladies, Deréon has now expanded to include clothing for girls. That's all well and good, except it seems they forgot that 'sexy' isn't exactly what most of us are looking for when it comes to dressing our daughters.
Check out this ad for Deréon Girls and you will notice sweet-faced little girls wearing high heeled pumps, feather boas and bright red lipstick. This ad campaign might be called "where the playground and prostitute meet." If you can manage to look past the inappropriate accessories and somewhat suggestive poses, the clothes themselves aren't that bad. Maybe a little on the tacky side, but not overtly sexual.
Just what message are they trying to send here? It is never to early to begin dressing like a fashion-impaired adult? Had they presented the clothing line in a more age-appropriate way, would parents have reacted with "well, that's just not sexy enough for my kid?"
Seriously, does sex really sell when it comes to children's clothing?
Check out this ad for Deréon Girls and you will notice sweet-faced little girls wearing high heeled pumps, feather boas and bright red lipstick. This ad campaign might be called "where the playground and prostitute meet." If you can manage to look past the inappropriate accessories and somewhat suggestive poses, the clothes themselves aren't that bad. Maybe a little on the tacky side, but not overtly sexual.
Just what message are they trying to send here? It is never to early to begin dressing like a fashion-impaired adult? Had they presented the clothing line in a more age-appropriate way, would parents have reacted with "well, that's just not sexy enough for my kid?"
Seriously, does sex really sell when it comes to children's clothing?
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ReaderComments (Page 3 of 5)
5-14-2008 @ 10:28PM
Bey said...Da makeup and da way the kids r set up reely is disturbing as hell. the clothes tho dont look bad becuz it has a hip hop trend and they do seemed to be coverd from head to toe. i would go crazy if i saw just one inch of skin dat wasnt from short sleeves. however, i do feel dat these clothes are practically inspiring little girls to act lik teenagers alredy, and whether innocently or not its wrong. i think dat the way middle schoolers today act and dress is extremely scandalous and i would b heartbroken if i started seeing my little sisters (ages 5 & 6) concerned about looking a certain way other than "pretty" or "girl". if i hear the words "bootylicious" come out of there mouths, im boycotting beyonce and other of these "in-trend" fashion lines for girls.
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5-15-2008 @ 9:40AM
pochantis said...house of dereon clothes are ugly the purses are too, the childrens dereon clothing are worse. this singer should stick to singing. i dont want to encourage my girl to grow up any faster than shes going to. i just hope she has enough sense not to buy these (overpriced) low budget clothing. if beoynce wanted to do something good for our youth, she would of followed behind sarah jessica parker and put out a pretty girl line in steve and barry's
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5-15-2008 @ 11:53AM
Robin said...I can't stand most of the clothes for little girls. I have a hard time finding jeans for my 10 year old. Most of them are low cut. Other pants have words on the butt. Why would anyone want their daughter to wear pants that encourage people to look at their butt? With all the retro look these days, I'm waiting for the chastity belt to come back into fashion. I'll take two!!!
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5-15-2008 @ 11:59AM
Robin said...I wonder what pedophiles would think of this line of clothing?
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5-15-2008 @ 9:30PM
linda C said...They love it!
5-15-2008 @ 12:52PM
Emily said...The clothes don't show a lot of skin, but they are unsettling on a little kid--they still kinda look like street-walker clothes. The shoes are probably also not a good idea for kids. My mother would never have let me out of the house dressed like that.
Playing dress-up in Mom's feather boa and high heels is one thing. Actually manufacturing hooker-heels for six-year-olds is disturbing. Even worse, parents will actually BUY these ridiculous things and let their kids go out in public dressed like prositutes.
I'm a school teacher. A few years ago, I had a little eight-year-old student who was very "fashionable." She wore kid-sized versions of the clothes I saw on high school girls--shiny flared pants, frilly tops, and little stack-heeled ankle boots. The clothes were relatively modest and she didn't look trampy, but I was still concerned that she was trying to look older than she was. When I thought about it though, I realized that when I was her age back in the 80s, I would occasionally wear outlandish clothes too--my favorite outfit was a metallic fuschia sleeveless turtleneck with a metallic electric blue mini-skirt and sweater set (not sure what shoes I wore with it...probably fuschia ballet flats or something, and I always wore opaque tights under the skirt so there wouldn't be a lot of skin showing). Mom always let me out of the house in the outfit, so I guess it didn't look too skanky.
I'd say my main concern with this article and the photos is the dangerous-looking shoes and the provocative poses. The clothes might be okay.
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5-15-2008 @ 1:33PM
Tara said...Girls should be girls - and by that I mean little girls. My daughter adores fashion, and has an amazing fashion sense, but I draw the line between fashionable and slutty. There really is no way to allow them to dress like mini-adults at the age of 8, then suddenly try to bring the hammer down when they turn 13. Your messages have to be consistent and be about self esteem and self respect, start when they're young girls and follow them throughout all stages of development right through adulthood. Dress-up is for home and playtime, not for going out in public. Sexual come-hither poses are not for children. I'm not sure why this appears confusing for some, except to say that they are blurring their own lines between what is appropriate for girls vs. women. Some grown women need to stop trying to re-live their own childhoods through their daughters. Get over yourselves, grow up and get past whatever baggage you've dragged into adulthood- let your girls be innocent for the few short years they get to have it that way. Geez. Are you their moms or their pimps?
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5-15-2008 @ 4:19PM
LMARIE48 said...I can't stand Beyonce and know this jusifies it even more! Slut!
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5-15-2008 @ 7:50PM
kdubest said...dese clothings are cute there not at all slutty. hows it slutty? half of ya is just mad because beyonce is da best of da best nd does big things. its nice that she wants little kids to be like her. all ya haters tlkin mad smack about beyonce just be out because wt ya gotta say dnt make diff. beyonce will do her nd u just do u. cuz wit or witout da children fashion line she still stay fly nd rich nd beiin da best
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5-15-2008 @ 7:14PM
Liz said...I believe that some children's(girls) clothing isn't age appropriate.
I think some girls are trying to grow up to fast. They try dressing like popstars or girls twice their ages. Little girls should dress cute & be able to express their personalities. However, they shouldn't wear tons of make-up or adult like clothing. I just gave birth to a little girl & i wouldn't feel comfortable when she turns 10 & is trying to dress likes she is 20. But, with all this influence in the media, I know it;s hard to keep your child from growing up to fast.
To all parents: GOOD LUCK & follow your guts about how to raise your child. You know whats best.
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5-15-2008 @ 7:44PM
m said...Im tired of the sexy CHILDRENS cloths, and we wonder why our teen pregnancy rate is so high, why cant we dress our CHILDREN like CHILDREN for as long as possible...they grow up soon enough, I dont like it encouraged by their clothes designers, Let CHILDREN be CHILDREN...GET IT...PARENTS...CHILDREN!!!
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5-15-2008 @ 7:25PM
Linda C said..."AS POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC FREEDOM DIMINISHES, SEXUAL FREEDOM TENDS COMPENSATINGLY TO INCREASE." -ALDOUS HUXLEY. 'Tis truly a brave new world.
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5-15-2008 @ 8:45PM
joanne said...Sex sells. Period. It has nothing to do with morals, good taste, or character. God has been replaced by the Almighty Dollar. Anyone who supports this clothing line is insane.
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5-18-2008 @ 10:31PM
Mischa said...Do you want to know something interesting that few people are mentioning?
Nobody *has* to buy these clothes. "Manties" exist too, but you don't see many people buying those (Google the name). I think this line is horrendous and will make these little kids into either spoiled snotty rich-babies or ridiculous bully magnets, but really --
I'm just not going to buy them.
Why would this be such a big news story?
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5-17-2008 @ 2:23PM
Miaa said...oh my goodness. shut up already. you act like your little kids are going to be staring in the latest magazines at these ads or really caring about them. damn. if you dont like the clothes DONT BUY THEM! you have a choice. go to the children's place or something for your kids if you have a problem. gosh. get over yourselves. leave beyonce, her mother, and their fashion line alone. plus, if you were going to buy the clothes then you dont have to dress your kids up JUST LIKE the ads. come on now. if you mixed the outfits up with something more tasteful for your child, im sure it'd be fine. people are so judgemental. i can understand thinking the heels are too much but the feather boas? i had one of those! come on. dont be so quick to judge. it was just an ad. relax. seriously. your picking on the littlest thing way too much. i didnt even notice it until it was pointed out. what makes you think your kids, who are probably the least bit interested in fashion, are going to automatically look and want the trampiest thing in the ads that dont even stand out. honestly stop with the bull already. its an ad. get over it. if your honestly that upset, im sure you can keep your little 7 year olds away from the ad and the clothing line itself....so shut it.
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5-17-2008 @ 2:19PM
Becca said...Beyonce is not slow or dumb or trashy. i dont get why people have to be jealous of her because she's beautiful, talented and smart. Why are you people being so judgemental? Maybe its out of jealousy because she has way more money than you. Its sad how you ordinary folks treat celebs. They're people and i bet all of you would be acting like Beyonce's number one groupie if you saw her walking down the street and if not, then you'd at least want to see her. I dont get how the clothes are "sexy" either. All i can say is obviously whoever designed the ad certainly succeeded in their job. They certainly caught your attention didnt they? Dont buy the clothes if you think they're sooo trashy and dont judge Beyonce when you dont know her and will never even get the oppertunity to get to know the real her.How would you know if she was dumb? A lot of times Beyonce is seen dressing like a normal peron unless she is performing and ea lot of celebs dress crazy when they perform so why is she being so harshly judged? She is in her 20s and nothing is wrong with her and the way she dresses. All of this sh** is out of jealousy. Honestly, she is crazy talented and humble and what the heck has she done to any of you? Oh, shes puttin' your children in "danger." Lets face the facts. Its the parenting that makes your kid a slut. Not the ads. You pay for the clothes so your in charge of what they wear especially if they're lik 7!!! You dont like the clothes. Good for you. Go somewhere else for your kid. Stop bashing beyonce and acting all high and mighty. NONE OF YOU KNOW HER! and all of you people dissin her looks for no reason when this is suppose to be about the AD are haters who have no style and probably look really bad. i feel sorry for you that you have to bash her to make yourself feel better. get over yourself. if you teach your kids the right values from the day they are born til the day they leave your home to go out on their own, then they will become smart young women. a simple ad cant transform your kid into a slut so please just shut up and leave it alone already. your being over dramatic and taking the easy way out saying " beyonce is gunna make my kid a slut" when its really "i screwed up as a parent and my now my kids a slut" you guys really made me laugh with all your silly comments but honestly they were all hateful for no particular reason. all i can say is. RAISE YOUR KIDS RIGHT! oh and its funny how all of you can say all this stuff about her because honestly she is way more respected than most of you and known and probably doin more with her life than most of you too so she could probably care less bout who you are and what you think. so hah. thanks for wasting your breath with hateful comments.
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5-30-2008 @ 2:34AM
REAL LADY said...kudos, becca!
5-16-2008 @ 12:24AM
Becca said...and wow. you guys are lame. neing a slut has nothing to do wit how you dress....its how many times you spread them legs. just because your dressin kinda provacative doesnt mean you HAVE to give into sexual desire. it all depends on how you were raised so please leave beyonce alone. ITS JUST CLOTHES! you guys arent finding the right clothes because your not going to the right places. your offically making me sick with all your idiotic comments.
hating....thats allll it is.
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5-16-2008 @ 2:39AM
jess said...i have 4 kids and there is no way in heck my kids would dress that way. Its just so disturbing some of the clothing they sell for children and it doesnt begin and end with this line of clothing, sadly.
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5-16-2008 @ 5:39AM
Sorceress said...This is nothing new. I see nine year olds dressed like nineteen year olds all the time here. Frankly I blame the mothers for allowing their daughters to dress like little street walkers.When they are teenagers it is ok to wear large hoop earings, heels and makeup, but until then dress them according to their age group. I think "little" girls look so cute in their ribbons and crinolines, leave something to look forward to when they become teens, like high heels and tight skirts.
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