Girls Fashion Trends: Too tight or too short, that is the question

My 15-year-old son was having a discussion with one of his best friends and her mother on the way home from a Halloween party a couple of weeks ago. They were discussing the issue of girls' Halloween costumes. When purchasing a pre-made costume, it appears that girls, from elementary school age up through teenagers, have a choice between form-fitting catwoman-type body suits, and the super-short-skirt variety.

They asked my son his opinion on which he thought was worse: too short or too tight--as far as attracting a guy's attention for all the wrong reasons. He claimed, "Too tight is way worse than too short."

Why?

He explained that although the skirts are often too short, most girls (at least the girls he hangs out with—thank you God!) wear shorts underneath these skirts. In essence creating a skort. But the form-fitting ones outline everything, leaving nothing to the imagination.

But as I thought about the discussion later, I wondered why we were even debating between too short or too tight? I mean, what's up with this trend anyway? No matter which type of costume girls pick, most of them pretty much portray young girls as sexy. What kind of message is this sending our girls? Dressing like a slut can be fun?

Of course, this trend isn't exactly new. The costume situation has been escalating for a couple of years now, and it's really just an offshoot of girls' fashions in general. I wonder if it all started with the underwear peep shows. You know what I'm talking about. A few years ago, it suddenly became socially acceptable for girls to let their bra straps hang out.

Image by lenifuzhead

What's the big deal, right? So what if I'm wearing a spaghetti-strap top and my bra straps are hanging out for the world to see. At least I'm wearing one, right?

Then clothing manufacturers started making them clear so we can pretend we don't see them. Or they make them brightly colored so we can pretend it's just another clothing strap. And if the bright red bra that goes along with those brightly colored straps clearly shows through that lovely sheer white blouse our daughter is wearing, it's all good.

Close on the heels of the bra-strap trend came the "whale tails." For those of you not familiar with the popularity of thongs, whale tails are the term used to describe how the top of the thong rises above the waistband of girls' low-cut jeans whenever they sit down.

Guys have gotten in on the whole underwear peep show act too. Although the massive amounts of fabric hanging above the falling-off-their-butts jeans that define boys fashion today hardly qualify as a "peep show." I don't get it! Are teen girls seriously swooning over this look? (I know mine isn't!)

Image by: Malingering

I'm curious. If you're the parent of a daughter (or son!), what do you think of the recent trends in girls' fashion? Do you think the underwear peep shows are perfectly fine? And which is worse: too short, too tight, or both? Share your thoughts.

Costume images: Rag Doll, Tea Party Hostess,Sexy Prisoner, Sexy Pumpkin Witch