Tween fashions, with belly-button-baring tops and thongs for 9-year-olds, may be outraging parents, but pre-teens love it, says UC Davis fashion and cultural studies scholar Susan Kaiser.

In fact, since fashion companies began marketing six years ago to children 8-12 using designs for teen-agers, the tween market has boomed, says Kaiser, professor of textiles and clothing.

"Companies are specifically focusing on blurring the space between children and teen-agers," says Kaiser, a professor of textiles and clothing.

Critics say the tween fashions for girls emphasize their sexuality, while tween clothing for boys resembles gang clothing and promotes violence.

On the charge that companies are transforming childhood, Kaiser says more perspective is needed.

"Perhaps childhood is being reinvented. Children used to be dressed like miniature adults," she points out. "It's only been for the last 200 years that it was thought that children should be dressed differently from adults."

Kaiser suggests that concerned parents can do two things about their pre-teens' fashions. First, they need to talk to their children about how the pre-teens think about their dress.

"So often we see their dress as provocative, but kids don't see the things the way we do. They have their own network that they are listening to," Kaiser says.

Secondly, parents need to be more engaged in finding fashion companies that offer clothing that both parents and children believe are fashionable and appropriate.

"By tuning in to the kids' visual worlds, parents can help guide them better," Kaiser says.