Limited Too Essay

Limited Too was the girls and tween store of the 90’s and 00’s. Limited Too was created by The Limited, INC. (“Tween Brands Inc.”). In 1996, it was turned into a tween store and skyrocketed. They had over 600 stores in 2007 at their peak. The store grew so rapidly and spread so quickly through the tween market that Tween Brands, INC. created Justice in 2004. Limited Too died with the fall of the market in 2009, when Justice, which targeted the same age group, took over and the stores merged (“Tween Brands Inc.”). Parents spend over $700 billion on their children, making this market a hot commodity for capitalist gains (Consuming Kids).
Limited Too embodies Marshall’s criticism of modern-day consumerism, describing Girlhood as a lifestyle rather than a particular product as seen in their slogan “It’s a Girl’s World!” (Marshall, 97). They sell the entire identity or “world” of being a girl. Their slogan optimizes the 90’s tween girl power movement, or lack-there-of represented throughout their stores. Limited Too also partook in the “full 360˚ immersive marketing” outlined in Consuming Kids, which emanates into every aspect of a child’s life as seen by the variety of products they sell, from lingerie to candy (Consuming Kids).
Items focused towards young girls has been a means of selling particular ideas about girlhood (Marshall,

95). If this is the case, Limited Too’s ideas of a “Girl’s World” is hyper feminism, glitter-glam, fun, snobby-cutesy and happiness. The messages brands, such as Limited Too, send are that you need to dress feminine to have girl power, and that your spending power should triumph that of your need to understand the importance of money (with clothes sporting sayings such as “Buy it now! Tell Daddy later”), and that to truly be a fan of something, you need to wear clothing that depicts your love for it (with clothes plastered in phrases such as “I LOVE gymnastics!”(“Tween Brands Inc.”). Limited Too has tapped into every aspect of a young girl’s life, through room décor, hair and fashion accessories, mixed CDs of songs exhibiting “fun, parties, and girl power!”, shoes, clothes, candy, and toys.
Even though Limited Too follows the gender binary and gliterification of girls, girls are still drawn to its doors.

Even if the world isn’t a girl’s world, they have their own space in Limited Too to be whoever they want. Albeit it is a constricted form, they can still pick and choose within the safe parameters of normative feminism who they will become through what they consume. Perhaps that is the incentive for young girls is that because it is exclusive, they feel free to dance in the aisles or buy shorts that say “I LOVE gymnastics!”. However, this is a privilege of those who can afford Limited Too. Limited Too is a high-end

brand.
However, in the midst of profiting off of small children, the messages of “Girl Power” that many of the tween stores sell has lost touch. Zaslow critiques modern-girlhood as “missing elements”, which is shown through the prevailing messages sold to girls through consumerism of products and associated ideas (Zaslow, 10). This is seen through the production of “girly” items of Limited Too that illustrates the importance of money right next to the importance of girl power without defining what girl power is. Throughout my life I have seen misconceptions of girl power emerge through the lack of foundation many of us have when we are introduced to complex social ideas early-on in life. Even though many of the songs on the mixed CDs Limited Too sells have “empowering” lyrics, not one of the songs defines the girl power movement. Perhaps the simple idea of girl power can empower girls, but it does not educate them anymore or provide a set of values that would help in any aspect of life. Limited Too also depicts insulting phrases that are shown off as “cute” and “playful (Yoffee). When shopping, most girls look at the pictures of the cute monkeys, one of Limited Too’s unofficial mascots, and most moms look at the phrases.
This superficial idea of girl power has filled the values of girlhood with slogans described as “nit-wit wear” showing things such as “I left my brain in my locker!” (Yoffee). Through these sayings, Limited Too shows its consumer that shopping is the most important thing: more important than your friends, your sports, your family, school, or your wallet. It gives the impression that it sells things for everyone as it does have an athletic wear section, yet it does not empower girls by selling actual athletic equipment next to the dolls or blow-up furniture. If Limited Too’s true goal was to encompass all aspects of girlhood, they would not stop at just tees and toys. Most importantly, Limited Too teaches through their sayings that everything you are as a person is based on the worth of your wallet. The adage “put your money where your mouth is” really applies to the school grounds. This is also seen in their shirt that says “I get straight A’s in cuteness” in cute glittery letters- truly depicting what society has deemed “a girl’s job” which is looking cute above all else.
Further, as an elementary school student, most girls exclusively wore Limited Too, Justice and The Children’s Place. My best friend and I would bond over wearing matching outfits from our favorite stores, feeling cool with our scrunchies and arm warmers. Whispers spread through the playgroup quicker than lice: Molly McStravoc’s mom spent over $500 at Limited Too last week! Even as a child, we understood that money meant status, and to spend money made you valuable and important. The trend of “children’s market going high-end” is seen in the introduction of Limited Too, which is focused towards the white upper-middle class girl. (Consuming Kids). The documentary “Consuming Kids” explains that the children’s market is on a rise in prices and now parents are more likely to spend more money on their children. The children’s market is worth $8 Billion dollars and growing annually (Consuming Kids). My childhood experience shows this, as I had seen my mom spend just as much as groceries for the week on my wardrobe for summer just from Limited Too.
Limited Too also followed the trend of “full brand emersion” by partnering with Disney in some cases, such as the hit TV show Lizzie McGuire (Consuming Kids). The cartoon inner persona of Lizzie was featured on the front of the catalogue, and in the corner it read “Watch Lizzie McGuire on Disney!” The Jonas Brothers, the Cheetah Girls and Miley Cyrus (as Hannah Montana) dolls were sold in Limited Too stores as well as paraphernalia that went along with their musical careers, usually presenting their faces. Paraphernalia included posters, lip gloss, CDs, Hit Clips (which were similar to MP3), tee-shirts, flip-flops, and purses. This full brand immersion also leads to kids assuming that they cannot have fun without the branded merchandise (Consuming Kids). You could not say you were a Jonas Brother fan if you did not have their poster hanging in your room.
Notwithstanding, through the slogan “It’s a girl’s world” girls are told that their world exists in Limited Too, and that the rest of the world isn’t theirs to be had. Gender binaries and stereotypes dominate this mantra. “Boys are exploring the world while girls are exploring femininity” (Orenstein, 22). Girls are sold on the idea of “This is the toy for you, these are the clothes for you” in every store and Limited Too is no different. Their lack of gender androydenous clothing and lack of color diversity within clothing stands to reinforce gendered spaces and gendered clothing and toys. The only toys sold in Limited Too are dolls, makeup/lipgloss, and candy. In contrast, in a boy’s store, they are sold a plethora of items with ranging activity levels in multiple colors.
All in all, there are many 90’s and 00’s ideals we hope to leave behind with the reopening of Limited Too. Though Justice took over nearly a decade ago, Limited Too is making a comeback- stores are set to reopen again as early as September 2016 (“Limited Too Comeback”). The millennials who lived through the era of glittery “Girl’s world” are now moms, and the brand recognition with mixed nostalgia is something that’ll bring back the masses and their tween children. Again, the Limited Too and Justice chains will compete and dominate the tween girl market. Limited Too was known for its glitter, 90’s era fashion trends, accessories, and lip gloss. Justice was a lower-priced alternative to the Limited Too prices, but sported the same look with its slogan “Just for Girls!”. It can be hoped that Limited Too will follow its competition in putting out better messages to the youth of today, as places such as Justice sport slogans such as “Smart never goes out of style” (Shop Justice). Hopefully in the future, girl’s stores will cater to more than just normative feminism, and will give girls the keys to allow them to change the world, not just their wardrobe.