Even Santa Had to Play Scrooge This Year With Kids’ Fashion

Twelve-year-old Bridget Finnegan didn’t think she was asking for a Christmas miracle. Just a pair of pricey designer jeans she’d seen in a department store.

Come Christmas morning, though, the Studio City sixth-grader discovered that Santa Claus had been unmoved by the depths of her desire.

“I’m sorry, but it’s very difficult for me to justify spending $62.50 on a pair of ripped jeans,” said Santa, a.k.a. Bridget’s mother, Candy Finnegan. “They may be the current look, and everyone may want them, but it doesn’t matter. I’ve got a pair just like them, that I’ve had for years, that she’s welcome to have.”

Bridget and her 8-year-old brother, Kelly, received other items they had placed on their Christmas wish list. But the holiday message they got when it came to clothes undoubtedly was shared by many other children this year: Kids’ fashion may appear to be dictated by big-name designers and flashy television commercials, but it is more likely defined by the boundaries of appearance, pocketbook and taste.

Expensive cowboy boots in a variety of colors may be the hot new item, as far as fashion magazines are concerned, but they make little sense for teen-age feet that grow three sizes in less than a year. Skintight miniskirts and sequined tank tops may be the right look for Madonna, but not for a girl who still takes a lunch box to school.

So what fashion items did make it under the tree this year? According to department store managers and buyers, several fashion looks for children were big sellers.

“Denim never went out of style, but it’s been even more popular this year,” said Tracy Shelhamer, manager of The Gap in Woodland Hills. “Oversized sweaters in bright colors and socks that are dyed to match also have sold well, in addition to chambray shirts and skirts. Polka dots also are in.”

Lucy Hamilton, a spokeswoman for Nordstrom, said that the popularity of clothing items depends on age groups, but that certain items moved quickly this Christmas. “For younger girls, it has been chiffon skirts. Leggings also continue to be the big thing,” she said. “For high school girls, it has been Lycra tops and leggings, and oversized sweaters. It’s a great, comfortable look.”

Finnegan said she broke down and got her daughter a black leather skirt she wanted, but added that it wasn’t meant for wearing to school. “These days, a leather skirt is part of a really good outfit,” she said.

Boys’ clothing, not surprisingly, has been dominated by the influence of sports. It was a fact not lost on many parents.

“He’s lost all interest in toys, and now it’s anything to have something to do with sports. All of his friends feel the same way,” said Sandy Brown, a Van Nuys employment counselor whose 9-year-old son, Benjamin, found many desired fashion items under the tree. “His father got him a satin 49ers jacket, and I got him a Chicago Bulls shirt. If it had something to do with a sports team, he wanted it.”

Brown said that Santa’s budget couldn’t accommodate a pair of $75 Air Jordan basketball shoes--footwear that is the Rolex watch of junior and high school students--but that Benjamin ended up getting a pair anyway. A friend outgrew a pair before they wore out, she said, and passed them on to him. “He was thrilled,” she said.

For 12-year-old Jeanette Panthen, receiving a pair of designer jeans that fit her perfectly was a Christmas thrill. “Jeans are really expensive now, and I grow out of them quickly. Usually I get ones that have elastic at the waist so they’ll last a little longer,” she said.

Like many of her friends, Jeanette plans to wear them with a blouse and vest--a look she describes as the current “rage.”

And then there are fashion statements that make people realize that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Several parents said they were amused to see familiar items on their children’s Christmas lists--like bell-bottom pants and peace-sign ear rings.

“The hippie look is coming back again, I guess,” said Finnegan, who said she spent time during the ‘70s with her rock musician husband in the San Francisco Bay Area. “A lot of kids look like they’ve been in a time machine.”

Finnegan paused for a moment. “It kind of makes you feel strange,” she said softly.