How Pre-Teen Girls Choose Their Own Fashion | Women Lifestyle, Fashion, Health, Beauty and Personality

How Pre-Teen Girls Choose Their Own Fashion
Category : Women Fashion, Women Lifestyle

While it seems like images of young Hollywood celebrities such as Hilary Duff and Lindsay Lohan are everywhere, tween girls are not relying on them to set fashion trends, according to a recent survey conducted by Tween Brands Inc. The survey found that as tweens kick their back-to-school outfit planning into high gear, they are shopping for items based on the their own unique sense of style rather than modeling their wardrobe after those found in a celebrity’s closet.
“A year ago, when I was 13, I didn’t look at celebrities,” said Kelly Collazos, a Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, student. “I would look at magazines or catalogues and say, ‘I have a shirt like that, I’ll put it together that way’.”

When asked who their fashion role models will be for the fall season, 40 percent of tween girls ages 7 to 14 indicated that they set their own fashion style, while only 12 percent indicated that they look to celebrities for inspiration. Younger tweens ages 7 and 8, reported that they tended to rely more heavily on celebrities (23 percent) and their mothers (19 percent) for style tips. Older tweens ages 13 and 14 attributed their fashion sense to models in magazines/catalogs (20 percent), as well as to their friends (19 percent).
So Tween Brands, which runs the Justice and Limited Too clothing chains for pre-teen girls, instead puts its cash into more than 18 million catalogues a year. The books feature fresh-faced models, instead of celebrities.
These findings have an impact on how companies spend their tightly watched advertising dollars. Whether they pay a celebrity to promote their products or focus instead on a so-called catazine that shows clothing and styles in a magazine-style format, can mean the difference of millions of dollars.

Summer break may have just begun, but tweens have wasted no time starting to plan. With 90 percent of respondents stating that finding the perfect back-to-school outfit is important, tweens view planning their fall wardrobes as a top priority worthy of plenty of thought and deliberation. The survey found that 60 percent of tweens plan to take several shopping trips during the summer while an additional 27 percent replied that they would “shop all summer.” But the back-to-school shopping season can be a stressful time for tweens and their parents. More than half of tween girls surveyed (53 percent) replied that they sometimes disagree with their mothers/fathers about a particular outfit looking “too old” for them.
Only 12 per cent of girls ages nine to 14 look to movie or rock stars for fashion inspiration, according to the survey, instead looking to models in magazines or catalogues, their mothers or their friends.

Among the various back-to-school looks this fall season, there are several trends that are popular with tweens. Skinny fit jeans with a T-shirt ranks as a top look, with 24 percent of respondents calling it their favorite. Other popular outfits include the always-popular camisole top with Bermuda shorts and cargo pants with a tank top.
When Kelly, who starts high school in September, asked bout critical high school years: “I like Paris Hilton.”
And when she saw rock band Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz wearing a cool belt in an MTV video, she went to Hot Topic and bought a similar item.
“Now we look at music videos,” she said. “It’s all about the music.”