ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, August 12, 1996 TAG: 9608130024
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KAREN ADAMS STAFF WRITER
WAKE UP! It's time to get ready for ... SCHOOL.
But this fall's fun and funky clothes may make the move back to class a little easier.
Most kids will also be accompanied by an unusual cast of characters, including the Hunchback, Bullwinkle and Rocky, Mickey Mouse, Barbie, the Goosebumps monsters, Tweety, Winnie the Pooh and Smiley (the little guy from the '70s with the yellow face and perpetual grin). Their goofy faces look out from shirts, lunch boxes, purses, book bags, umbrellas, wallets - even underwear.
They're called character items, and ``they're selling like hot cakes,'' said Beth Wade, manager of the children's department at the Kmart on Franklin Road. Her store carries goods that feature Barbie, Smiley and ``Hunchback'' newcomers Quasimodo and buddies, among others.
For boys and girls alike, the back-to-school wardrobe begins with jeans and T-shirts. Most back-to-school outfitters carry major brands of ``relaxed-fit'' jeans, primarily by Levi Strauss and Lee.
For kids who buy sizes larger than they are, the look is so relaxed that the clothes appear to swallow them. Wade said she sees some kids go to the men's department to buy jeans. ``These pants are huge on them,'' she said. ``But that's how they like them.''
Athletic wear, a staple for boys, is offered by such brands as Nike, Adidas and Reebok. Ten-year-old Robbie Parrish, a fourth-grader from Wytheville, said he likes to wear jerseys to school, along with jeans and tennis shoes. Shopping at the Valley View Sears with his mother, Linda, (and wearing a red basketball jersey with ``Jordan'' across the back), he said, ``I just got a jersey that has the Detroit Pistons on it. It's very comfortable.''
Brad Cutright and Chris Jones, both sixth-graders at Read Mountain Elementary School, said they like to wear clothes by Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and Nike. Jones said he also likes shorts that are ``really long,'' and pointed to his knee.
Girls' clothes, not surprisingly, are more varied and complex. The ``retro'' look is back, with plaid skirts, corduroy jumpers, zipper-neck tees and polyester bowling shirts straight out of the '70s. Debbie Grisso, store manager of Goody's Family Clothing, likes the look herself. ``Look at me, I look like Marcia Brady,'' she said, referring to her black polyester pants, zippered vest, and black-and-white striped T-shirt. ``I never thought I'd be wearing polyester!''
Allan Boitnott, merchandise manager for the Tanglewood J.C. Penney, said, ``Mothers who are buying this look are saying, `Oh my gosh, I had that when I was growing up.'''
Plaid and plastic are in, said the incredulous Kim Mills, sales manager for the women's department at Sears Valley View. ``It's hip to be square.'' But there isn't a single look that dominates. Just about everything - polyester, denim, plaid - can be mixed, for a geeky-hippy-preppy look that could only happen at the end of the millennium.
Meredith Jones, a fifth-grader at Troutville Elementary, said the one style she thinks is dumb this year is ``those really tiny tees that show your stomach.''
``These days the kids really know what they want,'' said Leggett Tanglewood sales associate Amy Rhodes. She said many boys and girls want Calvin Klein and character clothes, such as the ever-popular Mickey Mouse line.
``Our branded merchandise does really well," added Manager Kathy Trout. "People know names like OshKosh and Tommy Hilfiger - which is a step up from regular jeans and T-shirts for boys - and they trust them.''
Teen girls are wearing a lot of the same clothes favored by their older sisters and hip moms.
Fifteen-year-old Heather Parks, who will be a sophomore at Franklin County High School, described some of her favorite looks for fall. ``I wear a lot of the preppy look, kilts and jackets,'' she said. ``But I like the cigarette pants, too. And the sandals with the big heels. And basically anything in earth tones.''
Her friend Tara Mahoney, also 15, attends Fredericksburg Christian School. ``I like the jackets with zippers that you can wear as tops or jackets,'' she said. ``And I love the colors, especially the chocolate browns.''
Parks opened a shopping bag and held up a newly purchased dark brown zippered jacket. ``Like this.''
``Ooh, yeah,'' they said together.
Roanokers Brandie Wood, 14, and Misty Willmott, 15, both soon-to-be freshmen at Cave Spring Junior High, could go on endlessly about their fashions.
``I just like to wear big baggy jeans and big baggy T-shirts,'' said Wood. She pointed a finger, with a lime-green polished nail, at the voluminous low-slung, wide-leg jeans she was wearing. ``And I bought a water bottle in a Smiley face bag. Smiley faces are in.'' And clear plastic purses are in. And purple mascara is in.
Willmott agreed. And, she said, chains are in. And small earrings are in. ``Also, the hippy things are coming back. Of course, I love them.''
Sarah Campbell, 16, who prefers lavender fingernail polish, will be a junior at Salem High School. ``I like the waitress dresses,'' she says, referring to the pale polyester dresses inspired by waitress, stewardess and nurse uniforms. Mostly she and her friends wear Calvin Klein jeans and nice T-shirts to school. ``But sometimes we like 'em weird, like hippy shirts.''
Like everyone else, Patrick Henry High School students Holly Hale, 14, and Nickie Miller, 15, chanted the ``jeans and T-shirts'' mantra. Miller also mentioned her new love: ``Hologram jackets. They're plastic, and they change when you move.''
Local mom Debbie Carter, browsing at Goody's with her daughter Jennie, said jeans were at the top of their shopping list. ``You have to have jeans to go back to school,'' she said.
Thirteen-year-old Jennie, who will be an eighth-grader at Cave Spring Junior High, also bought jumpers in black polyester and brown corduroy (``I really like those''), ribbed T-shirts and baggy rayon pants.
She said she likes to complete her look with a Winnie-the-Pooh watch, chains, a chunky plastic ring or two and a Jansport book bag of purple canvas.
Her fingernails, too, are usually painted: ``Any color I can find,'' she said. Her polish repertoire includes brown, green, purple, blue, orange and pastel yellow. ``And I can put designs on each one,'' she said.
Many things have changed in the world of kids' fashion, but one thing has not: the delicate art of negotiation. Said Leggett's Amy Rhodes, ``Kids look at what their parents pick out and say, `That's too babyish,' and parents look at what their kids pick out and say, `That's too grown up.'''
Clothes have to be not too short, not too long, not too tight, not too baggy. ``I try to help them find something in between.''
But everyone agrees it has to be something that goes with Smiley faces, because they are in. Definitely.
LENGTH: Long : 130 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ROGER HART/Staff. 1. Marcia Brady is the inspiration forby CNBfashionable girls' looks. This two-piece jumper with heart and
striped shirt is from Sears. 2. Jennie Carter (left) and her mother,
Debbie, shopped Goody's Family Clothing at Tanglewood Mall. Jennie,
a rising eighth-grader at Cave Spring Junior High School, found
several items in stylish earth tones. 3. Kids' clothes this season
are hip, stylish and comfortable. Boys' pants are still oversized
and many girls favor short-cropped T-shirts. All outfits from Sears.
color. 4. Calvin Klein is one of the most popular designer of kids'
clothes.