ONCE upon a time, dressing fashionably was a teenager's territory -- but not anymore.

Children now seem to be barely out of nappies when they know what's hot and what's not, where to shop and which designer is most desirable.

Reporter Irma Heger and photographer Tony Gerrard went along to Castle Hill CP School for some up-to-date fashion advice from Year 4 pupils WITHOUT a doubt, it's the world-famous sports brands which are the height of fashion as far as eight and nine-year-olds are concerned.

Adidas, Nike, Umbro -- they reel off the makes as easily as ABC and regard this sportswear as the ultimate in cool clothes.

Scott Adams, nine, would rather wear his "Adidas stuff" than anything else, combined with his Puma trainers.

Sean Whittle, nine, showed me his Adidas Galaxy trainers by way of example of hip footwear. Other fashionable items include Nike pants and Manchester United kits -- the type of things he wears when going to a match.

Anthony Tucker, nine, adds Diadora track pants and a Nike baseball hat to the list. He wears the latter "when going down to his grandma's".

"Boys like makes because it says something," he explained.

But what Nike or Adidas exactly "says" apart from the name, he isn't sure about.

His fantasy fashion buy is a new coat, "one with a make, but not too thick", for summer.

So does Anthony apply his "pestering power" to acquire goodies like these?

Smiling, he replied: "My mum just says: 'Money doesn't grow on trees'."

Sean also detailed the same type of lively discussion with his grandmother.

She often reminds him she has five grandchildren to buy for -- but luckily she does know what Sean likes "because my mum tells her".

Pedro Garcia, nine, predicted Reebok as the top of the fashion charts -- although he doesn't own anything made by the company.

What he does own, however, is "a pair of gold pants", which he wears to parties. Pedro usually teams these with his dark blue Next top, though he would have preferred to have a red one.

According to nine-year-old Emma Taylor, it's football which has propelled the popularity of makes like Reebok.

But along with the other girls on the panel, she is also very knowledgeable about other trends.

"India stuff, like pants with frayed bottoms and handkerchief tops," are among the latest must-haves, she explained.

Emma knows about this from her mum's Next Directory catalogue, and she owns a pair of the aforementioned pants herself -- though she'd rather have "just shorts and shirts".

Stacey Naylor, eight, has different ideas. "Stripey pink pants," are the "in" thing for girls as far as she is concerned.

Boys, on the other hand, wear dungarees -- as long as they are in the same age group as her eight-month-old brother. Older ones, she said, wear "trousers and a jumper" when they grow up.

Stacey Hodgkinson, nine, seems to be the fashion guru of her year -- no wonder, as her mother works in a clothes shop.

Most recently, she considered buying pink snakeskin pants, and she already has several high-fashion items to her name -- including jeans with tassels, a top with swervy lines and a pink mirrored top.

"I've got a wardrobe full," she boasted.

Word also reached me that Aaron Giles, nine, is a bit of a "cool cat" -- and his fashion sense proved it.

"Pants with buttons on the side, that you can make into shorts," are the latest thing, according to him.

He also knows who the hippest woman in the land is -- Victoria Beckham, even though "she always wears black". Among men, it's James Bond, who wears "leather stuff" a lot.

But what about the fashion faux-pas?

This is familiar territory for everyone -- as they all have mums and dads who have given them a cardie-from-hell or jumper-they-wouldn't-be-seen-dead-in.

A pink jumper is the skeleton in Sean's cupboard. "It was horrible, like a girl's".

He doesn't know what his mum could have been thinking of when she bought it, and ended up throwing it into his sister's room in disgust.

A grey and black jumper still sends shivers down the spine of Anthony. "I like blue," he said, by way of explanation, adding: "I just dumped it in the back of my wardrobe."

Aaron recalled a set of yellow "banana clothes" which his mother tried to palm off on him, while Pedro mentioned a pair of green trousers in this category and Emma talked about a blue bodywarmer and a bright pink coat. "And my dad sometimes gets me tracky bottoms and T-shirts -- but he gets me sizes too small or too big," she giggled.