New Look responds to backlash over padded bikini for young girls

[stumbledin]

Cant see another thread about this, but I am so downhearted that this sexualisation of young girls is still going on.

And www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/new-look-responds-backlash-over-20723688

I think Object Now! have been tweeting about this. twitter.com/ObjectUK/status/1400040409611575296

I’d have loved a moulded bikini top or swimsuit when I was developing breasts. I remember being really self conscious when I went swimming, especially when the water was cold.

I never wear a bikini that doesn’t have some sort of padding in now, because I don’t want to be ogled at, so I don’t see why a young girl shouldn’t have the same choice either.

Not that I think there is anything wrong with a developing 9 year old wanting a moulded bikini top for modesty, but age 9 does not mean 'for 9 year olds' any more than size 4 stilettos are for 9 year olds, it's just a size!

@LibertyMole

It doesn’t really matter either way. Lots of nine year olds are developing breasts.

^ This. Anything to cover up a bit. I hated all in one suits, you can see everything. My friends parents on the other hand used to let her go completely topless - I’d have been mortified!

It's not a style I'd encourage - my quite water sporty dds (now 13 & 15) favour racerback swimsuits or rash vest with board shorts or tankinis. Bikinis are rubbish for actual swimming/snorkelling/water polo/bodyboarding, & if you're just pottering on the beach it's just more flesh to cover with sunscreen, which is a faff.

But if they were choosing to wear a bikini (dd2 took a liking to a lovely colourful one in Primark when she was about 9 & I cheerfully bought it for her - she wore it for one season but grumbled that it kept getting twisted on water slides), they'd want moulded cups.

Both were developing by age 9 & would have wanted some coverage of breast buds.

I'd be more convinced by the modesty argument being put forth by New Look if the bikinis had more structure to them than they do, as they're basically all cup and a bit of string.

Astonished by some of the remarks here! Just the stupidity of a bikini if you want to swim, and if it is just for prancing around in the sun, I am not sure why girls as young as 9 should be targeted with an item of clothing that was never anything other than to sexualise women's bodies.

Interestingly on the page I have found for "girls bikinis" they do in fact sell some with really quite modest tops, that zip up, so more than suggests the moulded ones arent anything more than encouraging young girls think they need to wear ultra feminine items (as designed by men).

And as to modesty, unless you are fairly well developed it is more than likely that a bikini top will just ride up and totally expose your breasts.

And my memory of swim suits when young is that they were quite thick and tight and if anything compressed body parts, including squashing down nipples.

am now beginning to think that maybe it is mother's experiences that are influences daughters choices.

www.newlook.com/uk/search/?text=girls%20bikini&searchType=auto (I think it is the "traingle" range that the complaints are about).

I dont have a problem with moulding. I wish people would stop seeing it in the same veun as some push up bra. Truth is wgeh you are developing everything's uneven and sensitive and moulding is far more comfortable and stops you being self conscious. Puberty is hard enough without being used as some guinea pig to prove a point regarding arbitrary age limits and parents who seem to have forgotten forgotten what its like to be a little girl and sexualise even necessary underwear.

The bikini style itself I have to say doesn't look particularly practical or comfortable. As usual girls are having to pick between practicality and comfort and functionality. Would be nice to see some thought go into a bikini that had moulding but also a decent structure to stay in place that won't see shit come untied or being too tight to keep in place and would survive a wave or a dive

Bikinis and tankinis however are extremely handy for the beach and days out. The dreaded toilet trip with a swimsuit is something we all dread. Plus I don't know abiut anyone else but I've always been long in the body. I have to size up to not be cut in half lengthwise which leaves stuff baggy in areas you really don't want. Bikinis don't cut you in half and aone you can eveb mix and match so if you need a bigger top or bottom you can get it.

Ironically in this bid to not sexualise children parents would let them.wear shorts and no top because a 9 yr old girl is just like a 9 yr old boy and doesn't need a bra top... or let them just run about in underwear like children do, so covering the top half in a vest is fine but chop of a couple of inches of that vest and all hell breaks loose.

Personally I think a lined/moulded crop top style bikini top would probably be better and more comfortable i know o from experience that halterneck bra tops are a pain in the arse and I'd not inflict that on a child.

But a bit of moulding is no big deal but then I remember the humiliation of thise god awful non lined non moulded bras and I wouldn't do that to a child.

[quote teezletangler]Torn on this. I don't have an issue with moulding, but the bikinis themselves don't look great to me. Not appropriate for a 9 yo IMO. I do think it's a fairly sexualised style.

[[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9639277/amp/New-Look-fire-sexualising-children-selling-padded-bikinis-girls-aged-nine.html]][/quote]
Yes, I think that's the real issue.

Because of the style of the suit, the padding looks like it's intended to make the whole thing sexier. If the style was overall more appropriate I don't think it would give that impression even with similar material and structuring..

Moulding / light passing yes. Triangle bikinis, no

‘Just the stupidity of a bikini if you want to swim, and if it is just for prancing around in the sun, I am not sure why girls as young as 9 should be targeted with an item of clothing that was never anything other than to sexualise women's bodies.’

This is ridiculous. Bikinis are the least you can wear on a beach without exposing body parts that we consider private. That makes them the most comfortable thing to wear for many women and girls when it is absolutely boiling hot and clothing is uncomfortable to wear. It is the same reason why men in other countries wear speedos.

As for the riding up comment, that is just creepy and has no relation to reality.

I don’t like bikinis for children full stop.

Moulded cups stay in place when wet and are softer for developing breast buds (which can be bloody sore) I think a one piece might be a better option, but I cannot get worked up about moulded cups.

PPs have said it better than me- I agree this seems more like moulding than padding or a push up style. And the 915 (i.e. Ages 9-15) range has been around for ages, they can't just suddenly make it 1315 or something.

Alarming that so many people on this thread are claiming that a bikini itself is sexualising your body. Surely part of feminism is the right to choose what to wear yourself? On a baking hot day when boys will be in nothing but a small pair of swimming trunks, why can't girls wear a bikini and why are we as women deeming this to be sexual? Can't a bikini be worn by kids simply because it's frigging hot outside?

What if the 9yo doesn't want odd tan lines from a crop top?

Bikinis aren't just for swimming, they're for wearing when it's hot. I've never seen one ride up, that's an odd comment.

The bikini linked is quite adult in style.

My girls like tankinis or bikinis because it’s so much easier to go to the toilet! Nothing worse than trying to peel a wet sandy swimsuit off in a poolside loo. Also if it’s really hot they like them as it’s cooler.

However I agree that the New Look triangle styles are not practical for swimming - mine prefer sporty / racerback styles like Decathlon sell, as no worries about it coming undone or revealing anything. I did find it quite frustrating last year that when I was looking for bikinis for them it was hard to find nice sporty styles and most were triangle / bra style. I think I even posted on MN about it.

We need to start our own range of swimwear for girls and teens!

I have happy memories of being a kid and running round in a bikini. It was the most comfortable and practical thing to wear and also completely non-sexual. I was a kid. When I started puberty I switched to one-pieces due to self-consciousness and I’ve never really felt comfortable in a bikini since. I tend to wear tankinis now. But for me a bikini brings back memories of childhood freedom, not sexualisation.

I agree on the modesty aspect. Not that 9yos should have to think about modesty, I suppose, but I feel more "dressed" on the beach if there's more than a slip of fabric between my nipples and the public. I always choose a padded bra and I couldn't actually care less how big my boobs look, I just don't want prominent nipples.

A one piece swim suit is a pain, as others have said and the school regulation type might flatten any developing boobs but they do nothing to hide cold nipples.

One-pieces aren't ideal for leisure wear because they're inconvenient. A bikini has the advantage that you can easily wear it under your clothes and avoid having to change into it on the beach. If it's warm enough for it to dry out, you can keep it on when you leave the beach too. You can't do that with a one-piece unless you are prepared to completely undress whenever you need the loo.

This has made me cross actually. The thread, not the swim suit. Girls should wear uncomfortable, impractical one piece swimsuits so as not to be sexualised? That's just the same as women wearing uncomfortable impractical high heels for the benefit of men, surely. Let them wear what they're comfortable in.

Why are we suggesting little nine year old girls need modesty clothing? Most really aren’t developing breasts at that age. Most are not going through puberty. It is sexualising children for commercial reasons.

Then again, it’s New Look. It’s market is cheap and cheerful high fashion. Not exactly a store for most nine year olds.

[quote teezletangler]Torn on this. I don't have an issue with moulding, but the bikinis themselves don't look great to me. Not appropriate for a 9 yo IMO. I do think it's a fairly sexualised style.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9639277/amp/New-Look-fire-sexualising-children-selling-padded-bikinis-girls-aged-nine.html[/quote]
Yeah I agree with you here. It's the shape of the top that's the issue...The triangle moulded shape isn't appropriate for a 9YO - had the moulds been in the lining of a crop top style top then I think it's fine as many have mentioned, it can hide developing buds and provide modesty.

The shape is a problem for me if worn by a 9 year old BUT I suspect there's some slightly built 14-15 year olds who might well need age 9 or 10 and would find it easier with a bikini that is vaguely tight around the ribcage than one they like the style of but is big on them.

I was desperate to wear a strapless top in my mid teens but I could not find any tight enough across the back to have any chance of staying put. Had the same problem with prom dresses and had to get my wedding dress made... I suspect my DD will have similar issues and will be several sizes below her age where length is not a limiting factor.

I very much doubt the modesty argument as a genuine one - it’s just a happy coincidence for New Look.

Those of you who think these bikinis are fine because moulding hides developing breasts: have you actually seen the pictures?
I would not have worn them as a young woman, let alone as a child.

My DD is at this stage, has been for a year or so. She wears cotton crop tops, no need for a bra and certainly no need for moulded bikinis like these. They wouldn’t look out of place in The Rocky Horror Picture Show!

Tired of these oh-so-trendy designers pushing the boundaries of what they can get away with!