I don't know that it's because there just aren't that many new shows premiering this fall, or that since The CW is the only non-cable network with viewers under 50, but there certainly is a lot of buzz happening around the remake/return of "90210." As I was re-reading Casey's round-up of fall TV from Thursday, it became clear to me that tweens and teens who still watch TV on the set are primarily watching cable (Disney, Nick, ABC Family, MTV/VH1). According to this piece over at Portfolio, The CW is happy to have captured what may be the youngest demo still watching network TV, twentysomethings. Anyhow here's a quick roundup of CW-related links in anticipation of "90210's" comeback:

When Teenage Angst Had Its Own ZIP Code (it's hard to "overstate the impact" the show had on folks who came of age in the 90s) (New York Times, reg. required)

More on not letting anyone see the show before its premiere (New York Times)

In addition to offending the PTC, '90210' billboards are offending Hasidic Jews. And Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has launched a letter writing campaign to get the ads off Bus Radio where elementary school kids may be listening. (Brooklyn Paper)

'90210' teams with Myxer for mobile content. Plus The CW will make full episodes available on mobile devices. (Media Post, reg. required) (AdWeek)

'Gossip Girl' comes back strong (boding well for '90210') (Media Life Magazine)

And teen fashionistas buzzing more about Gossip Girl fashion than storylines. (Seattle Times)

I remember the collective uneasy laughter at The Ypulse Mashup in July when Jared Kim, the young entrepreneur behind WeGame.com, shared his advice for other young entrepreneurs — "drop out of school." Kim had dropped out of Berkeley after finding success with one of his multiple start-ups. That path isn't for everyone, but for some teens the traditional path to college then career isn't really a fit either. A couple of weeks ago, The Oregonian interviewed me for a story they wrote about a local teen entrepreneur, whose fashion company Pretty Ugly Online is finding success in a non-traditional way. It's kind of a 2.0 Cinderella story.. According to the article:

Elton Sherman was a nobody. Teachers say he was a terrible student. He made D's and skipped classes. Students called him homophobic slurs because he wore purple pants and slim cardigans. They said he looked like Mr. Rogers…Sherman had tried to start a T-shirt company before. He even approached investors. They turned him down…

What did he do? He bought a super nice camera and began photographing teens from school at parties and events and then posted these photos on his blog. We all know teens love posting and viewing photos of themselves and their friends online — Elton did, too, which is why this was genius. He built a brand (and cache) around himself with these party pics. His blog (and Elton himself) became so popular that when he did relaunch his T-shirt idea, the shirts sold out immediately. The key to his success?

What he markets is a reflection of people who are already cool. He rarely appears on his blog. Sometimes his shadow, a gray hint of someone else caught in the corners of a flash-illuminated photo, creeps in. But Sherman is rarely the picture. The people he knows, where he hangs out, what clothes he likes: That's what teenagers are buying.

Elton isn't planning on attending college either…but he did just take his first flight to the MAGIC show in Vegas.

Sorta Related

Meet a 16-year-old online advertising whiz kid (Stephan Spencer)

After reading MediaPost's coverage (reg. required) of the inescapable "massive mall meltdown," my mind immediately flashed back to Women's Wear Daily's report about the thriving state of the teen-targeted contemporary market.

When teens and tweens can emotionally connect to a brand they love, they will spend their hard-earned dollars to buy just about anything it offers. From Abercrombie & Fitch to Esprit, this year's 10 most familiar youth brands have figured out how to capture this fickle group.

With music blaring from the front doors of its 360 stores, Abercrombie & Fitch welcomes teens, who flock to it for its cool casual look — perfect for campus or the beach. The brand is so strong that it even managed to bump megabrand Disney from the top spot this year. Even in a tough economy, Abercrombie & Fitch has proven it can still have a growth spurt as it will open a slew of stores — 110 units in North America alone are planned so far.

1. Abercrombie & Fitch
2. American Eagle Outfitters
3. Disney
4. Guess
5. Candie's
6. Limited
7. Limited Too
8. J. Crew
9. Express
10. Esprit

With the weakening economy, shopping isn't exactly a top priority for anyone. While tweens and teens still have a little cushy disposable income, I'm not sure that this is enough to sustain the youth contemporary market alone. Nearly all of the brands on WWD's list have reported shrinking sales in comparison to last summer, which is frankly unsurprising, considering a pair of denim at good ol' Abercrombie hover around $90.

Stores like Abercrombie, American Eagle Outfitters, and Guess are known to charge twice the price just for the addition of their label's logo. When kids can get comparable fashion at big box stores like Target or copy-cats like Forever 21, "mall boutiques" are likely to feel their purse strings tighten.

As parental supervision requirements become more prevalent in shopping centers, the enormous, monotonous mall is looking less and less appealing as a teen hangout. Having the luxury to log onto the internet and have the same stuff sent directly to your doorstep, saving time and gas, makes it even harder to head to the mall.

One final thought: with so few job opportunities at the moment, will teens take what little extra cash they have and spend it on new technology, pricey entertainment (like those pesky $12 movie tickets), or luxury brands loved by tween celeb idols (Marc Jacobs, Alexander Wang, Chloe) than a $50 T-shirt emblazoned with a mall brand?

Earlier this week, New York Magazine reported on a new fashion blog called Style Rookie written by the most articulate, stylish 12-year-old known to man. Over 50 people commented; some were congratulatory, but most were completely disbelieving that a sixth-grader has the ability to establish such an impressive website. What the commenters on New York Magazine must not realize, is that there are hundreds and hundreds of fashion blogs out there, all written by girls who have yet to graduate from high school or, in some cases, even junior high.

With blogs so easy and free to create, scores of tweens and teens are developing their personal styles (along with their writing voices) with the help of the web. Most adolescents desperately want to fit in during high school, oftentimes suppressing their eccentricities and individuality for the sake of blending in. Imagine how that might change with an entire community of bloggers and readers encouraging imaginative outfits, writing efforts and all-around creativity.

I did a little poking around and counted more than one hundred tween and teen fashion blogs (at which point I gave up counting). Each girl spends hours meticulously publishing their own opinions and outfits, and they all comment on each others' sites forming an ever-expanding tight-knit community.

Teens have been blogging for years. I started my own, Teenfashionista.com, at age 13 because I loved reading, writing, and talking about fashion, and my friends all registered looks of unrestrained boredom at the first mention of "Vogue." Although I was typically too shy to post pictures, I definitely got a confidence boost knowing that I was writing for a growing audience. It's so much fun to look back at old entries because, like a diary, I can see how much I've grown in terms of writing, style and life in general.

This new wave of fashion blogging is exciting, and with few of them dating back before 2008, it will be interesting to see where this rising trend heads over the next year. Want to see just how sophisticated today's teenage style bloggers are? Check these out:

Fashion Robot
Urban Audrey
Cinderella
Hail Mary
Sea of Style

In the 80s, being the non-jock that I was (and am), I had one pair of sneakers. My Converse black Chuck Taylor high tops. My other main shoes were my Doc Martins — I think you know who I hung out with. I wore those Chucks until I literally had a hole in the toe. Evidently today's tween/teen has at least three pairs of sneakers, at least according to research from Nike:

1. The prized pair - a fashionable, bright high-top or mid-top sneaker that matches a handful of well-planned outfits. "Our focus groups say brighter is better," Hughes adds.

2. A classic "sport" shoe, either for real athletics or a lazy Sunday.

3. A utility pair, probably mostly white, that's able to blend in with the rest of the wardrobe.

Another fun factoid in this article about sneakers:

For children ages 6 to 12, sneakers made up 42 percent of U.S. footwear sales in July, August and September of last year - more than $500 million in sales, according to market research firm NPD Group.

What were your favorite sneaks?

We included Women's Wear Daily's article Retailing's Sweet Spot: Stores Look to Lure Millennial Generation in Wednesday's essentials, and, as a former shopgirl and current fashion mag intern [editor's note: Casey is interning at Teen Vogue this summer], I've been dying to expand on it.

The millennial generation is changing the face of fashion as we know it. Tweens and teens are young, individualistic, and many are armed with more disposable income than they know what to do with. So they shop. And when they see something they like on a favorite celebrity, in a designer boutique, or on the runway, they want it now - not six months down the road, which used to be the only option. Stores like H&M, Forever 21, and even Nordstrom are forced to have a trend turn-around rate of a month, because if teens can't find what they want at the moment, they'll forget about it. If they spot Miley in a certain dress in this week's US Weekly, they want to be able to stop in a store and buy it immediately; they won't be satisfied finding a specific article of clothing two months later. By then, it will be long forgotten and replaced with the desire for a pair of shorts spotted on Nicole Richie just a few days ago.

They have high expectations for wearing clothes found on their favorite TV shows, in their favorite magazines, and in candid images of their favorite celebrities. From the article:

The Millennials also aspire to look as if they stepped off the set of "Gossip Girl," the hit series about New York's Upper East Side adolescents with adult-size sins and pocketbooks. Fashion brands are jockeying to get on the show. Eighties-era Jordache Jeans boasted a coup of being featured on "Gossip Girl" at least twice. Multiple appearances on "Gossip Girl" paid off for Foley + Corinna. Socialite-turned-actress Lydia Hearst swung a $528 Jet Setter Jr. tote in white leather on her arm while flirting with Ed Westwick's character, and Taylor Momsen's character sat demurely on steps with the $444 City Clutch in an opalescent fuchsia by her fishnet stocking-clad feet.

As a result, Shopbop.com sold out of the City Clutch. The New York-based fashion brand also tallied an estimated $15,000 in sales at a recent trunk show in Short Hills, N.J., where the hostess' 17-year-old daughter "kept asking for the purses that were on the show," said Jana Gold, Foley + Corinna's director of marketing and publicity. "We really lucked out."

Although Women's Wear Daily doesn't go as far as to predict fashion's future, I think in the next few years we'll have the ability to instantly shop via websites from magazines, TV shows and movies. A few outlets have started rolling out similar capabilities - The "Gossip Girl" site lets users know where they can find similar, albeit budget-friendly versions of many featured products — and other millennial favorites would be crazy not to hop on board.

I linked to GenDigital (Youth Trends) earlier this week where they were summarizing highlights from their Teen & Tween Lifestyle report, which is available only to their subscribers. I think they should consider repackaging the report and selling it on Ypulse Research…don't you? As I was reading through the four summary posts, each written as one long block of text (hey, everyone has their own style of blogging), I thought I would pull out the highlights/stats for Ypulse readers. Most are unsurprising but interesting nonetheless.

TV

- TV consumption among teens is up slightly to an average of 11.9 hours a week

- Teen boys watch more television than teen girls averaging about an hour and a half more (13.2 hours a week)

- For tweens (8 to 11), the average amount of television consumed during a typical week is 12.2 hours with tween boys watching about 14.5 hours. (during the school year)

- Three of teen guys' top five favorites are animated led by "Family Guy" followed by "The Simpsons" and "South Park"

- "The Office" moved up nine slots to the third most popular show among all teen males

- Biggest mover for teen girls: "ABC Family's Greek," which came in tied for eighth

- For tween viewers, "American Idol" is no longer number one. "Hannah Montana" is while Idol dropped about 15 points

- For tween girls, ABC's Dancing With The Stars moved up four notches to land in the fifth spot.

- For tween boys (8 to 11), it's all about "SpongeBob" and "Zack & Cody." The biggest mover was the ABC comedy "The George Lopez Show," which shot up 10 spots to secure the seventh spot

Internet

- Teens spend 12.5 hours online while tweens spend only 6.4 hours (typical week during school year)

- Teens have grown tired of MySpace and have moved on to Facebook in the past six months

- Only a couple of virtual worlds are on tweens' radars

- The top sites tweens visit — Webkinz among both tween boys and tween girls. Neopets, owned by Viacom's interactive unit as well as Nick.com

- Club Penguin remains in third place for tween girls and dropped from 11th place to 13th place for tween boys since last summer

- AddictingGames is fast becoming the top casual gaming site among all youth, not just the kids and teens [guess who's keynoting the "Casual Gaming for Youth" pre-conference?]

What they think is cool…or hot

- Almost all teens (96%) said text messaging is hot right now

- 91% of teens said Apple iPods were hot right now

- 70% of teens said the Wii was hot right now up from 54% last year and only 21% 18 months ago

- The iPhone came in at 75% to land in the fourth spot on the hot list

- The hottest thing for tweens right now are Apple iPods (92%) followed by the Wii (81%) the DS or DS Lite (77%), downloading music (also 77%) and caring about the environment (71%) [wow green tweens!]

Entertainment & Pop Culture

- During a typical month teens see an average of 1.8 movies (in a movie theater)

- Tweens see an an average of 1.3

- Tween attendance is consistent with a year ago, while the average number of movies teens see in a typical month has increased slightly from 1.5 movies a year ago

- Most appealing move genres for teens - action/adventure titles followed by comedies

- Tweens prefer comedies followed by animated features, action/adventure

- For the third straight year, "Pirates of the Caribbean" star Johnny Depp retains the title as the most popular Hollywood celebrity among teen and tween females

- Funny man Adam Sandler is tops among the boys followed closely by the two Will's–Will Smith and Will Ferrell

- The most popular female celebrity among teen girls? Miley Cyrus, followed by Reese Witherspoon, Keira Knightley and Amanda Bynes

- The top female celeb among teen boys is Jessica Alba for the second straight year followed by Miley Cyrus, Ashley Tisdale, and Alicia Keys

Retail And Shopping

- During a typical month teens spend an average of $135 across nine product categories

- Nearly half of their spending goes towards clothing and accessories

- For 16 and 17 year-old teens who have a part-time job (minimum of 5 hours per week), their spending across the same nine categories jumps sharply to $264 a month, just about double the average among all teens and about 45% higher than the average for all 16 and 17 year-olds

- For tweens, it's all about candy, gum and games

- The most visited specialty clothing retailer among teen females is Victoria's Secret followed closely by Hollister

- Teen males visit American Eagle Outfitters more often than any other specialty retailer followed by Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister

- Old Navy, for both tween boys and girls, remains the most shopped at specialty clothing retailer by a considerable margin…well ahead of second place The Gap and third place Aeropostale by about 17 share points

Popular teen stores — everything from Urban Outfitters to Abercrombie & Fitch to American Eagle Outfitters — have seen consistent lagging sales during the past few seasons, but, as Anastasia briefly mentioned in last week's Essentials, Forbes is reporting that one virtual world for teens and tweens is enjoying enormous success. Stardoll, an online paperdolls-for-millenniels community, brings in more than 7 million unique visitors a month and the site sells up to 180,000 "items" (vintage dresses, fancy denim, even luxury handbags!) per day.

Since I read the article, I just haven't been able to wrap my head around the idea of buying clothes for an online version of yourself instead of buying clothes for the living, breathing version of yourself. It is fascinating to me that teens (and parents, who most likely man the money) are willing to fork over a few dollars here and there for virtual clothes, yet they are spending less and less on actual wearable threads. What kind of satisfaction does purchasing online fashion for dolls bring? Wouldn't it be easier to mindlessly e-window shop through DKNY and Sephora (all available for your very own Stardoll) and picture yourself — instead of a paperdolled knockoff — in a dream wardrobe?

Because Stardoll users are mostly tweens and a handful of teens, I think young, wallet-friendly stores like H&M, Forever 21, and even Old Navy would be able to build a new audience and get in-store exposure through the website. When I was in elementary school, dressing like your American Girl doll was the absolute coolest thing you could do, so naturally everyone bought outfits for their dolls and themselves. Cute, right? If these stores could set up direct links that enable users to buy clothes for their Stardolls' wardrobes and their own closets in one click, it would be incredibly interesting to see what kind of affect this would have on profits.

A glance at the article:

I spent a year working with the fashion industry during the dot-com heydays, and I was struck by how little science and analysis is applied in the fashion business. As a result, the industry remains a nightmare of surplus inventory, which leads to markdowns and unhealthy profit-and-loss statements that precariously balance companies at the edge of life and death.

But it doesn't need to be this way. Other industries, such as financial services, manufacturing and insurance, have embraced technology and benefited tremendously from its infinite potential. Why not fashion?

As a lover of fashion, I love the idea that technology could open so many doors for fashion. I'm just not convinced Stardoll is the answer…

With prom season in full force, it seems you can't leave the house on a Saturday night without encountering a clique of sequined, sparkled, glittered teens en route to the "best night of their lives."

Last weekend, one girl's prom night was cut short when she was turned away after showing up in a jaw-droppingly revealing prom dress. Weeks before prom, the school published dress guidelines clearly stating what was — and was not — appropriate and students who refused to sign the guidelines prior to prom were not allowed to enter. Although the student in question signed the form, willfully agreeing to abide by the dress codes, she showed up in a "dress" that looked to be little more than a column skirt paired with a sheer scarf fashioned into a strappy top.

When the student refused to leave, police arrested her and — picture this — escorted her away in handcuffs. There are many ways to accessorize a prom dress, but handcuffs just don't make an stylish bracelet.

The girl isn't solely at fault. A quick glance at a prom magazine or a step inside a formal dress boutique will give anyone — especially a teen girl who looks to pop culture icons like Rihanna for style guidance — the idea that less is more when it comes to prom dresses. And, it should be pointed out, not "less" as far as embellishments and sequins go; we're talking less fabric and more skin.

When it comes to dress codes, teens regularly hover the fine line between risque and just plain risky. Pushing the limit is showing two inches of the midriff when the rules only allow one; wearing a chiffon scarf in lieu of a top is flat-out breaking rules. It's understandable that teens buy what stores sell, but nothing even remotely similar to the dress could not be found online. I searched and searched, curious about the designer and price tag. No leads made me question whether she had a provocative image in mind and designed it herself.

What do you think? Should she have been allowed despite her dress or did her appearance justify an arrest? A Salon writer (day pass or subscription required) made light of the situation, saying "That dress is a crime against fashion, but it shouldn't be a crime."

Today's Ypulse Guest Post is from Issa Sawabini, who is a partner at Fuse. Full disclosure: Fuse is a Ypulse advertiser and anchor sponsor of the 2008 Ypulse National Mashup. Ypulse Guest Posts are open to anyone working in youth media or marketing. If you have an idea, just email me!

The Rise of House Brands: The Expanding Influence of Streetwear Destinations

Over the past decade, a handful of core lifestyle retailers have flipped the script on convention as their own "house brands" have started to go head-to-head with the big name labels they've traditionally carried, and continue to carry. Supreme, Alife, Dave's Quality Meat (DQM), Reed Space, Huf, and In4mation have all successfully made the leap from specialty shop by day, to leading streetwear brand by night. And interestingly, they've all done it with a little help from an unlikely support system - the competition.

A unique sense of community has always been central to action sports and the surrounding lifestyle. You'd be hard-pressed to find another industry in which competitive brands support one another simply because they realize it's for the good of the entire industry. It's that feeling of brotherhood that has helped specialty retailers grow their business beyond their own walls. With one core retailer willing to carry another core retailer's streetwear collection, and vice versa, both brands grow that much stronger.

In other words, you can walk into Huf in SF and buy DQM apparel, and vice versa.

Take a stroll through the Agenda Tradeshow in San Diego and you'll see how far these brands have come. Alife and Supreme are right there with bigger brands like WESC and Crooks&Castles. Agenda has developed into a real opportunity to showcase these house brands to retail buyers from around the world.

Pick up this month's copy of Vapors Magazine, a progressive publication dedicated to streetwear, skateboarding, art and other areas of youth culture. Flip the pages and you will find ads for In4Mation right next to ad from Jordan, Stussy and Converse. By the way, one of the two collectible covers features a nice representation of the Huf logo crafted from bicycle chains. Huf founder Keith Hufnagle is featured inside.

The buzz around these brands is not limited to just apparel. Each of these brands was boosted by the collaboration craze. In fact the concept of ultra limited edition cross branded product was born inside the doors of these ultra-influential retailers. Sneaker heads wait for days outside of Alife and Huf for a chance to buy co-branded shoes from the likes of Nike and Adidas.

There is perhaps no place as challenging for corporate marketers to venture, as house brands and their followers are keen to tune out mass marketers that come off as inauthentic. Only a select few big brands have been able to successfully align themselves with these retailers and their increasingly popular house brands. Mountain Dew was able to collaborate with Reed Space founder Jeff Staple on the Green Label Art custom bottle project. AT&T Wireless featured ALife's Rivington Club location in a national television campaign. In both cases, these programs provided credibility to the larger brand and in turn provided broad exposure to help the house brands emerge from their retail homes and enter the mindset of today's youth.

Advice for big brands seeking to partner with these influential house brand: Don't try and force a connection, be flexible and keep it authentic.

About Issa:
Issa oversees all service areas at Fuse and specializes in the development and execution of clients' youth targeted marketing strategies. These programs typically include overall branding and strategic initiatives, music and sports events, media events, athlete and artist sponsorships, public relations, grassroots programs, design, web and other customized marketing programs.