Scrolling through Perezhilton.com is one of my secret (well, not anymore) obsessions that I don’t really like to admit. Catching up on celebrity gossip is one of the things I most look forward to upon entering this blog. However, every time I read a story on another celebrity child with an absurd name and wearing even more absurd clothing, I am always shocked.

Pilot Inspektor? Apple? Lourdes? Daisy Boo? Prince Michael? Moon Unit? Rumer? Audio Science? Coco? The names may be a little out there, but the clothes these parents dress their children in are even further out there.

Suri Cruise was pictured dressed in heels and a dress in the middle of November, along with a shoulder purse. This outlandish outfit probably costs hundreds of dollars; Suri will grow out of it in a year and will be criticized if she is caught wearing it again by the paparazzi. (Not to mention what Suri is probably carrying around in that purse.)

Ordinary parents are now starting to buy these high-priced design labels such as Gucci, Burberry and Dior for their kids. Why? What drives these parents to dress their kids in expensive clothing that they will grow out of in a nano-second?

According to Andrew Roberts’ article in the September 16 issue of Bloomberg Businessweek, “Celebrity culture and status-seeking are driving the growth, according to Fflur Roberts, Euromonitor’s luxury goods research manager. Suri Cruise, the 4-year-old daughter of actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, has been photographed wearing a Burberry fur-trimmed parka and beige velveteen coat lined with the brand’s signature plaid. Lots of children will follow Paris Hilton or Victoria Beckham and want to have their clothes or be like them. Sarah Peters, senior retail analyst at Verdict Research, says there’s also a bit of parental narcissism at work: Parents increasingly see their children as a reflection of themselves, so they want to make sure they look good and are in the latest things.”

This trend may be just a waste of money, but it is a very profitable waste of money for these major design labels – and interesting in light of where the economy is now. But come on, really?