Multi-colored striped cotton
camp shirt and matching
shorts from Pichon. Pichon
clothes available at
R .G. Crumb snatcher.

S U GAR
' IN SPICE

ICE CREAM COLORED PASTEL OUTFITS
HIGHLIGHT KIDS' CLOTHES THIS SEASON.

BY ELLYCE FIELD

l he look this spring is
sugar and spice and
California dreamin'.
By day, it's ice cream
flavor pastels, with comfy cottons
and clean, closer-to-the-body
silhouettes. By night, it's classic
Hollywood. European gangsters
with sharkskin suits and
iridescent ties; frou-frou molls
with tiered organza skirts.
Parents new to the fashion
scene should bone up on the
following terms: mudflap, color
blocking, jams, swirl dye, bike
short, cropped top and tier skirt.
Use these terms casually and
appropriately. Your kids will be
impressed; they might actually let
you go shopping with them.

ri

For girls, fish print tank top
with drawstring cotton
pants. Abstract-printed
short set for boys.
All from Ocean Pacific.

14

IN STYLE

SURF'S UP!
"The jam short and oversized
shirt are still in," says Mark
Shindler, owner of Brody's Boys
and Mens Wear in West
Bloomfield. But with a subtle
twist and all new flavor.
Clamdiggers, the long jams that
were last year's hottest fashion,
are out. "This year, most of our
jams are two inches above the

knee. And the short-short is all
but extinct," Shindler says.
New this spring is the tailed
silhouette. "Both shirts and shorts
have a tail, or a mudflap. That
means the back hangs down
longer than the front," Shindler
explains.
"Most of the shorts and shirts
are coming in as sets, with solid
color blocking. This season, we'll
see more pastels and whites.
The hot colors are coral,
Caribbean blue and frosty green.
Last spring's bright colors are
not as popular"
Hot this season is the
California surfer look. Instead of
the wild Hawaiian prints of last
season, most of the jam outfits
and silkscreened T-shirts sport a
surfboard or skateboard scene.
Often, the scene only takes up
the bottom third of a solid color
blocked jam or is used as the
trim on the mudflap.
The look is cleaner and
preppier, too. "Most of the T-
shirts we are showing with our
jams are crew neck or collared.
The better T-shirts are often color
blocked with a mudflap that

