Clothing, Products and Services for Children
16.
Throughout the Review, by far the most contentious issue where clothing is concerned has been the availability of bras and bikini—style swimwear for under 16s. This issue has been taken up by the media, and there have been a number of newspaper articles in recent months criticising such products (for example Lazzeri and Spanton, 2011; Hamilton, 2010). In some cases, it is aspects of design that have been criticised, but sometimes the issue of design has been conflated with a question around whether such products should exist at all. These stories often sensationalise the issue, fanning a prurient interest in cases where a sexual dimension can be put into a headline.
"In many high street shops clothes for young girls are merely mini versions of adult clothes. Almost everything is pink and glittery or has inappropriate slogans such as 'WAG in the making', 'Gorgeous', 'Princess' etc.
"I find it strange when children's clothes are so 'grown—up' and in many shops I could buy items for my daughter that I could wear myself!"
Parents, Call for Evidence response
17.
We would prefer to see a more measured approach. Common sense tells us that under 16s are bound to need swimwear and bras at some stage during their childhood.As the Department for Education's Children and Youth Board sensibly commented in their response to our Call for Evidence:
"The Board felt that bikinis for children wasn't the problem, but that bikinis have become sexualised by the media, e. g. models posing in newspapers in bikinis."
Department for Education's Children and Youth Board
18.
We, therefore, have some sympathy with manufacturers and retailers of such clothing items as they are often in a difficult situation: they want to supply the perfectly normal and reasonable demand of parents and young people for such products, but in so doing risk often unreasonable criticism.
19.
During the Review, we spent a lot of time talking with retailers about the sale of bras and swimwear for children, and were reassured that businesses are generally applying common sense when designing and selling these items.
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