What's up with everyone wearing camouflage lately? I love idea, but how do I combat looking like I'm going into the trenches?

Camouflage has gone glam! No longer basic army drab, the latest take on camouflage promises never to blend in. Look for new color combos, trendy styles, accessories and shoes, as well as girlie touches, like sequins and studs. You could always pick up a cheap classic camouflage tee at the local army surplus store and wear it with something unpredictable, like a red mini. Just don't wear it with your trusty cargo pants and combat boots--unless you want to look like you're off to boot camp.

Satin and sequin trim cotton tank ($26) and colorful camouflage cuffs with sequins ($10 each) by Groove Camp NYC. Crystal barrette by Capelli New York. Black and white camouflage mini ($22) by I.LU.

I love to show off my tan, but those sexy low-cut tops look ridiculous on me because I'm flat-chested. Help!

Plunging necklines are not for everyone but, no matter what your size, most girls have pretty backs. So don't be coy about showing some skin in a back-baring halter style. This way, you can show off that bronze without feeling like you're being overly revealing.

The weather was bitterly cold last January, but the fashions inside The Fashion Centre at Pentagon City near Washington, D.C., were hot. Too hot, thought Dianne Purvis, a 48-year-old secretary for NASA, as she watched her daughter, 12, and niece, 13, coo over a skimpy top. "That's too old for you," she told them. "It's nothing!" they insisted. "It's not nothing to me," Purvis replied as they exited the store. And so goes the latest battle in the wardrobe wars. At retail meccas like Guess and Express, young girls 12 to 19 are spending $37 billion a year on clothes such as belly-baring shirts and micro miniskirts. Your preteen may be one of them, as one room recently discovered when she found three skimpy thongs hidden in her daughter's backpack.

The trick for mothers, experts say, is to help daughters understand the subtle and overt messages these outfits telegraph, then draw the line between school clothes, party wear and what's outright unacceptable. That's no easy task in a world of bump-and-grind videos and sexually charged TV shows. Many morns can't find age-appropriate clothes on the racks. But retailers claim they sell what customers want. "Like their target audience, teen-market retailers take their cues from what's popular in magazines and music videos and on TV," says Ellen Tolley, a spokesperson for the National Retail Federation in Washington, D.C. It's up to parents, she says, to dictate what's appropriate.

Fourteen-year-old Liz Clark of Fox Chapel, Pa., says that T-shirts sold by Abercrombie & Fitch are demeaning and offensive to girls. That's why she and other members of the Allegheny County Girls as Grantmakers group, which helps raise money for girls' causes, urged their friends and fellow students not to buy the shirts.

The T-shirts from the popular retailer have been the subject of boycotts by female students (who call them "girlcotts") in Illinois, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. The students don't like the messages emblazoned across the front of the shirts. Some of the more tame examples of the printed text are "Blondes Are Adored, Brunettes Are Ignored" and "I Make You Look Fat."

Abercrombie & Fitch has responded to the students by pulling two of the shirts deemed most derogatory from some store shelves. The store's press release stated, "We recognize that the shirts in question, while meant to be humorous, might be troubling to some."

Not So Funny

Jettie Fields, 13, a member of the Girls as Grantmakers group, isn't laughing. She thinks the slogans on the shirts pit girls against one another. "We would not want anyone to exploit us, so why are we exploiting ourselves?" she told the Today show.

When students involved in the Peace Project, an antidiscrimination student club in Norwalk, Conn., heard about the girlcott, they joined in Hannah Wimpfheimer, a junior at Brien McMahon High School and a member of the Peace Project, told The Advocate of Norwalk, "These are shirts that insult girls and make them look ditzy and stupid. It isn't right."

In order to develop a better understanding of teen shoppers, who represent the most highly sought after market segment in the United States (ICR 2005), it is important to explore teens' own perceptions about shopping, placing specific emphasis on their own perceived competencies as shoppers. By examining how teens define a competent shopper and how they perceive themselves as shoppers within their own normative framework of shopping competence, we should be better able to understand the shopping behaviors they exhibit, the purchase decisions they make, and the limitations they feel they must overcome in order to become fully competent shoppers. In order to examine these issues, the present research begins by discussing the broad concepts of competence from a psychological perspective and consumer expertise from a marketing perspective. We then explore female teens' perceptions of what it means to be a competent shopper and how confident they are in their overall shopping abilities. Finally we link the interpretive data to existing theory and develop a conceptual model of adolescent shopping competence.

Hey, who put your best friend in charge? Time to tame her inner Trump ...

Your classes are cruising along, but your social life is bursting with drama. And, unfortunately, much of the drama is caused by your BFF. You love her dearly, but that girl can be so bossy! Here's how to get your friendship back in balance.

THE APPRENTICE

The good news? You and your BFF have been chosen to head up the Fall Fling planning committee. The bad news? Your BFF is already trying to take over. Your best bet: Outboss the "boss" by firmly but gently divvying up duties before she starts delegating. Let her know you'll take charge of rustling up the refreshments while she decides on the decorating details. Then? You can both pick out the playlist--together.

GIVE AND TAKE

Everyone wants to help out a friend, but there's a difference between being a pal and being unpaid labor. Your BFF has to get her room clean or she's grounded this weekend? Offer to pitch in but be sure you're working with her, not for her. Because you are sure she'd do the same for you. Right?

CALLING THE SHOTS

It's a tradition--you and your best bud hit a matinee every other Saturday. So how does it end up that she's always the one picking the flick? If your friend is constantly calling the social shots, that's not OK. You're along for the fun, so you should have a say. Talk to her about taking turns. She gets to pick what you do this week, your choice next time. Simple.

Go Bold Glam START WITH Your favorite new velvet jacket ADD Long earrings and fabulous fake lashes

GET THE LOOK

ON EYES Form lid to crease, swipe the deep purple shadow from mary-kateandashley Satin Shimmers Creamy Eye Color in Wine & Roses ($4, drugstores). Use the dark pink in the crease.

THE LACHES Japonesque Luscious Lashes Kit in Purple ($8, japonesque.com) are easy to apply.

ON CHEEKS Dust Bobbi Brown Blush in Pink Clay ($20, department stores) from the apples of cheeks to hairline.

Millennium Apparel Inc. and Accessory Network are on board to produce Lisa Frank apparel and accessories. Lisa Frank's signature artwork, including candy-colored animal prints, has been popular for 20 years with girls 8 to 12, especially in stationery. The graphics' 1980s flair is very on-trend for 2002.

Millennium Apparel will produce sportswear and outerwear to suit each of its retailers for back-to-school.

"We're creating lines with each of our customers in mind, and Lisa Frank's artwork is flexible enough that we can do that," says Charles Becker, executive director of marketing and licensing at Millennium Apparel.

Millennium Apparel Inc. and Accessory Network are on board to produce Lisa Frank apparel and accessories. Lisa Frank's signature artwork, including candy-colored animal prints, has been popular for 20 years with girls 8 to 12, especially in stationery. The graphics' 1980s flair is very on-trend for 2002.

Millennium Apparel will produce sportswear and outerwear to suit each of its retailers for back-to-school.

"We're creating lines with each of our customers in mind, and Lisa Frank's artwork is flexible enough that we can do that," says Charles Becker, executive director of marketing and licensing at Millennium Apparel.

Japanese pop culture has always commanded a cultish following--its anime/manga, video games, Pokemon, and Hello Kitty are enjoyed all over the world. But now, Americans have also discovered something else that intrigues them--the Harajuku girls.

The Harajuku girls, done up in bizarre outfits and makeup, hang out in Tokyo's fashionable Harajuku district. Previously little known outside of Japan, they rose to fame when the lead singer of Ska/punk band "No Doubt," Gwen Stefani, featured them in her recent solo debut album: Love. Angel. Music. Baby. A fashion icon who is often seen in kooky outfits, trademark platinum blond hair and engine-red lipstick, Stefani claims these adolescent girls as the muses for her entire album, as well as for her own fashion line, L.A.M.B. The singer's video from her first single "What Ya Waiting For?" is shot with a distinct Japanesy flair, supplemented by four black-liquid eye-lined, pig-tailed, and cherry-lipped "Harajuku girls" prancing around in clothes by Vivian Westwood. In a recent Marie Claire interview, Stefani says the idea of using Japanese girls as backup dancers came to her in a dream. These so-called Harajuku girls appear throughout the album, even in songs that have no apparent relation to them. The album also includes a song titled in the girls' honor, in which Stefani professes, "Harajuku girls, you got the wicked style--I like the way that you are--I am your biggest fan, oh."

Mikki Taylor, beauty director and cover editor: Beautiful stilettos call for "paints charming" to accent my toes. I fell head over heels for Defile's Nail Sheen in Corso Como ($18). It fulfills my current craving for things ultrafeminine, and it's quick-drying and chip-resistant. Fragrance is the ultimate flight of fancy for me, and Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle Eau de Parfum Spray ($85), with its heady floral bouquet, satisfies my every whim.
Vanessa Bush, fashion and beauty features editor: Now that I've purchased the ultimate girly-girl accessory --a vanity table--I can't wait to dress it up with equally froufrou beauty treats. I'm crazy about Annick Goutal's Golden Body Veil in Eau d'Hadrien ($27). This decadently scented shimmer cream makes my skin glisten almost like its ornate packaging. Another must: Orlane's Nail Lacquer in Paon Metallique ($15). The iridescent violet hue and sleek bottle are tres feminine.

Sharon Elcock, fashion and beauty coordinator: For me, fun is all about feeling fresh and flirty. Lush's Silky Underwear Dusting Powder (about $6) has an irresistible mix of jasmine, vanilla and gardenia that leaves me shower-fresh all day. And what should a diva like moi use to dust it on? La Fee de Paris's Puff ($65, large), of course. This sinfully soft French goose-down puff is as fluffy as a cloud this side of heaven.

Ask Greg Weaver what's driving the heady growth of Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., and he points to a wall in the retailer's Fashion Island store that's neatly arranged with sweatshirts, T-shirts and low-rise jeans.

"Girls," he said. "They are driving our business to new levels."

Along with a host of local surf-wear makers, Anaheim-based PacSun is riding one of the biggest things to happen to the action sports market in a while: girl shoppers. And lots of them.

This year, girls' apparel is one of the key reasons "literally every measurable (aspect) of the company is heading north," said Weaver, who is chief executive.

hat includes PacSun's stock, which is up about 40 percent for the year.

The irony, Weaver said, is that there are more competitors than ever in the teen space. They include Industry-based Hot Topic Inc., Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc. and New Albany, Ohio-based Abercrombie & Fitch Co.

PacSun's sales for the second quarter rose about 23 percent, to $234 million, while same-store sales jumped 13.9 percent, at a time when most retailers are hurting.

Weaver joined PacSun in 1987 when there were only about a dozen stores. At the time, an investment group just had bought out the two founders--suffers who ran a cluster of stores in Southern California selling mostly wet suits and surfboards.

"Wall Street thought, 'Oh, this is a good little company. Maybe it'll go to Florida or Hawaii," Weaver said. "The irony is we've opened stores in Vermont and Alaska. We don't have a bad state. These brands and these looks have become mainstream."

Placencia, who grew up in Lodi and has lived in Sacramento for more than a decade, always wanted to bring her favorite city home. Her new boutique--fittingly named Le Petit Paris--in Sacramento's Midtown Boutique District does just that. Her inventory runs from flea-market finds and charming toys to elegant handbags. This spring, Placencia is excited about her flirty scarves in tissuelike pastel silks and her ruffled, dotted bloomers for girls.
Scoping out such discoveries in Paris is just part of the city's draw. Placencia has always loved the people-watching too: "On the Metro, I'd notice how people were wearing their scarves, or look at jewelry trends and purses." She used her observations to choose gifts for friends, who encouraged her to open a shop. Now buying trips to Paris are family affairs, with 4-year-old daughter Bella just as excited as Placencia.