Louisville Mojo: Babes in skull clothes

A couple of fancy new Targets have recently opened in Eastern Louisville. They feature extra smooth shopping carts, actual fresh produce, and a snazzy place to grab some coffee. But there's one thing that remains the same: The boys department is full of skulls.

That's right. The symbol that marks poison and pirates, the same one that people in post-apocalyptic novels use to warn people away from high radiation sites, can be found on everything in the boys department. It's on belts and jeans, t-shirts and socks. It's on robes and PJs.

(I have to ask: Do pirates actually wear robes? Over their little matching pj sets? It seems awfully domesticated.)

Now, lest you think this was about Halloween. I assure you it was not. It's been going on for a while. Early last spring, I nearly bought a shirt off the clearance rack with an interesting swirling leaf design that tumbled down one side in an asymmetrical pattern.

I noticed it because it's kind of rare to find a boys' shirt that is masculine in such a non-obvious way. There wasn't a gun nor a bear, not a bulldog nor dump truck. (This has become an issue for me. I've got nothing against aggressive animals or heavy construction equipment, I just don't get why my children have to wear clothes marked with them. Why can't they just wear, say, stripes?)

I loved this shirt with the simple, swirling leaves. But when I threw it in the cart and could see it from a distance, I realized that the leaves were swirling around an eye hole. Like an impressionistic painting, the leaves formed one half of a skull head.

Good grief.

Now someone at Slate has put together a slide show to document the trend. Someone put a lot of effort into this slide show. The text, I'll confess, made my eyes glaze over, because -- here's the crux of the matter -- I don't care about skulls. I never cared about skulls.

My whole point is that I resent the fact that the fashion industry forced me to start giving this issue some thought, which I never would have done if they had not flooded the stores with skulls.

I sent a message to a friend of mine who has a daughter, wondering if she was aware of this bizarre trend. She was. Her daughter has a pink hair bow with skulls. I guess skulls are gender neutral. Which is fine. No reason why they shouldn't be.

To be absolutely clear. I've got nothing against skulls. I'm striving to raise non-violent, non-gruesome, non-nightmare prone children. But I'm not a radical. I've not completely lost my sense of hip, ironic detachment. I get why a kid might think a skull shirt is cool.

But I would think it's shock value depends on being a bit rare. And my tolerance for it definitely does. I guess what I'm trying to say is: "I think there is a limit to how many skull shirts, say, that a baby needs." (The pink one pictured here is one of MANY offered through Amazon.)

In fact, I think there is a (admittedly slightly higher) limit to how many an elementary student needs.

I am especially alarmed at the number of water bottles I've seen with the poison symbol on them. Do the makers of these water bottles realize that even if a 12-year-old can appreciate the joke, his 4-year-old sister might not? What does it teach her to see him drink from an bottle marked with the symbol of poison?

In Slate's slide show, I did note with relief that one of the designers who helped start this trend is now weary of it. It quotes jewelry designer Loree Rodkin as saying: "When everyone started making skulls, and they were on underwear sold at Sears, they lost their allure."

Duh.

Is this really necessary?

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VeggieMomster mon nov 02 2009 at 12:28 pm ·


	If the skulls are on PLASTIC water bottles, then I'd say they may, in fact, be appropriate. ;) Skulls are annoying, unless parents are living a (long dead) punk lifestyle, then it's probably fun to dress a baby girl in skulls; however, most of the people wearing skulls are nothing but punks. Yeah, that's right... not the cool kind. I'd say a 12-year-old boy might fit into that category. Heh. A 4-year-old? Well, it can be an anatomy lesson.

Rob Beanz #162341 mon nov 02 2009 at 12:34 pm ·


	Oh my! Dont LOOK, but you have a SKULL on your shoulders........ :)~ This really shouldnt be an issue to worry about. And really, can you shelter children from EVERYTHING? No! If you dont like it, you Dont Buy it (or Accept it) until your children are old enough to decide on their own!

Beverly Bartlett mon nov 02 2009 at 3:41 pm ·


	I was ok with just not buying when it was just an item or two. Now that it's basically taken over the entire clothing department, at least of the sort of discount places I tend to shop, I think I have a right to say: ENOUGH ALREADY! LOL.

Keith tue nov 03 2009 at 9:48 am ·


	Bev, I agree. The fashion industry latched onto a previously-cool motif. Skully kiddo clothes are now way less Charlie's Pizzeria throwback and way more tribal/barbed wire tattoo armband.

frogbert tue nov 03 2009 at 10:59 am ·


	I wouldn't worry about it unless your kids starting desecrating graveyards for skulls to put on their headboards. And even then i'd be grateful that they weren't out killing the homeless for their cool deco.

rob tue nov 03 2009 at 6:09 pm ·


	Alex has Ray Charles, Led Zeppelin, Hank Sr and Jimi Hendrix t-shirts. He's going to be in college and say to me "Dad, you were pretty cool." Either that or "God damn, why do you always embarrass me?"

Beverly Bartlett wed nov 04 2009 at 11:00 am ·


	Because it's fun?

Rob Beanz #162341 mon nov 09 2009 at 10:16 am ·


	Oh I remembered (after writing previous post) how I thought it was so cool back when I was about 13 or so to wear a really wicked (for that time 1969-70) skull T-shirt for the school picture. Im sure I was thinking how it would be so funny for the year book. WELL, when I saw that picture sitting in a nice frame on my Grandmothers fire place mantle, I no longer thought it so cool! Oh and the looks I got from my Uncles and Aunts! Yea, we do learn with age or experience! :)

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