Britney Brigade

Thanks at least partly to Britney, the marketing of sexy clothes and makeup to prepubescent girls is booming. Rave Girl, a national chain, sells feather boas, leather pants and stretch flares to girls ages 7 and up. "Girls' clothes started getting sexier about two years ago," says Jaime Williams, a manager at a branch outside Chicago. "Basically, everybody wants to be a princess. Not like the ones in fairy tales, but a hot princess like Britney." In Manhattan, designer boutiques like Betwixt and Infinity sell adult labels at adult prices in Alice-in-Wonderland sizes. A pair of Diesel jeans at Betwixt costs $70, and a pony-hair dress at Infinity costs $205. "Age-appropriate behavior is something we've lost sense of," says Joan Jacobs Brumberg, the author of The Body Project. "It's appropriate to say to children that you do certain things--like drive, wear makeup--at certain ages. Otherwise, the line between childhood and adulthood will disappear."

Where is that line? When does the game of dress-up, which used to take place at home with Mom's red lipstick, become a worrying reality? Fira Cosmetics claims to target females ages 12 to 28, but girls as young as five are buying such products as the $12 Special Hits, 10 lip glosses and eye shadows contained in a CD case. "The music scene is driving the young scene," says president Ira Adler, explaining why his company packaged the makeup that way. "Britney and some of the other music groups are bursting with glitter and cosmetics." Kiss Products, a leading manufacturer of artificial nails, has licensed Disney characters like Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse to sell its nail products.

Now five-year-old girls are even getting together for nail and glamour parties, which typically feature manicures and makeup sessions. At a party in New York City last week, Tejashree Gopal, 5, chose pink lipstick and blue eye shadow at the makeup station and then had her nails done in different colors. "I don't usually get to wear makeup," she enthused. "It's like against the rules. But here it's a party, so it's O.K." The caterer, Cozy Wolan, who owns a hair-cutting salon for kids in Manhattan, says demand for her parties is growing. Especially since she began offering a new attraction: a choreographer who teaches the kids Britney's dance moves.