To find these New Look school uniform adverts unacceptable?

[TheWildZebra]

Just that really - screen shot below.

mini skirts , cherries, twirling hair ?

am I a prude or are these just evidence of sexualisation of young women?

YANBU. Might add that there was recently an ad all over MN for children’s wear - forget the brand - a little girl in a pretty summer dress but her pose looked as it was purposefully contrived to look alluring/flirty, in (to me) a totally inappropriate way.

Anyone else know the one I mean? The girl looked no more than about 6 or 7.

Better for them to be free to express themselves and wear what they want than be shamed into covering up. None of the skirts are super short. And what’s wrong with having cherries in the Ad? I’ve seen girls from the local college with their skirts rolled up. It doesn’t look good, but if that’s the look they are going for then they will do whatever they can to get around the rules.

The cherries are a step too far

Ok, I must be being naive. But what’s the issue with the cherries?

Yes this is grim. Not sure it’s relevant that this how teenage girls want to style their uniforms- girls have been adapting school uniform to make it sexier for donkeys years. It doesn’t follow that ads for school uniform should be sexualised.

Cherry= virginity.

They are a bit 'come up and see me sometime' aren't they?

YANBU @TheWildZebra

Exactly. They aren’t targeted at you. They are targeted at teens. Who will look at this and think it’s tame. They are about getting teens to pressure their parents to buy at new look.

https://www.newlook.com/uk/teens/school-shop-for-girls/school-skirts/c/uk-collections-teens-school-clothing-skirts

My DD’s school wouldn’t allow most of these skirt styles but I see girls dressed like this every day.

The cherries are 😮

It’s just current trends and they are going with them rather than challenging them. Kids who like to dress thst way will pester to shop school wear at new look and they are sowing the seeds to anyone in the market that new look do school wear. I for one didn’t know they did.

In the 80s we shopped at Chelsea girl for tight navy skirts with splits in, slouchy navy cardigans and school bags (and then went to fhw for stilettos to go with it all). This is just a 40 years on version of that.

new look are a commercial brand that young girls like - this will help sell their stuff, which will pay their staff and keep their high street stores open. Yes a more wholesome approach would be good - but that won’t sell and isn’t their brand.

they probably can’t push durability, stain resistant or adjustable waist bands, but they can push “st trinians styling”.

She's not actually twirling her hair, just holding it out and frankly that just looks odd

You can make the connotations between "popping the cherry" and virginity but that's not really a very common phrase now. Cherries are a funky "retro" motif of summer.

They look like teenage girls to me.

Are cherries in general iffy now? They've been all over 1950s style stuff for ages. DS has a pink babygrow with cherries on it because it reminds me of rockabilly and Moriah Elizabeth! (Yes I put my son in pink and purple, he looks gorgeous in those colours.)

Aside from that, I agree with OP.

Top right picture is fine, looks like it celebrates friendship and girls being happy.

The other pictures, no, the messaging is "wear these clothes and you can be pretty and sexy, just like me!" which is a bit of a sad aspiration for girls.

I think it's cherries with teen girls in school uniform that's the issue

That's not how this will play out. There'll be dar more thinking maybe we'll find something to suit DD without breaking the bank, than will write to ASA 🤣 I mean, even you have time to post here but not to write.

Completely agree. It's the poses and the look on their faces. I'm so sick of society normalising the sexualisation of our girls. It's not about skirt length.

Yeah, THAT connotation is grim. Although maybe whoever designed the ad didn't think about it?

YANBU I hate this type of stuff and completely agree with what other posters have said about the connotations of ‘popping the cherry’…Japanese school girl porn, mouth open pose just yucky…someone has really messed up at New Look. I’m very grateful right now that my daughter wears a pinafore and shorts (she loves doing cartwheels/splits and she chose to wear shorts under her dress) for school and I’ve not got this battle for a few years to come.

It is a lot quicker to post on MN than compose (or stick into AI bot) a decent letter to clearly identify which advertising standards are being breached.

That's fucked up.

Just seen the video with these girls in on FB. I do think it needs a proper complaint.

Pop her cherry = take her virginity.

"Pop your cherry..."

They're known to be associated with virginity and sex. Sherilyn Fenn tying a cherry stem in a knot with her mouth in Twin Peaks, one of the Girls Aloud girls ate a cherry seductively in one of their videos. Just two examples. It's a long running association.

Edited to correct Fenn's name.

That only tells us where your mind goes op.

In Reality school girls today are dressed far worse. Why are you offended on their behalf?

Yeah, a bit grim.

I wonder how they would justify the cherries? Surely an apple is more symbolic of school. Cherries have some different connotations.