Is Little Girl Lingerie Taking It Too Far? (PHOTOS, POLL)

This might have been fashion's youngest summer on record.

After catapulting tweens Elle Fanning, Chloe Moretz and Hailee Steinfeld into style stardom with magazine covers and ad campaigns, the industry turned its attention to 10-year-old Thylane Loubry Blondeau, whose suggestive magazine photos sparked a media maelstrom over how young is too young for girls to look sexy.

Now Fashionista may have found the conversation's next talking point: a French lingerie company aimed at young girls. Called Jours Après Lunes, the brand features bras and panties for girls ages four to twelve ("filles" and "femmes") and a "loungerie" line for girls ages three months to 36 months ("bebes").

While the baby stuff is fairly innocuous (think cute diaper covers and onesies), the items intended for "filles" and "femmes" are more questionable. The strappy pink bra tops and matching tulle-trimmed bra and panty sets are modeled by very young girls, their hair teased up and cheeks covered in rouge.

With grown-up styling and poses, are the young models in Jours Après Lunes' product shots just cute filles romping around in their undies? Or are these little girls parroting the sexy looks of women twice their age?

Take a look below at a few snaps from Jours Après Lunes' website and decide for yourself.

Quick Poll

Little girls modeling "lingerie":

TOO SEXY! I feel wrong just looking at the photos.

TOTALLY TAME! Nothing to see here.

Share your vote on Facebook so your friends can take this poll

(Via Fashionista)

Comments

[rowdiman]

11:20 PM on 08/19/2011

Shame on the mothers who let their children model for these perverted pictures.

Another case of moms trying to live out their dreams through their daughters, sad, sad, sad.

[KylieKitty]

07:57 PM on 08/21/2011

Sad that it's only the mothers who always seem to get the blame. Don't these kids have fathers? Why aren't they chastised too?

[rowdiman]

09:14 PM on 08/22/2011

In most cases, the fathers are working 12 hour days, and 2 jobs to pay for the cost of all of this. The majority of these families seem to have a more dominant wife, if you know what I mean.

[Rachel Malys]

10:48 PM on 08/19/2011

And then people wonder why little girls are getting raped and killed by perverts and psychos. If they look like young women, then these men might get confused. They probably think that if they dress like "sexy" women, then they want to be treat like "sexy" women.

[pthesmith]

04:01 PM on 08/20/2011

Don't blame the little girls... blame the psychos!!!

[jazzgal62]

01:54 PM on 08/19/2011

This is so sad. How did we get to this? From ages 36 months to three? Are you kidding me? What about the 20% that thought these ads were tame? Are children not allowed to be children anymore? To have a childhood and not be coerced into forgoing that for adulthood.

[Raglimidechi]

01:53 PM on 08/19/2011

The sexualization of children invites a predatory gaze and is child abuse of the worst kind. Adults' first duty toward children is to keep them safe. That includes all adults and all children.

[xliv7151x]

01:12 PM on 08/19/2011

"how young is too young for girls to look sexy?" i see what they mean, but unless you're a pedophile you wouldn't find these photos sexy but rather, cute? unless it's about suggestive poses i don't think there's much of an article here.

[pthesmith]

04:02 PM on 08/20/2011

Do you have children? (an honest question)

[Amber Hansen Powner]

01:11 PM on 08/19/2011

When are parents going to learn that encouraging sexualization (which is NOT the same as encouraging healthy self-image) harms them in the long run? The point of "dress up" was for us to be seen, whether we put on shoes that are too big or a little bit of makeup - but who in hell markets "lingerie" for CHILDREN? This implies that someone will be SEEING it! On the child! How irreparably disgusting. I was shocked to see these pictures. Fancy kiddie underwear? Why would you encourage your child to be "sexy" at such a young age, not to mention imprint them with a message that says "this is sexy, you aren't sexy unless you look good in this - and that means you need to be skinny and tall" - - it is no wonder to me that we have such an issue with teen pregnancy and low self-esteem in our country when we encourage this kind of dress and emaciated body types, but don't supplement our children with real sex-ed programs and instead preach abstinence to a bunch of children with completely backwards expectations of sexual reality (which is that it is "normal," a rite of passage, and consequence-free).

And what message does this send to our young boys in the meantime? What are we teaching young men except that the girls want sex earlier and earlier and it's becoming more socially acceptable to lose virginity at 14 instead of when we're adults or, heaven forbid, married? Disgusting.

[Dwayne Robbins]

12:49 PM on 08/19/2011

More legal fodder for the perverts with an internet connection.

[zengirlnyc]

09:42 AM on 08/19/2011

This is really awful. Children need to be protected not sexualized. Where are the parents in this?
The fashion industry doesn't care one bit about any of this. Even 13 is too young for these kinds of photos. There are some very sick people out there. I blame the fashion industry, but also the parents.

[Sol76]

12:43 AM on 08/19/2011

Sadly there are parents whose quest to live out a life they feel denied of through their children would make them justify buying these clothes for them. As for children who are being exploited in the European sex trade, you can bet their pimps and molesters will be shopping for Jours Après Lunes and subscribing to their catalogues.

[WYHKTai-Tai]

07:41 PM on 08/18/2011

Dress-up for me, when I was a kid was a trunk of old Salvation Army beat-up sequined evening frocks and some princess/halloween dresses. For my step-daughter, (when she was 10) it was a big box with MY old satin prom dress, a plastic tiara and as many princessy pieces as I could find. My friends with daughters now usually just buy the Disney-Princess costume dresses. I've never heard of a little girl clamoring for the Sophia Loren/ La Dolce Vita sexkitten look. It's usually princesses, faeries or mermaids. This is an adults view of "playing dress-up". A disturbing a view at that.

[WYHKTai-Tai]

07:30 PM on 08/18/2011

I swear, if there was/is a kids' clothing company out there making child-like kids' clothing, especially for girls, they would CLEAN UP! Can't say how many parents I know/ have heard complaining about this. There seem to be too few choices, again especially for girls, that aren't just scaled-down versions of adult women's fashions.

[Mafdet]

10:29 AM on 08/18/2011

Yeah. We're getting world class educations. We're pioneers in art and science. But make no mistake, all of that is nothing if we're not experts at provoking a sexual response from a generation of men who have been so immersed in internet porn that they need more than viagra to get motivated by the time they're 40, so it's never too early to get our girls squared away in the seduction department.

[piano501debussy]

07:23 PM on 08/17/2011

Yeah, it is taking it too far. This is so inappropriate for a child. Placing a child in this position puts them at great risk for attracting wierdos and pedophiles; just about every sicko out there. No child should be allowed or even talked into doing this.

[CarmenIbanez]

12:25 PM on 08/18/2011

While I agree with your overall sentiment, I find the logic in it offensive. The undertone of your comment sounds like it is the responsibility of the child to not be attractive to pedophiles. The reality is that pedophiles are sick and whether we dress our children one way or another makes no difference to pedophiles. Children do not turn adults into pedophiles by how they dress or act any more than women turn men into rapists by doing the same.

[Cassandra45]

05:16 PM on 08/17/2011

This isn't surprising and it's going to get worse. When I was in high school, back in the Dark Ages, we had dress codes; recently I walked through a high school and was shocked and horrified at the way the teenage girls dressed. Having thoroughly sexualized the teenagers, society has to go for younger girls to get that shock value that brings publicity (follow the money). Coming soon to a store near you: bikinis and lingerie for babies.

[Emily Weaver]

05:10 PM on 08/17/2011

This is entirely inappropriate.