This article is part of the following topics:   Back to School School Life

What Kids Are Wearing

PHOTO BY BRUCE BROWN

The start of the school year brings more than just new schedules and new teachers; it’s likely that your children want to update their wardrobes, too. To find out what’s in, we asked style consultant and personal shopper Carolyn Rovner of C2Style about a few of this fall’s trends.

Rovner says the main theme kids will be embracing with their clothing is self-expression—and that’s a good thing. “Whatever your likes and hobbies and interests are, that’s what the kids are going to be wearing,” she explains. “Let the kids dabble, wardrobe-wise, in who they are personality-wise.”

Top of the Morning

For girls, mid-thigh tunics in fun prints are a popular piece. They’re also versatile: Wear them with leggings now, and layered over a T-shirt or thin turtleneck and jeans as the weather gets cooler. “What’s really important for the girls is if you’re wearing leggings, the shirt should cover your rear,” Rovner says. “Leggings are a layering piece. They’re not a bottom to be worn on their own.”

Get the Message

No matter what a kid’s passion is, you can probably find a T-shirt to reflect it. “I’m a kid, I’m not a rock guitarist, but I’m into music. So that’s what’s on my T-shirt,” Rovner says. Look for tees with quirky cartoons, TV or movie characters, and environmental themes, among others.

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Best Foot Forward

Cute flat shoes, such as those modeled on ballet slippers, are a great look and are available in many different fabrics and styles. “With ballet flats, the girls can transition a little less ostentatiously to an older look,” Rovner says. “Flat shoes can really help an adolescent bridge the gap between ‘little girl’ and ‘high school girl.’”

Straight Ahead

A new look has emerged among some boys: “They wear a flat bill on hats, on baseball caps,” Rovner says, rather than the more traditional curved bill. But don’t clean out the closet too fast if your son has put away his curved-bill caps; consider keeping them for a while in case this trend disappears just as quickly.