@MostlyHarmless: Only by a year or so though.

@MostlyHarmless: Mr. Pi's task is to go "huh, nice" when I show off my new shoes, and also to walk very closely in case I step on uneven sidewalk and start catapulting forward on 4 inch high heels.

My mom has always been a little more lenient. She would let me buy whatever I wanted (within reason of course), but I believe that this was because I showed that I wouldn't ask for the $65 pair of jeans.

@tbax929 is back from the beach: In the snow and there were never any bathroom or food breaks!

OMG! You are younger than me??? :O

I also wore something that would give principals a conniption now - liquor t-shirts my dad got as premiums because he owned a bar.

That sucks, I actually like Old Navy. The prices are reasonable, the quality is pretty good, and the clothes aren't slut-tastic whore wear like most of the stuff out there now. I hope they stay open :/

@Spider Jerusalem: Okay, I'll rephrase. Most older parents. 28/29 is young enough to still qualify as hip. But once you get to your late 30s and up, you're no longer a hip parent by simple fact that you're not nearly young enough to be hip anymore. If you're old enough for people to look at you and surmise that you have kids by way of your age, that's when you're an older parent. One of my friends still gets mistaken for a high school senior. She's 24 and is a parent.

@FaustianSlip: Do your bones ache a little more or is it more of a mental thing? It's relative. Sometimes I feel old when I'm at the mall and there are a bunch of teens around. Most of the time, though, when I see them, I feel relieved. I'm glad I'm not a teen anymore.

*feels old*

Those are some great friends! I feel like as I've gotten older, more and more people have realized that

a) Good clothes don't have to be expensive

and

b) Just because they're expensive, doesn't mean they're good quality.

Now, this isn't to say that I don't own any expensive clothes. I have a bunch of nice button downs from express, a nice pair of rockport shoes, and a few nice pairs of dress pants. However, this is definitely not the norm of clothing. Most of my clothes are in the $10-$25 range.

@kathyl: I'm not sure why the last paragraph ruins it for you. It's meant to be snarky because the perception is that most teens probably don't think Kohls is cool because it's not A&F or Hollister. It's the brand names across the shirt they want.

And I don't buy *most* either. Not for the current generation of parents. As someone who has worked in schools for the past 5 years and dealt with many parents, most are plugged-in. Few to none wear cardigans and complain about that blasted heathen-music. A mother came in yesterday who hadn't yet hit 30, in short-shorts and a rather pretty t-shirt. When I told her her son had gotten a B on his last test, she playfully hit him on the head with a paper and chastised him. She's the standard parent I see in the current generation.

We're a long way from the parents that grew up on Department of Education "Why Sally is a Horrible Slut and No One Will Ever Love Her" filmstrips.

Crap, I'm old. I can't remember which even came first.

But my friends and I skipped the Cindy Lauper hair and stuck with Farrah Fawcett (rip) wings all the way through the '80's.

"Honey, how does the 32 waist fit?"

"Fine Mom. Just fine."

"It doesn't look right. Is it too loose? It looks too loose. It's way down at your bottom."

"It's fine Mom. God."

"Here, let me see how many fingers I can fit in there..."

"MOM! NO!"

"What? I do this to your father all the time. Don't act so embarrassed.....Yup, they're too loose. We'll go with the 30 waist. It fits a little high, but your bum looks cuter."

Now I just buy from places I like, avoid places I don't, and if my T-shirt says some store on the front in a way I find otherwise tasteful, oh well.

But I still prefer stuff without brands plastered all over it. Because Eyebrows does not do tacky. Unless forced.

ha! Marshall Fields in Chicago had an entire Coca Cola boutique. Did you finish off your outfit by dousing yourself in Giorgio Beverly Hills? My junior high school halls reeked of that stuff.

@Spider Jerusalem: Most parents are squarish. Most. And just because your husband's friend has a mohawk, doesn't mean he'd necessarily let his 16 year old have one. Teens experiment with identity every single day. We've all had our phases. But it's during those phases that we discover who we actually are.

The problem with stores like A&F and Aeropostale is both the prices and the culture of entitlement those labels promote. My kid can fabricate all the clothes she wants, and we'll do a once-yearly shop at something not unlike Target if she wants, but she's going to have to be well into her own career field before I allow my kid to invest in bro-wear.

"Cher, what is that?"
"A dress!"
"Says who?"
"Calvin Klein!"

And it's not a cardigan, its a completely transparent shirt.

@apd09: Then there is the "Fcuk" t-shirt billboards which cause me to do double-takes...

@iseemoo: You know, I admit...as much as I hate A&F, I really want one of their hoodies because they're the softest, thickest hoodie (sweatshirt?) material I've seen in a long time. I just might get one because I really like fitted hoodies during the winter.

I used to this green pull over with "GAP" on the front. I thought it was the cutest thing ever and wore in high school all the time. It was really soft and warm. UT then I realized I was walking ad and didn't want to wear it anymore. Those things were not cheap back then (1998?) but that was the thing to do: Old Navy, A&F, BR, etc. Lol, now I just like to advertise for bands I like but even that is changing. The things we buy to look "cool".

"We're cognizant of the mom"

That's the WIN statement of the day.

Thank you for playing.

@Outrun1986: American Eagle jeans are about $40 to $60. I don't think it's a premium price for something I wear all the time, but I usually wait for a sale and then buy one pair at around $30 to $35. I like their jeans a lot - they actually fit properly and come in short, regular and tall.

I haven't been to a mall for...what...a year? Two years? Maybe more...

My shopping is done usually at Kohls or Target for clothing.

Wore with my stirrup pants, with red or blue socks over the pants and white tennies (lol)

Well played Pecan...

@Outrun1986: $40 for a pair of jeans isn't anywhere close to expensive these days. Target's in house brand of jeans is $30. Try more like $70-100 at a store like A&F.

The get a job advice is spot on. I started working at 15 and was able to buy all the Swatch, Guess, and whatever else was hip in 1986 for myself. My parents used the money they may have spent on my clothing to buy me a car at 16, and I learned early the importance of budgeting money and not spending it all on payday. Everybody wins!

@AlxFherMana: Phhh, if that's the case I was old when I was 17.

@Wang_Chung_Tonight:
You walked uphill both ways to school?

@squinko:
Kohl's is okay. But I miss Mervyn's.

@puddinhead:
I'll see that and raise you my green, white, and red Coca-Cola shirt from circa 1988. That was the coolest shirt I ever owned.

Also, I hate Old Navy. Their clothes don't fit me very well to start with, and then they shrink in weird ways so that they end up looking ever weirder.

Both of these conceptions have nothing to do with the image they project in their ads - it has everything to do with my experience buying clothes from them.

@Antiks: This reminds me of the scene in "Clueless" when Cher walks downstairs for her date, and she's wearing a really short dress, and her dad goes "what is that?!" and she says, "Calvin Klein" and when he tells her that she needs to cover up, she retrieves a cardigan. Such a great movie.

@pecan 3.14159265: Yeah...as someone who grew up during grunge....I relate to the holding things together with safety pins. I bought really weird stuff at Goodwill and vintage places.

@apd09: Why do you care? also you can get a Tee on hollister.com for $15-$20 so get your facts straight instead of pulling fake prices out of your ass to make them look more expensive than they are. Second, the people who think they are cool or "with it" because of a shirt are douchebags. I never liked hollister but my wife started getting me some T-shirts and i like the fit and comfort of them, same reason i get old navy pants. Third, what do you wear? everyone someone says they dislike hollister or the like they never say what they like/wear, funny huh?

@dahlink_natasha: Well, at least he said she won't be wearing the stuff around him or his wife so I think he knows that. :)

@Quake 'n' Shake: I think them for basic tanks. I can get a bunch in different colors and since I wear them so much, they get good use before they fade or get holes in them. I do agree their quality has gone down, the tanks I bought a few years ago are thicker and better than the newest ones.

What's wrong with kohls? I have buy a couple clothes there and it's been fine. I buy clothes once a year maybe every 2 years Kohls, TJ Max, Ross, MArshalls they have good stuff for cheap

@MsFeasance: Well, during the early and mid-2000s, teenagers increased their spending power and were able to increase their control of the consumer market when it came to clothing aimed at their demographic. Now that adults are realizing that their money doesn't grow on trees, and that their teens are still racking up major bills, a lot of parents are putting the kibosh on the big spending.

@Fanboy1217: Believe it or not, you do care about brands. You shop at Kohls, Target, Old Navy and Carsons specifically because you care about those stores and the clothes they carry. You associate good deals and good fit with those stores. This is what stops you from going to JC Penney before hitting Sears.

Brands matter overall because brands help determine quality. If I need a new pair of jeans, I know which stores offer the best fit and quality for my money and I don't need to go to too many places.

This is more of a knock against the whole political two party system than against Obama.

@temporaryerror: Grunge was the early 90s, and I didn't even start high school until 1999...so you've got to be at least five years older than I am. Give or take a few years depending on when you embraced the grunge look, I put you around 30 to 33.

@sir_pantsalot: But from an advertising and branding standpoint, that was a very, very good logo. And the presidential elections had nothing to do with the branding of America - America was branding itself a long time ago. Ever since we started selling Coke and Campbell's soup.

For me clearance sales are the way to go. I really liked Kohls for those.

@AlxFherMana: Depends on where you are. GW in Pittsburgh area is great, clean stores, high quality items. I went to one in Florida once, mud puddles on the floor, clouds of mosquitos hanging over the mildewed clothes...... GW is a bunch of small charities under the larger GW umbrella. Unfortunately, that allows some really severe differences in how things are run from one service area to another.

@pgh9fan1: Because the demographics show that moms are more prone to be firm on what is acceptable or unacceptable. I know my mom was like that, so much so that she finally gave up on my desire to purchase high heels, and told me that if I wanted heels I had to convince my dad. Guess who got tasked with going shoe shopping with me on the weekends, and guess who always caved to my pleading for yet another pair of shoes?

@UrIt: *chuckles* 'tis true.

@gStein: Not only the smell but the pounding music that shakes the floor only outside those particular stores... God, I'm getting old.

@chinadoll724: I still really enjoy Gap for their sales on casual stuff that's still dressy enough to be a few steps above sweatpants. I wear jeans a lot but I draw the line at sweatpants in public. Gap has a lot of cute cardigans and sweaters that sometimes go on sale, or I can get at an outlet store.

@RandomHookup: Aw, what's wrong with Goodwill?...

@gStein: the bass beat making all the store fixtures vibrate gives me a headache. So, I never go in.

@Forest-Whitakers-lazy-eye: Unfortunately I think that for many kids, NOT being different from everyone else is sometimes more important than being yourself. I think it takes a while to start liking yourself instead of trying to imitate everyone to get accepted.

Thank goodness; hopefully this means I'll be seeing way less teenage ass-crack and cleavage in the near future. Go recession!

@I_have_something_to_say: as soon as you turn her back on her, she'll do it anyway. You can bet I wore belly baring tops back in the 90's as soon as my Southern Baptist nutcase father drove away from the front of the school.

As kitschy as that sounds, I think I want that.

@Antiks: Heh.

@gStein: Yeah I've never understood the marketing logic behind creating a cloud of cologne and choking out your customers. Especially when it's a universally understood idea that too much perfume, cologne, etc. is disgusting and causes immediate hate.

She'll just put them on at a friend's house.

@apd09: Um, Old Navy shirts are like $7 half the time. It's cheapo clothing, but at least the price point is in relation to the quality. And if kids are going to grow out of stuff in 6 months anyway, ON is the way to go.

@gStein: Perhaps your finding the holy spirit?

I also do parties and bar mitzvahs.

@puddinhead: Usernames everywhere agree!

I have noticed a decline in quality among their products though. I've noticed that the construction of the "same" clothing lines, such as polo shirts, ringer tees, etc..., changes over time. I'm assuming they shop around from sweat-shop to sweat-shop looking for the best deal. And rather than raise the prices slightly, they had been cheapening the prodcut.

Amen to that. That stuff just kills me...

@gStein:

If they're closing down arm of the Gap, it should be . . the Gap. I'm not sure who they're targetting, but their clothing as gone to crap. I like old navy for trendy sundresses, tanks, etc, and banana republic for work clothing, but NOTHING at the gap appeals to me and I used to love them in highscool. I almost never see people wearing Gap items anymore and the store's pretty empty when I walk by.

Chances are that parents are clothing their children longer because jobs for those who are 16-17 years old are very, very scarce because no stores are hiring. If a store is hiring they want age 18 or over.

If they are spending that much on clothing, its for a birthday or christmas present and that is it.

@Outrun1986: These particular stores at my local malls are all in the "middle" portion (meaning they're not near the wings, where the department stores are) so I can avoid the smell and noise by walking on the other side. But unless I'm inside the store, the smell and noise don't bother me because I'm usually walking faster than everyone else anyway.

@gStein: I sense a clearance sale! I stopped going to Old Navy after high school because their shirts would completely self destruct after a few years, and nothing was ever nice enough for me to wear to work or to job interviews.

I live in Canada, and we've JUST started getting some of these stores in the city i live... and you can no longer tell one 14 year old from the next...

So it will continue with all aspects of social lives, yours and mine, even if we don't have these "walking billboard" textiles.

@Forest-Whitakers-lazy-eye: Self discovery doesn't always mean you dress well, only that you dress cheaply. I knew a few people in high school who went the artsy self discovery route while everyone else was at A&F - trust me, it's not so much chic as it is "I fished this out of the bargain bin, and with some a pair of scissors and some pins, I think it looks awesome" and the next thing you know, your budding self discoverer is wearing straps of fabric held together by safety pins and twine. By then you'll be dragging him or her to the nearest department store.

@squinko: It beats Goodwill...

@apd09: I have an Aeropostale hoodie floating around in my closet. I think I probably still have a A&F hoodie from the late 90s. It's pretty much here to stay, this love of branding.

5 minutes after the last textile factory closes down.

You would think that originality and a sense of self would raise the price of a 10 dollars sweater to equal or greater value...

Im hoping my daughter can skip the years of expensive awful clothes and head right into self discovery...

When I was a teen, I shopped at Aeropostale. Their graphic shirts aren't nearly as provacative as anything produced by A&F, and are usually cheaper. Even American Eagle had pretty good prices for some of their stuff. I don't see what's so wrong with going to Kohls. I hate K-Mart because it's usually kind of gross and sticky inside, but Kohls has decent prices for a lot of its stuff, which is perfect for teenagers because they'll only wear it for a year or two before it disappears under the bed.