They’ve Gotta Have It : Some Things Are Inevitable, Like Fall, Puberty and Virtual Pets

You parents out there know too well the signs that summer is ending: Your checking account is low; your credit-card balance is high, and your wallet is empty.

It’s back-to-school time, and soon your children will be snowing you into buying them all the latest, coolest, own-it-or-die items. So what’s on their list for this fall?

There’s no escaping store aisles piled high with hyper-colored, hyper-attitude school supplies. A yellow No. 2 pencil and Pee-Chee folder will no longer cut it. Novelty rules.

But supplies won’t likely be No. 1 on your kids’ must-have lists. The rage this year is virtual pets--computerized gadgets that signal when they need virtual feeding or other care.

Besides the pocket-sized Tamagotchi from Japan and competitors such as Nano Pals and Dinkie Dino, virtual pets have arrived in watch form just in time for school, said Rachel Matteson, a trend manager for Target stores.

“It’s going to be a nightmare when kids return to class, because it beeps all the time,” she said.

Girls through their teens apparently haven’t tired yet of cute stuff. Hello Kitty and Sailor Moon are popular, but it’s Beanie Babies--bean-filled creatures that have their own names and birthdays--that qualify as a craze.

One manufacturer has its own version on a key chain that can be hooked on to backpacks and belt loops. In fact, look for key chains of all kinds attached wherever kids can find a place to hook them.

Cartoon characters and NBA heroes are still in your kid’s face on everything from folders to backpacks to pencils.

And making their way onto shelves are formerly fringe images now in the mainstream: space aliens and Harley-Davidson motorcycles, for instance, on folders by Mead. One vinyl-covered binder is embossed with the motorcycle maker’s logo and studded with tough-looking silver rivets. Another mutates a happy face with alien eyes.

Along a futuristic bent at Urban Outfitters are pencil cases available in colored metal and clear-plastic planner covers filled with sparkling liquid--no doubt to match the glitter nail polish and eye shadow that are still the rage among teenage girls.

“Star Wars” is going to school with another generation of fans who will be toting Darth Vader utility cases and Tie Fighter safety scissors.

In clothing, the Asian influence (not necessarily from Asia), is apparent in the popularity of cargo pants, based on army trousers with side-pleated patch pockets.

Every major label seems to have cargo pants in long and short cuts. You’ve probably already caught the celebrity-filled TV ads from Old Navy pitching its version. Cargo style has even been translated into skirts, from minis in cotton to long columns in pink satin.

Embroidered Indian and Chinese fabrics, as well as Thai- and Vietnamese-influenced clothing, were popular this summer and are expected to be part of the look through the winter holidays. Orange-based footwear maker Vans has sneakers of Chinese brocade.

Two other trends: anything corduroy and wide trousers legs.

“Big is in, but not the homeboy widths of some years ago,” said Leanne Murray, design director at Costa Mesa-based surf titan Billabong. “Legs are wide, but waists are narrower.”

Other hot items are ‘70s throwbacks: ski sweaters, dark blue denim (in everything from shoes to blazers) and bootleg pants. Even “attitude tees”--T-shirts emblazoned with phrases or words--are selling well, Target’s Matteson says.

But today’s teens are not reviving the past, says Billy Staid, owner of the Closet boutiques in Costa Mesa’s Triangle Square and in downtown Huntington Beach--and promoter of Surf City’s teen club, the Wreck Room. He says the kids are creating a style of their own.

“I’m seeing a new breed of kids who are in-the-know and fashion-conscious,” the twentysomething entrepreneur says. “They want to look clean-cut, so they’re going for stuff such as polo shirts.”

The look is clean but with a relaxed approach, says Caroline Lettieri, style director at Teen magazine. Her take on fall is a fusion of urban, prep, sport and classic influences into what she calls “no-thinking dressing.”

Consider a lace-trimmed tank under a hooded sweatshirt for girls or cord pants with desert boots for boys.

“A lot of these trends are already in kids’ closets,” Lettieri says. “So they don’t need to spend a lot of money this season. They just need a few pieces to update what they already own. Shopping this season is so easy.”

Right. Try telling that to your kids.

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WHAT’S IN

Golf

Electronic music

Virtual pets

Urban Decay and Hard Candy

glitter nail polish

Mehndi

(temporary henna tattoos)

Beaded hair

Adidas stripes

Cargo pants

Deep-blue denim

The Discovery Channel

WHAT’S OUT

In-line hockey

Punk rock

Chia pets

Chanel’s Vamp nail color

Permanent tattoos

Tiny barrettes

Nike swoosh

Backpacks

Faded denim

MTV