baby girls and modesty.
catholicinfilmschool on Nov 25th 2008 12:23 pm
CBB wrote a post on Ali Landry’s choice of dress for her daughter Estela that generated a variety of comments:
Ali Landry Starts the Season; Talks Baby Style
“[For myself,] I’m a bargain shopper extraordinaire. We’re talking $20 for the shoes. For my baby I do not go cheap chic. I fly to Louisiana and buy all her clothes there, because I am very much classic, traditional [for] Estela. When we’re out and about people are like, ‘Oh, it’s a baptism. Oh, it’s a party.’ I’m like, ‘No, we dress her like this every day.’
I put her in bonnets till just a few weeks ago and she wears the shoes, little socks with the ruffles, a bow in her hair. She’s always a completely dressed and very classic baby. I refuse to do trendy. Babies — in my opinion — should not be trendy; they’re a baby for a very short amount of time; they should look like a baby. Now she’s 16 months and she wears dresses; I never put her in a pair of pants ever.”
Some of the commenters on the post thought that it was a bit over the top to not dress a girl in pants while others applauded Ali’s statements. I’m not into the pants vs. skirt discussion, but I thought this was interesting because it goes into the topic of baby girls and modesty.
A lot of the girl’s clothes I see on the rack now are basically shrunken versions of adult clothes; something in my estimation is wholly inappropriate. I’m not a parent so I can only speak from my opinion, but this new “trendy baby” generation seems to be step one in oversexualizing girls at a young age. It may not seem significant as we’re talking about infants who won’t remember what they’ve worn, but from what I’ve seen, trendy babies become trendy little girls, and some of the trends for young girls today are not ones that we should be encouraging. (Those whorish Bratz dolls come to mind.)
I haven’t asked her but I think my mother would side with Ali as most of the pictures I have seen of myself as an infant have been of me in a dress, stockings, and a bonnet. I guess I won’t know until if and when I have a baby girl, but I’m curious, what do you think about a baby girl’s wardrobe?
Classic or trendy?
~Rebecca.
Filed in Babies, chastity & stuff | Comments (8)
I read this and thought it was ridiculous and pretentious. Don’t get me wrong. Kids should dress like kids and the trend for little girls to wear belly shirts is horrible! Some of these clothes shouldn’t be made.
I have a daughter (now 4 years old) and I did dress her like this occasionally. But, Ali dresses her like this for a trip to the grocery store! There are a lot of cute choices for girls that aren’t trendy but aren’t this dressy either. She flies to Louisiana and will only buy her clothes there?? Please! I think she’s trying too hard to impress people. Buy the way, she just got photographed recently at The Grove in L.A. and the baby was wearing PANTS!
Well, she does have the money to do it. For any person with a normal career, buying clothes in one state would be completely impossible.
Just FYI, Amy you’re totally welcome to express your opinions, but let’s please try not to name call or fling accusations as this is not a gossip blog.
To catholicinfilmschool -
There was no name calling anywhere in my comment and I’m not sure what accusations I was flinging. She made a statement that I thought was pretentious (and apparently so did many others if you read the information above) . Celebrities do tend to try and impress others, a fact.
I do have the money to do this but would never since I think it’s a perposterous thing to do. I think she over does it – my opinion.
Amy,
Your tone was out of line.
You could have made your point without calling her pretentious or alleging that she’s trying to impress people. The post was not about Ali; I used her comments to serve as a segue into a larger issue.
I hardly think that you would have made such a comment if you had been sitting in the same room with Ali. Sometimes people uintentionally use the internet as a buffer and say things that are a little inappropriate. This is very common on gossip blogs.
Being that this is not a gossip blog, it is not appropriate to use such language on a website designed around helping others to grow. Again, you can totally disagree with her, but do so in a way that is charitable and Catholic in nature.
That is the policy on my blog. If you do not agree with it, fine. But please take those types of comments elsewhere.
Rebecca
My response was related to her comments only, not to her as a person. A statement she herself made (and you yourself found on a gossip blog).
It seems as though it’s not OK on this site to express your opinions unless they are very watered down and censored. If that’s the case, OK. I don’t think the word “pretentious” would be considered “language” and I would never use a blog to swear or use vulgar language. I happen to be a very charitable person but am also honest and to the point. And, if Ali herself asked me what I thought, I would tell her that it’s a bit over the top. Maybe the $$ she spends on these flights would be better spent helping others out whose children don’t have new clothes (like I do regularly for various charities in my community). It’s funny that I don’t see any other responses other than yours.
Happy Holidays!!
Amy,
You’ve proven my points again and again. You just said yourself that you would have told Ali that it was “a bit over the top,” which is much more polite, while still making your point. It’s really a shame that you think being gracious means “watering down” your position.
If in response to my first reply you had just said that I misunderstood you or that you didn’t mean any offense, I would have left the issue alone. Instead, you got defensive and catty.
Your condescending and hostile attitude towards me does not point to Christian charity. (Why exactly are my comments on the post pertinent to what we’ve been talking about?)
I’m guessing since you have a child that you are significantly older than I am, and I would hope as an older, more experienced woman, you would be able to be an example to myself and the other ladies on this site, some of whom are in high school.
You have been warned twice now about your attitude and tone in your comments. If you as an adult woman cannot find it within yourself to articulate your thoughts without belittling others, you will be banned.
-Rebecca. (The Author.)
Rebecca
Let’s agree to disagree. I have more important things to do and I’m sure you do as well. I don’t want to squabble. Life is too short.
I’m only 30 but I didn’t realize this was such a youthful site (including high schoolers). I’m used to dealing with adults in the workplace and having a lot of educational debates and frank discussions (trust me, you’ll do a lot of that in graduate school). You’ll come to find that there are a lot of folks who have different ways of thinking and expressing themselves, that’s OK. At first blush I didn’t realize this was such a religious website as well. That does account for your point of view and makes sense.
All the best to you and your website. Have a good holiday.
I don’t need to “find” that people have different ways of expressing themselves. I am a professional writer and have been since the age of 15, and express my rather strong opinions without belittling others.
I informed you of the decorum on this site, to which you refused to concede and instead personally attacked me with condescending and catty implications.
As the moderator of this site, it is my responsibility to make sure that everyone is treated with respect. Ali runs in the same social circle as I do. Had she, or one of our mutual friends come to this site and seen your comment without question from me, it would have been my failure as the moderator.
Comments are officially closed on this post.