Age Age is an important factor to be considered at all stages of life. It becomes more important while selecting clothes and apparel for children, since it is parents or elders of the family who are taking the decision regarding their clothes. It is important to remember that children, specially infants and toddlers, are not dolls to be dressed up and decorated for the satisfaction of adults. Their physical growth, motor development, association with people and things around them and activities they indulge in, all have to be taken into consideration from the point of view of comfort and safety.
As children grow, their association and interaction with people outside their immediate family increases. They become aware of clothes that other people wear and how others view their clothes. Conformity to peers begins to become important in middle childhood and increases in importance with age. Clothes and apparel play an important role in helping the growing child feel a sense of belonging and acceptance.
As children grow, their clothing changes and clothing for girls and boys becomes different. Approaching adolescence, the rapid physical growth brings about even further gender differentiation in clothing. The adolescents also start recognising cultural and societal norms as well as contemporary trends which influence their selection of clothes. They are often convinced that their popularity and relationships in a group are dependent on appearance, which in turn is due to the “right clothes.”