CLASS ACTION : Kids No Longer Have to Settle for Clothes From the Old School

Nine-year-old Danny Piscitelli, a world-weary look on his young face, is suffering through that annual rite of summer: shopping for back-to-school clothes.

“Boys don’t like to shop,” Piscitelli says, offering this bit of gospel while struggling with a growing pile of shirts slung over his arm.

Experience has taught his mother, Debbie, that although Danny hates shopping, it’s better to bring him along lest she pick out something that will never leave his closet.

“I might pick out shorts that are this much too long,” says the Laguna Hills resident, holding her fingers an inch apart, “and find out that that is not a happening deal.”

When parents and children disagree on what to wear to class, there can be fights, even tears--and not just the kids cry.

This season, shopping for school clothes might not be so traumatic. The reason: Back-to-school clothes are getting high marks for offering the freshest looks in years.

What will the best-dressed kids in class be wearing this fall?

Chances are they’ll be decked out in plaid and big checks. These are not the crisp, traditional plaids of private-school uniforms but the faded flannel plaids of old lumberjack shirts and buffalo-check prints in such bold colors as fuchsia and turquoise.

“Lots of flannel stuff,” is how the young Piscitelli sums up the trend.

The boy is wandering among racks of plaid flannel drawstring shorts, baseball jackets and shirts at Bernans children’s store in South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. His pick: a teal-colored flannel shirt by Quiksilver with a plaid hood.

Girls can choose from plaid leggings, skirts, shorts and just about everything else, says Audrey Blenden, advertising coordinator for Kids ‘R’ Us corporate headquarters in Paramus, N.J. Kids ‘R’ Us stores in Brea, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana and Tustin have loads of plaid, including leggings with large hot pink and black checks ($14).

Western wear, still riding high in the men’s and women’s markets, has entered children’s wear at full gallop. Now kids who want to play cowboys at recess can look the part.

“It’s the first in a long time the boys’ market has taken a strong direction,” says Peggy Zamberlan, general manager of Bernans. “I can’t tell you how many boots I’ve sold.”

Bernans has everything for cowboys and cowgirls--cowboy hats, boots, Western shirts, jeans, prairie dresses. All that’s missing is a pony.

There’s a chambray shirt with an OK Corral print by Guess? ($46), a tan felt cowboy hat ($35), and a girl’s prairie outfit with a black and white buffalo-checked skirt over a red petticoat and Western shirt spruced up with fringe and appliques of a cowboy hat and boot ($53).

Animal prints are another trend that children have borrowed from their parents. Bernans has a catty girls’ bomber jacket of faux leopard fur ($63) and matching muff ($20).

Girls’ fashions have made the greatest strides in pants, skirts and leggings, Blenden says.

“The tops are just to coordinate with fun bottoms,” she says.

There are numerous variations on the skirt, from floral-print sarongs to prairie skirts. Split prairie skirts open in front to show off a ruffled lace petticoat at Kids ‘R’ Us ($20).

The so-called Lucy skirt, inspired by “I Love Lucy,” is just the thing for girls to wear on the playground. It’s a split skirt that opens in front to reveal a pair of attached bicycle shorts. Kids ‘R’ Us has them in big checks and plaids ($18) and a denim version ($22). T-shirts with vests attached or decorated with plaid hearts finish the look ($17).

Boys are thinking big for fall--big and baggy pants, shorts and T-shirts.

“Parents are probably thinking the kids can wear it longer because it will take them forever to grow out of it,” says Janice Greenwood, owner of Red Balloon Ltd. in MainPlace/Santa Ana. (There is also a Red Balloon Ltd. in Newport Center Fashion Island).

Kids ‘R’ Us is doing big business in Levi’s Big Jeans, an oversized classic five-pocket jean ($20). Boys are wearing the roomy pants with mock turtleneck T-shirts emblazoned with colorful logos of cool sportswear makers such as Gotcha, Body Glove, Quiksilver, Bugle Boy and Nike.

“With boys, brand names are important,” Blenden says.

One of the hottest names for boys, and some girls, is Cross Colours. The company has designed a vintage baseball look for fall, with a jacket, T-shirt and shorts in white with black pin-stripes and red stitching. The line is a hit at Bernans.

What influences children’s taste in clothes? Other children.

“They get ideas about what to wear from each other,” says Jeannine Trout, owner of Petite Marche in Costa Mesa. “If one real popular kid wears it, everyone else has to have it. Last year we sold a lot of denim jumpers out of Newport Heights Elementary School.”

Parent and child almost never agree on what clothes to buy, she says.

“Especially the girls. The more conservative the parent is, the more flamboyant the child wants to dress. It also works the other way. If a mom comes in here all sequined out, the kid will want jeans.”