Dress well in adolescence: an art to teach and learn

Gone are the uniforms and the usual school clothes. Summer is coming and our teenagers are dressed "on the street". But there are styles and styles. How can parents guide our children so that, respecting their personality, they learn to choose appropriate clothes for each occasion? Can you teach how to dress well?

Professor Isabel García Hiljding, responsible for Custom Programs of the ISEM (University of Navarra) offers some keys to help our teenagers discover their style within the criteria of good taste.

This year, the minishorts so short that they disappear under the shirt. They continue with the habit of dropping their pants to show their underwear, better if it is branded. The pressure of the fashions established by the main consumerist currents becomes especially strong in adolescence.


In particular, when summer arrives and the uniforms or the most discreet garments worn in winter are kept in the drawer. Suddenly, our children are very concerned about the clothes and we are torn between leaving them absolute freedom to define their style or keep guarding their closet as when they were children.

The crucible of the style inside the wardrobe

At the middle point is virtue. Our job is to go educating the way of dressing from childhood and give the appropriate clues in adolescence so that they themselves can refine their own preferences and, at the same time, have internalized the secret of good taste.


In order to internalize good taste, the example they receive at home, in particular that of their parents, is key. In the same way that happens in the development of most habits and values, in the case of dressing, what we do as parents will have a definite influence. This does not mean at all that children are going to dress like adults, that they imitate them or that they have a preference for the same clothes.

What is achieved with the example is not that they change the way they dress or that they choose a specific one, but that they acquire the sense of good taste. A small example: there is nothing wrong in that, in certain occasions, an old advertising t-shirt is used, for example to go out to do sport or to carry out some task at home. But teaching by way of example will be very negative if the father wears that same shirt to a family meal on Sunday.

It is more of a air of elegance than in a way of dressing itself. The important thing is that the children see, in small details, that there is a way of dressing for every occasion. And to achieve that goal, education must start from the first day. If a child is explained from childhood, even in summer, when we sit down to eat, it is better to wear a shirt, acquire the habit without any effort.


Succumb to trends: typical of adolescence

One of the characteristics of adolescence is that they seek acceptance by the peer group through a process of assimilation of customs and attitudes. Copying dress styles or following fashion is one of the ways to join the group. That causes that, when this tendency is repeated permanently, give the impression that all young people dress the same, that there is no possible alternative.

Sometimes, young people choose a certain style simply because they do not know others. It is up to the parents to carry out a process of analyzing the offer that may be appropriate for the age of the children to present it as an alternative to the dominant trend. But to be able to argue that this material that we offer is adequate, we have to ground it on elements that justify that it is sufficiently modern. Thus, if we present a certain style, we can do it through photographs of magazines or with visits to stores that are attractive to them and that agree better with the criteria of good taste.

This means that parents have to be involved in the process, be aware of what they like most, look for alternatives to what they like least, in short, have the ability to propose different options.

Who is in charge of fashion trends?

The companies of the textile sector specialized in children used to cover sizes until the first adolescence. But many recognize that they have trouble finding a way to address their audience, who are no longer strictly parents when making the purchasing decision, but the children themselves who judge and value their outfits and influence parents when deciding your purchase

While we are no longer at the time when parents decided everything their children put on, a good tip is to guide in some aspects the selection of clothing purchases. Exit "from stores" it can be converted into a fun plan that enhances complicity with children and allows a certain degree of counseling while leaving a margin of choice within certain brands previously selected by parents.

In any case, it is important not to forget that adolescence is only a stage and rebellion with clothes it is a habitual characteristic that almost always ends up happening. When you see an excess in clothing, a good idea is that not only the mother intervenes, it is usually the one who deals with these issues, but that the father is the one who opine without entering into conflicts. Sometimes, a man's perception changes the way they see the problem.

Accept the complexes, strengthen the strong points

In the stage of adolescence there is a risk that a small complex problem for some physical aspect will become the center of attention of everything. That is why it is very important that, from a very young age, children learn to love each other and, from a well structured self-esteem, accept their body as it is.

Parents will have a double role here because this part of self-esteem corresponds to them as well as teaching them how to take advantage, hiding with small tricks that which makes the young person complex and highlighting at the same time some virtues of their physique that allow them to regain confidence in themselves. .

The first makeups

It's usually in a summer when that teenager who until recently was our little girl wants to start putting on makeup. As young people tend to be excessive by their nature, it is possible that you choose makeup models inappropriate for your age, typical of parties, too worked.

Just as with clothes, it is up to the mothers to show them other stylistic possibilities so that, even if they start to put on makeup, they do so with a style that is their own age. Some quality magazines can help us in this task, as well as accompanying them to choose makeup and to receive advice from advisors that we trust.

María Solano
Advice: Isabel García Hiljding, teacher of ISEM

Video: How to Do Laundry


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