Dresses celebrate math, science, more

'Princess Awesome' offers girls new options

DETROIT – It was a question I didn't see coming.

"Mom, are these pajamas for boys?"

You see, my daughter Addy loves dinosaurs. When she was 4 years old, I spotted some dinosaur print pajamas in the boys' department that I knew she would adore. And she did.

She wore the pajamas for a full year, when out of the blue, she asked me the question. When I didn't immediately respond, she asked it again.

"Mom, are these pajamas for boys?"

I decided honesty was the best policy.

"They were in the boys' department, but there's no reason they can't be for girls too. Lots of girls love dinosaurs," I said.

It was a sad moment because there was nothing different about those pajamas and the rest in her drawer except for the print. I realized Addy had reached the age where she suddenly knew that a piece of clothing that was green, blue and yellow with dinosaurs on it was not designed with a girl in mind.

That's not news to the parents and grandparents who buy clothes for little girls. There are kittens, ponies and cupcakes galore, but you'll be hard-pressed to find any robots, rocket ships or dinosaurs in the girls' department.

That's what makes a company called Princess Awesome so awesome.

Princess Awesome is the brainchild of Rebecca Melsky and Eva St. Clair -- two District of Columbia-area moms who were frustrated by the limited clothing options for girls.

"There are so many things that girls are interested in that just don't appear on their clothes," Melsky said.

They decided to change that. The pair made their first batch of dresses in St. Clair's basement three years ago. When they sold out again and again, they decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign. It was a huge success.

A year and a half later, their Princess Awesome website offers dresses featuring designs traditionally limited to boys clothing.

There are dinosaurs and pirates aplenty, rocket ships ready to blast off and cars, planes and trains dresses -- complete with a sash designed to be driven or flown. Girls can also hunt for hidden ninjas or the scientific symbols for atoms and Pi.

The dresses caught the eye of Erin Brennan. She's a mother of two girls -- Margaret, 2 1/2, and Elizabeth, 9 months. She's also an emergency room doctor at Detroit's Sinai Grace and Harper Hospitals.

When she spotted an ad for Princess Awesome in her Facebook feed, she was intrigued.

"There's not a lot of options for a little girl who likes airplanes, like my little one does, or cars or trucks," Brennan said. "I'm in the math and sciences, so it really appealed to me, and we decided to order some and give it a try."

The dresses aren't just cute. Brennan says they send a powerful message to girls.

"It's OK, and it's great to be interested in dinosaurs and math and science, and you can wear a tutu and still love airplanes," Brennan said.

Melsky says many of her customers have noticed the dresses change the conversations adults start with their daughters.

"Instead of, 'Oh you look so cute,' or 'What an adorable dress you're wearing,' that they hear instead, 'Oh wow, are those rockets?  Do you want to be an astronaut?' 'Wow, is that a dinosaur? What's your favorite one?'" Melsky said.

Brennan has already seen that with Margaret.

"They have a conversation with her more centered around numbers and colors and how smart she is rather than how cute she is," Brennan said.

Ultimately, it's about giving girls more choices.

"If we can teach them that they can do whatever they want, and it's okay to like whatever you want, and if all that change starts from the outfit they're wearing, I think that's fantastic," Brennan said.

It's a result that has already exceeded the wildest dreams of the moms behind Princess Awesome.

"Seeing girls wearing our dresses, hearing from parents that their daughters will stand in front of the dryer and wait for them to come out because they want to put them on, it's really been an amazing, amazing feeling," Melsky said.

As the mom of a dinosaur-loving daughter myself, I'd say it's a T-rex-sized step in the right direction.