I don’t know many 7-year-old’s that sport eye-popping cleavage… and that’s the way it should be… at least in my opinion. But, apparently, some swimsuit designers disagree.
A couple months ago I took my 5-year-old daughter shopping for swimsuits in preparation for our annual trip to Hawaii. Since I don’t allow her to wear bikinis, we bypassed the two-piece designs all together, and made a beeline for the floral one-piece bathing suits. I grabbed the most conservatively cut 6xs I could find and off we went to check out.
Mission accomplished.
My daughter is the antithesis of a fashionista. If she had her way she would wear the same shapeless Snoopy shirt and her favorite baggy soccer shorts every day. And when it comes to swimwear, she’d just as soon go naked.
My daughter is utterly and completely disinterested in all things related to fashion… and I couldn’t be happier.
For the time being I don’t have to worry about fighting with her about wearing sparkly bikinis with padded bra tops.
Yes, cleavage-enhancing, push-up bikini tops… for little girls.
A discount clothing chain in the UK recently made headlines for carrying the skimpy swimwear for girls, as young as six years old. Since the average first grader doesn’t have what it takes to fill out a sexy little two-piece, designers figured they would strategically sew breast-enhancing pads into the bikini tops.
The cushion-top bikinis were a hit with some kids, but most parents were outraged that the clothing chain would carry a product that promoted “the early sexualization of girls.”
Long story short, the store was flooded with complaints by irate parents and child protection advocates, who accused the shop owner of encouraging pedophilia. The store subsequently pulled the padded bikinis from the shelves and even promised to donate profits from the offending swimwear (collected earlier in the month) to a children’s charity.
I’m anti two-piece on little girls, so I’m unable to provide unbiased commentary on this story. However, I will say that most of the 6 and 7-year-old girls I know don’t have enough jiggle in the chest area to form swimsuit cleavage, even with thick padding. Still, the idea that a bikini designer would want to create hourglass curves on a first grader is a bit disturbing.
What do you make of the padded bikini brouhaha?
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