My head can’t get past this one! Have we really come to this? My question is why would a small child be wearing a bikini in the first place?
Is there really a market for this?
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Us Girls..Our Views 
I don’t know . . . maybe for a very petite 12-year-old?
I see a lot of bloggers saying that no little girls should wear tw0-piece bathing suits. I say, not all two-pieces (or one-pieces for that matter) are created equal. My kids have some two-piecers that are quite decent, but they don’t look anything like what is shown up there. They are more like a whole shirt or, in one case, a sleeveless top that leaves a couple inches of belly bare. A little girl showing a little midriff is cute, not sexy. If it’s sexy, then what is a little boy with no shirt at all? Kids all look the same at that age.
But the whole trend toward kid clothes that look like stripper costumes has me completely baffled.
I guess if that was purchased for an 8-year-old, the child probably would not see the “sexuality” aspect of it. A little older, like 10 or 11, they would. Personally, when I was that age, I would have died before being seen in anything that “enhanced” my body parts. Young girls are self-conscious enough without bikini bras making it look like there’s more there. What mom would buy something like this? I honestly can’t imagine it.
Ok, I have to come totally clean. When I was a kid – I’m talking 5 years old, here – I had a bikini that my mom made for me. It included the traditional bottoms, and a straight “bandeau” style top (that’s just a straight band that went around the chest). I don’t think it even had a tie that went up around my neck to hold the top in place (which it didn’t). More often than not, that top drove me bat-snot crazy, and I’d end up taking it off. Which means that I looked more like my dad than my mom… running around the public pool in my bottoms only. Then, when I was around ten, I think, maybe earlier, we went to Florida, and my folks bought me a bright yellow bikini – the style that would now be considered a “triangle” bikini, but back then, the top was a “string” bikini, and the bottoms were regular bikinis with rings on the sides (yes, very ’70’s). In between those suits, I wore 1-pieces. So, full disclosure, I wore bikinis at a very, very young age. And you know what? I never once had a sexual thought while wearing them.
When I first heard about this bikini, I thought, “ok, a little padding might be nice… sometimes the water can be cold, and cold does things to little girls chests that little boys don’t need to be seeing”. Then I saw that it was labeled “push up” and I completely changed my tune. This is a case where the advertising makes all the difference in the world. I’m not against kids wearing bikinis, after all, as SKL pointed out, the boys are completely shirtless… I AM against kids, and more importantly the parents, using those bikinis as a sexual tool at any age before (realistically) about 16. I wouldn’t buy this for my kid based on the advertising alone.
Heck, knowing what I know now about the functionality of bikinis vs tankinis or one-pieces, I wouldn’t buy a bikini at ALL, but that’s just the swimmer in me talkin’.
My first bathing suit was a “bikini” – I was 2 or so. It was not “skimpy,” but had it been, who would have cared?? When I was about 13 I got my next bikini – again not sexual or “skimpy.” However, I was growing so fast that the day I wore it (on a school day trip), I felt it was too small and became very self-conscious. I never wore any bathing suit in public for decades after that. Only recently have I started being seen in a one-piece at the rec center’s indoor pool. The things we do for our children! (OK, I realize that not everyone will be put off bathing suits for life after one pubescent freakout.)
Even with my current “shape”, I’ve switched to a tankini for practicality’s sake. It covers as much (possibly more, since the legs aren’t nearly as high-cut as many one-pieces), and is WAY more convenient when it’s time to change in or out of it.
I was sitting on the couch with Jason when this came on. We both looked at each other and couldn’t believe it. We know we’re lucky we don’t have a daughter, or rather, she’s lucky! Jason said he wouldn’t let his daughter wear a bikini until she was grown and out of the house!!! LOL I know that’s not realistic. This is too much for me. They show too much skin, and the padded part sends me over the edge! I don’t mind the 2 pieces where the top is like a sports bra type, but string bikini’s like these wouldn’t fly in this house.
I have been self conscience my whole life, so I always wore 1 pieces OR if I did wear a 2 piece, I always had a shirt on over it. One time, I picked out this really cute 1 piece, but when we went swimming I noticed there were parts of the bathing suit that were white, and they happened to be on parts I did NOT want shown. Well what does white do when wet??? I was mortified and would not go back in the water.
I hate seeing 12-13 year olds in string bikinis, trying to be all sexy. And at that age, some have already matured, which is scary! Seeing a 7-8 year old in something like this would just piss me off and want to slap their parents!
Well, this style of swimsuit is not for preteens. Strings and padded bras? I don’t think so. That being said, Trinity had a 2 piece swimsuit last year, but it didn’t look like that and she didn’t wear it much. She liked the 1 piece better. I did find her a cute 2 piece for this year, but it’s a tankini not a string bikini!
I learned that it makes sense to buy two piecers for my girls for potty practicality reasonst. That said, a parent may need to shop around for a decent one.
I like Lands End for winter stuff – it’s practically indestructible. Have you tried it for the girls? They’ve got some pretty cute suits.
Thats way too young for a padded bikini!!! Even to have a string bikini I think is wrong. I have no problem with a 2 piece that is really cute and looks more sporty is ok.
I don’t have a problem with toddlers and young kids wearing cute little bathing suits but kids outgrow that so early. Two piece suits are also fine depending on “why” you’re wearing them. Trinity has a worn a lot of really cute two piece “sports” suits and they were for swimming and being on the boat and/or in the water. I’m wondering the point of a preteen needing to wear a bikini. AND a padded one at that! I think A&F should be run out of town on a rail.
I really hate seeing this type of stuff! 😦 Why must the world make it so hard for little kids to just be little kids? 8 yrs old, in a string bikini and padded push up bra top? Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not a prude, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with girls in two piecers. I’ve bought them for my daughter and granddaughters when they were young. But this one that’s being shown/advertised here is ludicrous, and I feel anyone who values the future of their little girls should run from this. Just because someone had the very poor taste to manufacture it does not mean it should be bought! I’m sitting here shaking my head at the state of the world today. 😦