Babies and children are expressive by nature. They use their bodies, their voices, movements, toys, art, imagination, and clothing to reflect who they are. With each decision, children learn more about themselves through their choices of chocolate versus vanilla, pants versus shorts, books versus blocks, and red versus yellow.
Once children are old enough to express their opinion, many children will experiment with clothing to express their identity and personality. Most adults are familiar with teens who experiment with fashion to identify with a group of peers or to separate themselves from the crowd. But even at a younger age, young children begin to form their sense of self with something as simple as clothing.
Adults play an important role in buying children’s clothing and therefore help define who babies and toddlers are before they can express their own preferences. Most parents and caregivers dress their children in clothes that reflect their own personal beliefs, fashion style, identification with ideals, and even moral convictions. For example, a traditional household will dress in traditional clothing and children in these households often wear blouse rompers, jon jons, and more traditional color and style options. On the other hand, in a home that is considered hipster, one can find children dressed in punk rock clothes or gothic baby clothes with non-traditional ideas about childhood.
In the children’s clothing industry, everything can be seen from traditional children’s clothing, punk rock baby clothing, gothic children’s clothing, funky designer clothing, urban hip hop clothing, and contemporary unisex clothing. . Essentially, it is up to the adult who dresses infants and toddlers to begin to define the child through clothing. As children grow, they naturally want to copy the role models of the adults in their lives, and many children dress the way adults see them. This natural progression begins to shape children’s identity as they mimic adult preferences and children observe and learn that clothing is a way of actively affirming their own identity, whether as a boy or a girl, as a member of a community. group or as an individual. Of course, some children are naturally drawn to dressing up as mom or dad, and others prefer to wear a tutu or pirate costume 24/7. And frankly, other kids don’t give a damn about wearing clothes! Yes … this is personality in the making!
For times when adults want to guide children to become independent, critical-thinking, and problem-solving adults, it is important to let children begin to express themselves through clothing in a directed way. options of color, materials, textures and styles that adapt to the needs of the client. household definition of “appropriate”. Whether a child is drawn to wearing mismatched plaids and prints, just one color or style, or even minimal clothing, when allowed the freedom to decide, children are developing significant skills in discrimination, problem solving, and self-expression. It may seem like Sam just wants to wear his red striped shirt every day, but Sam is really learning about his own preferences, asserting himself, and how clothing can be used to identify himself.
While clothing may not be a distinguishing factor in a child’s personality development, it certainly can subtly teach children about identity and how to express themselves in a safe and natural way. It is up to the adults in a child’s life to guide these choices, but by allowing a child to use clothing as a means of self-discovery, important life skills and lessons are enabled.
