Should young kids care about clothes?

(Photo: Instagram/along_came_hollie)
(Photo: Instagram/along_came_hollie)

Hollie Lawlor has a wardrobe to die for and fashion knowledge that could rival that of the most dedicated fashionista — and she’s only 2.

Hollie has her own Instagram account filled with photos of her posing in chic outfits. And one of her recent posts is insanely impressive. In a video shared last week, the curly-haired tot wears a frilly pink blouse and matching bow as she identifies a series of designer belts. As her mom hands her the belts, Hollie rattles off their designers.

It seems the Irish child has an understanding of fashion houses like Louis Vuitton, Versace, Gucci, Dior and Chanel.

However, Hollie doesn’t just know how to say the brands, she dresses in outfits inspired by them as well. She’s often wearing red or pink puffy skirts with matching bows, or sweaters with sweet phrases written on them like, “#LittleBoss” and “all you need is fun.” She can also rock the heck out of fur vests and leather jackets.

But how much does she really know about fashion? “It’s not clear that the little girl really understands fashion,” child and adolescent psychologist Barbara Greenberg tells Yahoo Lifestyle. It could just be a game of memory. “She’s learning, she’s making associations. Her mother is showing her apparel and she’s identifying by recognition who the designers are. It’s not that clear that the girl is even aware of what fashion is. It’s just memorization.”

In one of the videos taken by Hollie’s mother Pamela, it seems Hollie is just saying whatever designer comes to mind. When asked who designed her Versace emblazoned shirt, she first guessed River Island, a British boutique. When Pamela asks again, Hollie guesses right

Whether Hollie really gets fashion or not, this is admittedly adorable. But should kids this young care about clothes? If it’s just about having fun with clothing and dressing up with her mom, no. “In my opinion, this is more about the mother than the child,” says Greenberg. “It’s not too harmful because the child probably doesn’t understand what’s going on and she’s probably enjoying the contact with the mother. So I think it’s more about the mother trying to create something novel than the child.”

However, according to Instagram, Hollie “loves dressing up and having her photos taken.”

And, as Pamela told the Daily Mail, “Whenever you ask ‘what do you want to be?’ she always says a model. And if I don’t take pictures she’ll ask are we not taking pictures.” This concerns Greenberg, and not just because of the emphasis on such material items at a young age. But because this is how bitter models are born. “A two-year-old can’t possibly know what it means to be a model,” says Greenberg. “All this emphasis on appearance, clothing, and modeling as a profession and as an end goal is concerning, because all of our little girls should have options, they should have some input, and she’s basically being trained that this is what she’s going to be doing.” Dr. Greenberg worries that this little girl is not aware of the options she will one day have, and is therefore being trained to go down a particular path. “She’s basically being educated that this is what she wants to do, that she wants to please her mother, this is what she’s being taught,” she says.

While Pamela insists Hollie started posing on her own, Greenberg doesn’t buy it. “I used to make tutus and bow[s] a while ago and put it on Hollie to model them, and one day she just started posing for the photo with her hands on her hips — I noticed she always wanted her photo [taken] since them,” Pamela claimed, according to Daily Mail.

“It’s unlikely that the girl came upon this organically,” Greenberg points out. “It’s very likely she was being told to pose that way or she was being shown images of young women posing that way. I don’t think naturally a girl would start doing that.”

The takeaway: It’s not the end of the world to expose your little ones to designers (otherwise all the Kardashian kids would be doomed) as long as they know there’s more to life than luxury. “It’s not concerning that she knows what a Gucci belt is. But what is concerning is that she’s being taught at a young age that fashion should be her end game, and that’s not fair.”

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