FASHION : Preteens’ Clothing Choices: They’re Dressed to Secede

For Brenda Blake and her 11-year-old daughter, Shajuan, there were only clashes of taste as they went shopping, theoretically, together.

The clothes Brenda “loved”--a wine-colored, high-waisted skirt, white blouse, black-and-pink floral sweater--were greeted with looks of despair by her daughter.

Shajuan’s own selections--a heavily fringed black suede jacket, a lightly fringed white blouse and a blue-jeans skirt peppered with black velvet stars--brought motherly objections that hit at the heart of the preteen-parent conflict.

“It’s too flashy,” complained Brenda, as the two stood their ground in the junior department of the Broadway’s Beverly Center store. She felt her daughter “should make the clothes stand out. Her idea is to have the clothes make her stand out.”

Although not quite into all-out-rebellion, preteens (technically ages 10-12) have been sowing the seeds for years.

“The first stirrings might be over clothes at 4 or 5 years of age,” observes Jerome Karasic, clinical associate professor of psychiatry at USC.

The next “surge of independence” comes during preadolescence. And Karasic’s advice is: “Instead of looking at the rebellion as a negative thing, see it as a positive that accomplishes what the parent wants--to make the child independent.”

Nancy Kaufman, co-owner of Na Na, a trend-conscious boutique in Santa Monica, describes her preteen customer as “a child who will dress very maturely but will go home and sleep with a teddy bear. It’s a time of transition. They don’t know if they’re children or adults.”

Caught in a rite of passage, preadolescents often spar with their parents over what is appropriate for young bodies that might be lean as beanpoles or smothered in baby fat.

Mothers, clinging to the little-girl concept, have visions of their daughters in pretty dresses and demure skirts. Daughters want to dress as movie or rock stars.

Boys show their preadolescent independence by suddenly balking at the oddest things, such as shoelaces and shirts with buttons. They also tend to be greater slaves than girls to labels, says Jose Rodriguez, manager of the Adorable Shop in Alhambra, after observing the latest round of back-to-school shopping.

“At this age, they’re all just discovering fashion,” explains John Ludlow of the Little Folk Shops.

This fall, bill-paying adults will be happy to know, fashion is heavily weighted on their side. “Everything seems to be in good taste,” in Ludlow’s opinion. “There’s nothing eccentric.”

Perusing the racks in the boy’s department at Bullock’s in Sherman Oaks recently, 11-year-old Richie Radenbaugh and his mother, Mary, came up with what each considered an ideal preteen outfit. They were worlds apart.

For Richie, a surfer whose not-too-long and not-too-short haircut was called “a compromise” by his mother, the choice was a blue-black-and-white Gotcha cotton pullover and a pair of gray Guess stone-washed jeans, rolled up several times around the ankles.

The combination had just about all the features his mother dislikes: “It doesn’t match. The shirt is baggy and I don’t like it hanging out. I don’t like the pants rolled up like that either, but he insists on it.”

Noting the absence of shirt buttons, she talked about the latest preteen fad to invade her household: “Last week when we were shopping, he told me no one at school is wearing shirts with buttons.”

It’s not always such a tug-of-war, especially when parents and progeny are willing to compromise.

At the Limited in the South Bay Galleria, Tina Fucci matched to the max. Admitting she was “more traditional and preppy” than her daughter, she picked out a wine-and-cream print blouse, matching-print walking shorts and a wine-colored vest.

Twelve-year-old Kristin, an avid athlete who has just begun to enjoy shopping, put together a similar but more trendy version of the outfit, complete with the type of black felt hat her mother had objected to for months.

But seeing turned out to be believing; by the time the two were ready to leave the store, Tina conceded Kristin looked “pretty neat in a hat.”

A similar meeting of the minds took place at the Broadway in the Glendale Galleria, where Hollace Davids and almost-12-year-old Jordan started out in the children’s department with Hollace choosing a red-and-white stripe Esprit dress that Jordan didn’t like and couldn’t fit into.

Jordan rounded up some trendier children’s items, along with cotton blouses (“not silk ones like my mother wears”), jean skirts, colorful sweaters and cotton pants from the junior department.

In the end, mother and daughter both liked a purple, two-piece cotton-jersey dress, selected by Hollace, enough to buy it. And not long after, Jordan wore the outfit to the first school dance of the year.