Glitter Taps Into a Golden Trend
Girls’ clothing stores these days look almost like discos.
Glitter is everywhere--on T-shirts, jeans, accessories and pajamas and even “lifestyle products” such as phones and picture frames--for the tween-age consumer.
“I like glitter [on clothes]. It expresses me,” said Katie Bujalski, 12, of Thomaston, Conn.
In the last five years, it seems every mall in America has at least one store--a Limited Too, a Zutopia, a Claire’s--for tweens. From the start, they’ve been liberally sprinkled with glitter. Even the discount and department stores such as Wal-Mart have created sections for tweens, ages 8 to 12, so named because they are between being children and teenagers.
Tweens, like teens, want to express their budding individuality and don’t want to be seen as little kids, designers say. Glitter is the transition look between the Crayola-bright colors of childhood and the muted hues of older teens.
Touches of glitter in the clothing “give just enough of a special quality without being overdone,” said Joanne Arbuckle, children’s wear expert at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
There’s good retail sense in making tweens feel special. They are among the largest demographic group of children today, according to a recent study by Pennsylvania State University. It estimated that tweens spend $36 billion in retail sales annually and influence $290 billion in purchases made by their parents.
Tweens in training see echoes of the glitter boom in their own clothes. For example, there are touches of glitter on clothing even at the Children’s Place and Baby Gap, which focus on children younger than 8.
“We use what the fashion trends are, but we keep it age-appropriate,” said Andrea McClarren, marketing communications manager for the Children’s Place. With glitter, “each item [becomes] special and unique, giving it a little more of its own personality.”
Age-appropriate is a moving target. Fashions once questionable even for young teenagers--hip-hugger jeans, body and hair glitter, attitude T-shirts with rhinestone messages such as “naughty girl” and belly shirts--are now offered to tweens.
It’s not unusual to hear mothers debating clothing choices with daughters in the tween stores or setting rules such as no body glitter in school.
“What we find in [Limited Too], we agree on. Flashy, I don’t mind; revealing, forget it,” said Denise Bujalski, recently shopping at a Limited Too with daughter, Katie.
According to a recent McCall’s magazine survey, 77% of mothers blame performers, including Britney Spears, for the almost costume-like trends in tween clothing.
“They are the obvious choices,” Bujalski said, citing Spears and Christina Aguilera as influences. “But now it is all around--TV commercials, everywhere.”
Retailers defend fashions as what the tweens want.
“The fashion industry is not trying to play parent; [the final say] is still up to the parents,” Arbuckle said.
Robert Atkinson, director of investor relations for Limited Too, said most tweens must have their parents’ approval before they buy clothes, and parent input is apparent in the choices that are made.
“While we do have hip-huggers and low-slung jeans, our most popular items are knit bottoms that any mother in America wouldn’t mind their daughter wearing,” Atkinson said.
“When you look at our store, month in and month out, the bestselling items are graphic tees [T-shirts with pictures, phrases or a logo] and basic bottoms,” he said.
The Limited Too’s clothing line is not only designed with fashion in mind, but it also takes into consideration the shopper’s age. Glitter, rhinestones and shiny threaded fabric make tween fashion distinctive and special.
Will this tween trend in glitter last?
“The tween market directly follows the junior market. If it’s hot in the junior market, it becomes hot for tweens,” Arbuckle said. Right now “in the junior market, we are trying to stay relatively conservative.”
Soon, the glitter may be fading from tween lives.
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Sarah Henderson is a reporter for the Hartford Courant, a Tribune company.
