Fashion Forward

Went with the kidlets to the Science Museum yesterday, and got to do some people watching.

Do you know what is truly delightful? Little girls, allowed to wear whatever they want. There was one girl, probably about nine or ten, wearing jeans and a shirt--pretty non-descript. But she had all her pretty long blonde hair piled up on the back of her head, with a pair of decorative chopsticks perched on top. She also had someone's (probably her mother's) pale green pashmina shawl which she wrapped around herself like a cocoon, and then opened wide like wings.

Another littler girl, probably about six, walked by wearing a red velvet dress, with red tights and black velvet shoes. The shoes had flowers appliqued on them. She looked like she'd just come from Christmas church service--not at all like she had come to do science.

Then I saw her sister. Another probably ten year old. She was tall and thin, and the first thing I noticed were her shoes. They were strappy sandals--silver. Sparkling silver too. Which she wore with black and silver sparkling tights, and a leopard-skin sheath.

What was especially endearing is that the family members these girls were with didn't seem to have come from any special event at all. Mom and Dad had on non-descript blue jean-type parent clothes. It looked like these girls had been allowed to pick out what they most wanted to wear, which was (obviously!) the prettiest and fanciest things in their closet.

And why not? The way kids that age grow, there is every likelihood that the red velvet dress won't even fit by Christmas. If they don't wear them now, they might never be able to.