I often get this question: How can I win the dressing wars with my daughter?

Many parents tear their hair out over clothing wars with their daughters which can start as young as second grade. This timing makes sense. Around age seven, clothing styles dramatically change. Once girls outgrow size 6x, the ruffly dresses and pearl-buttoned cardigans disappear. They are replaced with styles making seven year old girls look like they are fifteen. Leather, plunging necklines and skirts which barely cover the buttocks. So what’s a parent to do?

A lot. First, if your gut tells you that you’re daughter (whether she’s seven or seventeen) shouldn’t go to school looking like she’s stepped out of a bar, don’t let her. You’re in charge- after all, who pays for the clothes? This is one war that’s worth fighting and there are some ground rules you can set to minimize collateral. Be assured- you need to fight this war because, while many parents shrug and pass lewd styles off as a shifting trend, don’t be fooled. Our girls are being inundated with sexual messages that do harm them. We know that marketing sex to girls increases the likelihood that they will become…