The boys have predators on their clothes, the girls have prey.

I'm sure I've read that autistic girls are more likely to want to transition than neurotypical girls. Thinking about it based on this article, a tiny facet of this could be the sensory issues around clothes.

I have really strict rules for myself when dressing DS and DD - for DS no blue, vehicles or predators, for DD no pink, flowers or hearts. I do this because it does make me think about the messages that are portrayed by their clothes, to each other and the world. It also means that I dont get The Rage quite so much at the clothes grandparents buy because it's just the odd thing that is overly gendered (2 year olds tshirt with fake handbag containing lipstick anyone?)
DD is nearly 4 and point blank refuses dresses or skirts, only likes underpants and shorts have to have pockets. My DM is convinced she's "going to be trans" (massive eyeroll) - I just think she's sensible and not been brainwashed by the limitations of gendered fashion

I hasn't made the predator connection, interesting article. When I was little I was obsessed with dinosaurs and found it baffling as an adult that they are considered a boy thing.

I was very insistent when pregnant with DD that she wouldn't be dressed head to toe in pink and frills much to everyone's horror when I knitted green and grey cardigans etc.
Shes nearly 2 and still wears lots of practical bright clothes and we avoid slogans but what I struggle with is that I think she looks 'cutest' in pastel and pinks and those seen as stereotypical girls clothes. I feel drawn to then when dressing her and if I'm completely honest I like it when she looks 'pretty'. This completely goes against my views as a feminist, I know it's related to social conditioning, I know it doesn't matter a jot as long as she is dressed practically but it's still there.
Not sure why I've typed all this, just musing out loud so to speak

@mogleflop

mustn't google

Thanks for this OP - that looks like a really interesting website. And very good article :)

weighted - I need that 'I'm not bossy...' shirt for my DS1

Hellbent I interpteted the shirt as trying to make the exact point you raise, although perhaps it can be read two ways.

I actually quite like Morrison's clothes for boys, because they do occasionally have green, yellow and orange colours clothes, away from the sea of grey and blue. I find Asda the worst offender for shit like 'Its a boy thing' slogans. I can't abide them.

I also cannot comprehend why characters need to be sex-specific on clothing. Why can't Sky be pictured with the rest of the original PP pups on a unisex tee? It's bizarre.

My DD would have chosen the grey octopus every time. We ignored the girl/boy divisions (well, sometimes not so much 'ignored' as loudly derided). She had pretty dresses etc too, no limitations.

Oh re the fabrics - adult clothes and Unexpected Transparency!

How many have been caught out (once - and never again!) by something that looked solid in the articifial shop lighting and in daylight is sheer or even see through?

Why do they do that? How many women want to wear transparent clothes? Not many FGS. It's so frustrating.

Yesterday I was walking to work and a woman in a lovely white dress went past, on her phone, striding along, obviously office ready. I could easily see her bra and pants through her dress in the sunshine. She may have known this, but more likely she did not. I was tempted to ask her but didn't as too quick and it would have been a bit weird of me. Just reminded me of a time my friend wore a skirt that was transparent, didn't realise, no pants, in a job with loads of men there (betting shop). She was mortified.

Why do they do this? They KNOW that we often won't see what it looks like in sunshine. It's almost like it's deliberate but I can't quite believe that. But otherwise - why?

Hell glad I could cause offence to someone.

I noticed Boden have a decent range of girls clothes at the moment...dinosaur and shark dresses included...sadly a bit pricey for me but I think they are heading in the right direction.

I hate how flimsy fabric is for standard women's / girl's clothes until you get to more premium brand. I was looking for work shirts and the vast majority I'd need to wear something underneath. How is that practical? It really winds me up that shops like Next have good quality men's clothes in natural fibres and their women's clothes are almost entirely created in man made, staticky, flimsy fabrics. Shopping for toddler clothes, it seems this trend starts as soon as babies are out of baby grows.

Sorry typos, not dad... dd

weighted
I've got a few slogan tops for my girls - one that's "I'm not bossy - I have leadership skills" and there's another floating around a laundry pile somewhere with "forget princess I want to be a scientist"
I just wanted to point out that although these are better, no one would ever use bossy as a descriptor for a man, assertive sure but bossy is primarily a slur used against women who dare to have their own opinions on how things should be done, so while it’s an improvement on t shorts that day ‘cute’ or some other such drivel there’s still an implied sense that girls who are assertive are less than boys who are.same with the princess scientist one, boys don’t have to reject a fluffy label to adopt a more ambitious one, they just gets the ambitious one by default.
That’s not a criticism of your choice in tshirts for your dad just pointing out that that’s the best of a bad bunch and even the best on offer by manufacturers still carry implied inferiority for the female sex

SardinesAreYum - ask most uk men to wear speedos to see how little they like being on display - its just a bikini bottom for men.

PookyHook - agree with the cherry thing as well, i can't believe this is an accident.

i hadn't noticed the predator thing, just the boring colours and generally more aspirational slogans. But thinking about it the only animal prints we have on clothes are sharks and tigers.

Has anyone else noticed the cherries?

My dd is 4 and has just moved up to the older girls age category of clothing. I went shopping for her recently and I searched the whole shopping centre but nearly every shop had clothes that were far too grown up looking for her.

In several different shops I found clothes that I initially thought looked ok, but then found they was covered in images of cherries. I don't know if it's just me, but I feel that there is a sexualised message in images of cherries on little girls clothes, as if it's advertising their virginity as a cherry waiting to be popped.

In the end I bought her clothes in mothercare from the little bird range.

We looked in the boys section as well obv but DD is sizable of bum and that didn't work either.

DD1 prefers boys clothes always has - confortable, decent coverage.

Girls clothes are so revealing, women's too. I think that the average man would feel really really vulnerable if he suddenly had to dress like teen girls / women are epxected to / what is fashionable etc.

4 year old girls are not demanding to be dressed like daisy duke in ting hotpants.

Very few parents are keen either.

We went shopping for shorts for DD (8) and in all the shops they only had stuff in the girls section that would have had her arse hanging out.

In the end we got a load of stuff from JD sports

Where does this come from?

It's like in the 90s when we all had low-rise muffin tops... I looked and looked and looked for jeans that came up higher and there simply weren't any, so I had to buy muffin top ones. Why does this happen?

then they say it's driven by demand