PLAYING DRESS UP

Style Rookie Tavi Gevinson Is Fashion's Fresh Muse

THE "IT'' GIRL OF THE MOMENT IS A SUBURBAN CHICAGO PIPSQUEAK WITH A FASHION PRECOCITY.

Since she was 12 years old, Tavi Gevinson has been musing on everything from clothes to her dad's cookies, from her sisters to snaps of herself on her blog, Style Rookie.

Novelty being integral to fashion, the prepubescent teen quickly became the new black among fashionistas, and soon her blog boasted an international following.

It wasn't long before Tavi at 13 was jetting off to London for a photo shoot, appearing on magazine covers, getting her own Wikipedia entry, and generating buzz in New York's media.

Whether she's dancing on video, or reviewing Alexander Wang's (whoever he is) showings at New York's Fashion Week, what comes through is Tavi's combination of charm and innocence.

"I wish I was a cat,'' she wrote last December. " I would have a life to fulfill my fashion dreams, one to fulfill my acting dreams, one for guitar, one for writing, one for movie directing, one for photography, one for fine arts, one for a normal life, and one for teaching.

"Because you can't go on tour with an insane band and then teach kindergarteners their ABC's.

"Also I could poop in a box."

The fashion world's obsession with Tavi and other tween bloggers like her provoked criticism in an Associated Press article last month: "To some wary adults, she's in a world where she doesn't belong,'' the article said. "Unlike a typical social network page, a blog can be seen by anyone. And at least one young fashion blogger says she's been recognized by strangers on the street -- a worrisome turn for adults worried about privacy and predators."

Of course, the most dangerous predators can be the most alluring. Fashionistas, please take good care of this creative little girl.