How to Teach Your Daughter to Appreciate Designer Fashion Appropriately

When she was five, it was ballerinas. When she was ten, it was Cinderella. Today, it's Kate Moss. Somewhere in between the Britney Spears/Paris Hilton phase of your daughter's life and now came an interest in the real fashion industry. From Vogue cover models to the Victoria's Secret runway, she wants to be sexy, mature, and exactly what she sees on the front page of a magazine. While you may understand that these women are paid professionals who spend their lives preparing for these shoots and runway walks, most teenage daughters believe that what they see is what they get. They also believe that what they see on T.V. and in print in terms of fashion is to be interpreted as everyday wear, regardless of the activity or event to be attended. To keep your daughter from wearing her stilettos and gold mini-skirt to a funeral....again....try the following tips on teaching your little fashionista how to appreciate fashion appropriately.

First, help your daughter understand that fashion is a form of self expression. As such, most truly stylish women learn how to mesh the inspiration that a designer offers with their own sense of fashion. True, these designers are the authority on the subject, but that doesn't mean they have to, or want to be, carbon copied. Their work is meant to give women a direction to go in, a lifestyle to think about, and an aura to focus on. If you'll look closely, celebrities often wear the exact same gowns at awards nights in completely different manners. This is because they have interpreted what the designer had to say in a way that suited them. If your daughter can understand this, she can understand that it's ok to mesh more mature styles with a youthful, fresh and age-appropriate attitude.

On that note, it can be difficult explaining to your daughter that the fashions she sees on young sixteen and seventeen year old models are not appropriate for her. While it's easy enough to say that the aforementioned Kate Moss , now in her thirties, is a grown woman who can wear what she pleases without looking inappropriate, it's not quite so easy to toss aside the "but those models are my age" argument. This is where you will stress fashion as an industry. Billions of dollars are made each year on purchases made toward clothing, advertisements for magazines, television ads, etc. These girls are working, not playing. These are their work clothes, much like a uniform. While they are certainly dressing the part during their "off" hours as well, they are simply doing their jobs.

Finally, help your daughter appreciate fashion as an art form. As mentioned earlier, the great designers of today and of the past have inspired generations of women in every area, from what they wear to the lives they lead. That's a powerful fact to recognize. As such, they are, without question, worth admiration and emulation. We must, however, put their masterful work in the proper context. Just as artwork is often appreciated in a museum, the work of designers must be worn to the appropriate venues. It is to be understood that there is a tremendous difference between going for quality and going for extravagance.

With these pointers in mind, you can begin to slowly show your daughter that designer fashion is a beautiful thing, but that doesn't make it appropriate, convenient, efficient, or sensible for everyday girls' clothing. For a little added help, turn through the pages of any magazine she loves and you'll find pictures of celebrities wearing normal, well made clothing to say, oh, their kids' soccer games. When she sees that it really is possible to look feminine and beautiful without a Versace gown, she'll be more likely to understand how designer fashion is to be approached.