Does Not Illustrate: Age Inappropriate Dress

The current image is of a girl in an Elegant Gothic Lolita outfit. While it looks nice, it does not show how the dress is age inappropriate. The explanation in the example list states that the clothing is too Stripperiffic for a 14 year old, but (1) The clothing doesn't actually look that Stripperiffic, and (2) the character in question looks older than 14. I think someone like OnePiece's Doctor Kureha◊ would be a much clearer illustration. Or maybe this◊ render of Bao Sanniang (we don't know how old she's supposed to be, but her expression and pose looks very childish and her clothing is more visibly revelaing).

Any other thoughts/suggestions?

Most of the examples look like they are "Too young to wear these clothes". Given that the trope covers both "too young" and "too old", I would use an image that shows "Too old to wear these clothes" - which in this case is the One Piece picture.

Besides, both the current and the Dynasty Warriors pics look fairly ambiguous age-wise.

The first suggestion is just tacky and ugly, and the second is worse than the current.

Would a decent pic of Angus Young work for this?

Is Amy's age more apparent here?◊

I know nothing about the work that the current page image is from, but to my eyes, that's a young teenager in a dress that (except for the short-ruffled skirt) would be more appropriate on a twenty-something at a formal affair. That's based on the deep off-the-shoulder neckline, all the lace, and the corset-like top. It's not stripperific exactly, but it's not age-appropriate for a young teen.

The first suggestion could work, but I don't see why "too old for the clothes" is necessarily any better for a page image than "too young" is, and frankly, it's a pretty ugly picture.

The second suggestion looks more age appropriate than not.

The third, I don't know, I need to think about that one some more.

edited 28th Oct '13 10:26:15 AM by Madrugada

I think 5 is better.

Amy looks younger and her dress looks more inappropriate.

The One Piece character looks like another trope besides this one...Camp Straight? Camp Gay? I know nothing about the character so I'm just guessing.

Bao Sanniang just looks fanservicey.

5 is the best suggestion so far.

edited 28th Oct '13 10:56:48 AM by Willbyr

I think this is kinda hard to illustrate using children without being creepy. I second the idea of using older characters.

That being said, I really don't think the current picture is so far outside the norm of what a kid might wear under some circumstance (especially a costume party) as to be a clear example of the trope.

PS: It doesn't help that 21st century American-European ideas of "appropriate" wear is actually rather flexible and subjective. Just about anything could be considered appropriate by someone, especially under circumstances that encourage dressing in an exotic fashion.

edited 28th Oct '13 5:27:33 PM by Catbert

How about a panel or two from this Awkward Zombie page◊?

Edit: how about now?

edited 28th Oct '13 6:00:10 PM by captainpat

I can't get that site to pull up at all, it keeps saying "No site configured at this address."

If we're going to use older characters, how about this◊ rejected image from the Grandma, What Massive Hotness You Have! convo topic?

Not bad.

Kureha seems the best illustration so far to me. Seems like a grandma wearing 70's-ish bellbottoms.

So far, I think that 5 is the best suggestion. It's better than the current.

Kureha is the best example for me as well. Some◊ other◊ shots◊ of her.

May need a crowner for this one. That said, I'd really prefer an image of visibly older characters wearing youthful clothes, rather than a tween wearing "adult"-clothes, since ages can be rather ambiguous in teenage/young adult characters. Unless we go to the opposite extreme and find a picture of a toddler in a wedding dress or something.

How about Hanako?◊

What is age inappropriate about that? It could be any generically young person at a beach.

Besides, to reiterate an idea, do we really want to be seen as sharing pictures of children that we are proclaiming to be inappropriate?

I don't think Kureha works at all. Those aren't clothes you get too old to wear; you get too out of shape for those clothes. This is a character with an old face but the same body as everyone else. Which makes the clothes appropriate, if tacky.

For someone young, I don't think "clothes that show skin" is a good criteria on its own. They kind of have to emphasise some mature themes. In places where it's just practical to wear less, children can often get away with more than adults. Without strange connotations.

We probably shouldn't be aiming at depicting young characters but rather the opposite end, much less inherent creepiness involved when dealing with older characters wearing the wrong clothing and to me a lot more humorous.

edited 30th Oct '13 1:30:46 AM by treelo

Duck raises a valid point about Kureha's character design. Definite to 17; if 5 is straddling the line of what we would accept per the content policy, that's past 5 (at least to me).

Here's a couple other takes on Barbara Eden in the Jeannie costume: 1◊, 2◊

edited 30th Oct '13 4:21:02 AM by Willbyr

21.1 looks good

21.1 seems acceptable to me as well.

Once upon a time, I worked at a toy store. (Oh, how I miss you, KB Toys...) And there was a product called Bratz dolls. (They may still exist, I don't know. When browsing stores for toys these days, I make a beeline right for the Transformers.) I always thought they were rather tacky, and joked that they should be called Slutz dolls, instead.

But if that wasn't bad enough... they had to come out with Bratz Babyz◊. Yeah... I need to go scrub my eyes now. Still, in an effort to share the pain, I'd suggest that as a page image.

Personally, I think it impressive that Barbra Eden can still rock the Jeannie outfit, and saying that her wearing of it is inappropriate has a negative connotation that would be unfortunate. But if people would rather an image that skewed older rather then younger, her pictures would, I suppose, be an option. I'd just hope that whatever caption was put with it then had a positive tone.

edited 30th Oct '13 6:14:05 AM by Yotsuyasan

That Barbara Eden can wear the outfit and still look halfway decent is a testimony to how well she's taken care of herself. However, the overall theme is still intact. It's not necessarily a good example, but it is a good illustration, and barring finding something that works for both of those criteria, then it works.