The Perils of Peekaboo America's teen peep show: Has 'slutware' gone too far?

SF Chronicle ^ | Sunday, July 27, 2003 | J.A. Getzlaff

[presidio9]

On a bustling Saturday afternoon a silent, generational war started at Abercrombie & Fitch, the teen retail clothing store in the San Francisco Shopping Centre, an urban mall at Market and Fifth streets.

A girl of maybe 15, wearing braces and hip-hugger jeans, fingered a shrunken, see-through T-shirt that coyly advertised "Hottie Brand Cocoa." Her mother, noting her daughter's interest, eyeballed the stack of shirts and grimaced. She moved purposefully on, but her daughter lingered, hope in her eyes. After a minute, she gave up.

[cruiserman]

Or Hanna Anderson if you've got a big wallet.

[Solson]

Yeah...but don't tell any other Amish. They'd soon find my engine on the back of my buggy as well. It's a Big Block as well.

[Travis McGee]

I wish I could withdraw my hasty comment. Now I feel like a big fat

moron

myself.

I'm not into "skin art," but yours looks great, and obviously your heart is in the right place.

Of course, you have pretty much eliminated your chance of ever becoming an undercover CIA agent in Russia.

I know, that must keep you up at night.

[cmak9]

"From a Darwinian perspective," she says,

Ahhh...now we see the problem.

[Travis McGee]

Uniforms are the ONLY way to go!

[Poohbah]

Slutware sounds like a new Linux distribution.

Damn, I had the same exact thought.

[Darksheare]

That elimainates me too.
I carry around an empire #2lead pencil point in my right forearm courtesy of an idiot in school.
The nice kind of pencil lead that melted easily into zinger shot using only the heat from the school's radiators or a cig lighter.
Have toyed with the idea of having it covered up somehow (besides teh unit patch tat), but as I said far above, once I looked into it, I never got to it.

[Xenalyte]

What's even more disturbing is that I didn't have to look up those lyrics . . . I remembered the whole damn song.

[PurVirgo]

yum! Just what I needed!!

[splach78]

Tatoos, orifice piercing used to be the territory of the lowlife, now its mainstream Just another indictation of the lack of a moral compass in the US

Give me a break. Ones body art is not indicative of their moral standing.

[splach78]

Thank you. Tattoos are certainly not indicative of low lifes or people of low moral standing.

[middie]

It's not the jeans or tee-shirts on the girls, it's the family environment from whence they come that determines their conduct and orientation.

[splach78]

They sell thongs for 7 year-olds.

Where? I know Limited Too doesn't sell them, and they are a leader in the 7-14 age bracket.

[Timesink]

What's even more disturbing is that I didn't have to look up those lyrics . . . I remembered the whole damn song.

Disturbing? I find it endearing ... arousing even!

[splach78]

Where are the parents of these dimwit 13-year-olds?

I work retail in the evenings. I know where the parents are. At work. The 13 year olds come to the mall directly from school, armed with mommy and daddy's credit card. Very sad.

[PurVirgo]

LOL- I was talking to my boyfriend the other day. I had conveyed to him that I can no longer shop in the "juniors" department anymore. (I'm 22, not that old) haha, the look of relief was priceless!! Fact is, I don't like showing skin! I like tank tops (a commodity here in Humidston), but if I'm showing shoulder, I don't need to show navel! (not that I have one to show off in the first place) I like shorts to be midway between my thigh. Can't find them in the Jr.s section.

So I have now resorted to shopping in the (adult) women's section. I thought I was going to be reisgned to frumpy fashion, but I was pleasantly surprised.

For youngins, may I suggest Old Navy? I buy a lot of basics there, and they have a range of cuts for blue jeans from traditional (waist) to hip huggers too. They are pretty reasonable, and a great place for basics like plain T-shirts, blouses, skirts and pants. Their shorts also come in a variety of lengths from dukes to knee length.

[PurVirgo]

speaking of parental influence - my mom always told me that a long black dress is infinitely more seductive (not to mention classy) than a little red number.

[Darksheare]

Yeah.
My best friend once asked me my opinion on clothing.
I told her that basic black can be alluring.
She later complained(!!) about how it was too easy to 'seduce' people while wearing a simple black dress.
I guess for her it was the thrill of the hunt thing, and the black dress made it too easy.

[PurVirgo]

LOL - can't say I've had that problem before.

you know, I had girlfriends who would leave the house looking demure, but as soon as they could, would stop and change clothes somewhere.

I never understood the point of that. Oh, my mom would kill me if I did that, but I never had the desire to dress like a slut in the first place. So where does the desire to dress like one come from?

[splach78]

The tattoo and piercing shops I have been in have been some of the most sterile places I've ever been. When I got my belly button pierced, the guy changed gloves probably 12 times.