With all the emphasis on young gear you might assume that the agonising fashion stage between childhood and womanhood has disappeared and that this generation is not going through the pangs we suffered. Not so. The teenagers may be forcing fashion, the undertens are getting a good showing, even the boys base their Brutus, Shermans and other cult clothes. The girls between 11 and 14 are still the Cinderellas, the “tweenies.”

Why is this? One reason is the size range. Your 11-year-old daughter may look you in the eye while her friend of the same age does not reach your shoulder. But they are all developing into women and if they are not showing the signs of development that in itself is a frustration. The one who have something to put into a bra will not fit garments suitable f0r their age. The ones who have not will reject things suitable for their size. And naturally, as a group, they compete in trying to wheedle adult fashion out of their mothers which in a previous generation was something suitable for a tart and in this one is dubbed “permissive.”

They are seeking a fashion identity for themselves and stumble about trying to find it which includes the maddening habit of insisting on a garment and wearing it only once.

Casual clothes are not really the problem. It is what used to be called “best” for social occasions when the two generations mix. That means not looking like a parody of great grandma nor a refugee from a jumble sale. Girlish without undertones of Lolita is a fair summary of requirements so be warned about the current enchantingly brief smock which on the right (wrong?) girl can stop grown men in their tracks.

At the Teenage, Infants, and Girls’ Fashion Fair it was difficult to see why there is a problem when there is such a choice. It is just the old situation that you buy swimsuits in the snow or accept what is left in July. So the full choice of what I saw is available now in August when you are all too probably shopping for back-to-school clothes instead.

The childrens’ wear industry is now geared to fashion trends. Many of the outfits are reproduced right up the age range generally stopping while they can still he labelled for chest and height and avoid getting involved in the purchase tax regulations.

It is worth looking out for clothes by Wm. Drummond & Sons (Drumella) Ltd., (tweeds, tapestry, fur trimmed coats), Dainty Maid (fur trimmed bright velours for coats) and Karlinda (fur trimmed hooded capes) and for Morley-St Joan, Paule Lee. and Frederick Barrie for dresses or tops and skirts generally in washable man-made fibres. TIGFFO, 81 Wimpole Street, London W1, can supply readers with the catalogue listing exhibitors, addresses, and range.

Marks & Spencer’s Junior Miss range covers busts 32in. to 36in. which is pretty practical going for the modern tweenie. By the end of August most branches have pinafores with zip fronts and mock suede belts, button-through with wing seams or plain with topstitching, and two groups of long-sleeved dresses in mixed fibres with various attractive features. Their Acrilan and wool kilts are also worth looking at because oddly enough a comfortable kilt can be a favourite garment for an age as likely to climb a tree as be prone listening to pop.

C. & A., entirely, a fashion house, have a comprehensive age and style range. The greater selection will be in from mid-October to mid-December. A number of their fur-trimmed coats are successfully repeated right through the age range so the coat which would please Grandma on a six-year-old will please her and possibly even the wearer in the 12-year-old size.

If not, there are some fashionable yet youthful coats in mock leather and suede in trench or safari styles. Again the conservative adults will not object to a skirt with polo neck skinny jersey and chained waistcoat, or long-sleeved dresses with a false waistcoat effect. These are knitted man-made fabrics.

The home dressmaker is not necessarily a success in this age of revolt. Her popularity returns later when taste is established. But the “tweenie” might be attracted by the unusual colourings and prints of Clothkits particularly when T-shirts, jerseys, tights and long socks can be exactly matched. Garment sections are ready marked on the cloth to be cut out and the making up is fairly basic sewing. Questionnaires filled in by customers overwhelmingly requested adult sizes and this summer three designs going up to 38 inch bust were added to the range.



The winter’s catalogue will include a vaguely Japanese looking tunic with laced up neck, wearable with a polo neck sweater and skirt or trousers, a needlecord pinafore dress wearable alone with toned tights and jumper or with matching trousers, and a delicious dress in printed light-weight wool, pin tucked on the bodice, and with full gathered sleeves with long tight cuffs, maxi from age 12 upwards (34in. bust). Catalogues from Clothkits, 2 Mount Place, Lewes, Sussex.