where do you shop for your preteen girls?

[sesa70]

This has suddenly become a huge headache around here.

My dd is going to be 11 this summer. She used to always be fine with me picking out her clothing, and suddenly when it was time to get her spring /summer clothes this year she disliked everything I picked out for her.

I don't know if it's that its me picking them out or if its that she doesnt like them. I have gone out shopping several times and picked stuff I *though* was age appropriate and she hated it everytime.

The complication is that my dd has special needs and is pretty physically limited. She is also non verbal... but she does DEFINATELY have opinions! Who knew a kid who couldn't talk would have attitude! LOL! She says yes and no with eye blinks and is very expressive when she likes or dislikes something. So the issue there is, of course, she can't just tell me where to go, I have to ask and wait for a yes or no. And she can't just go pick out her own stuff, I have to show it to her and wait for her response.

I personally love Hanna andersson (when its on sale), and have been buying her the plainer stuff with no cute-sy butterflies and stuff on it. She was against that this year. I also used to shop at lands end for her. she did tell me she wanted jeans, so we ordered a few from gap.

Anyway, I am sorry this got rambly. She gets a lot of attention because of her special needs, and it is important to both of us that she look age appropriate and well groomed I just seem to have somehow become a clueless mom! Any tips on what to get or what to stay away from would be great too. Thanks!

[Drummer's Wife]

Does she like anything at Children's place? My DD does now. She just turned 9 and was okay with Gymboree until like a month ago. :-( Anyhow, she picked out stuff she likes online - which was mainly from The Children's Place and Justice, and a few pieces from Gap.

[MusicianDad]

That's a hard one. Maybe take her shopping, not to try on anything which I suspect would be very difficult if not impossible, but to get an idea of what she would like you to buy.

Most of DD's clothes come from consignment or she makes them herself (often times a combination of the two since fabric is cheaper when it's all ready made into something).

[34me]

Wow MusicianDad I want a kiddo like yours! How creative of her. Have you tried Old Navy or Target? I could mostly find age appropriate thingsng that both her da and I approoved of.

[karne]

I hope that these questions aren't impossible to answer, or insensitive, so please forgive me if so! I also found that 11 proved to be the time my dd had strong opinions about clothing, so I feel for you. Is your dd in school where she's seeing particular styles that she wants to make her own? Is there a popular "look" that you think she's after? Or, alternatively, are there styles or looks she simply doesn't want as part of her wardrobe right now? Are accessories, ie scarves, headbands, jewelry becoming important?

I wonder if the two of you could look at some of the websites for different clothing companies and see what exactly appeals to your dd? It might give you more of a jumping off point when you do go out shopping. Gap and Old Navy have good pics of their clothing. I have looked at the more teen-ish clothing websites, ie American Eagle, etc., but most of the clothing that is modeled there won't cut the mustard for school. However, a few pieces seem to give my dd enough of a sense of being part of a cool look, while still being age appropriate. A cute jeans skirt that is too short on it's own is great w/a pair of capri leggings, for example.

My dd has a very funky, mix and match style, and is also as tall as I am right now. She definitely goes for the funky consignment store, boho style, but school has influenced some of her tastes, so I see that influence as well.

Does your dd have sn that affect the type or style of clothing that works for her?

[Mirzam]

I have a 12.5 year old and she likes Justice (I don't), HTG81, I also plan to buy her some items from johnnieb (the new Boden line for teens). She also gets the odd item from Saks 5th Ave outlets, they had some nice jeans and t's recently. She sometimes finds items from Macy's she likes too. But she is pretty easy when it comes to clothes.

[EFmom]

That's about the age my dd wanted to start picking out her own stuff, too. She wanted the more teen-oriented stuff. I won't do A&F or Hollister because I don't like the companies. American Eagle is a little pricey and much of it is a little too mature, but occasionally there's a t-shirt or hoodie that I'll buy.

This year, we ended up getting most of her clothes at Aeropostale. I really like the store. My dd is very slender, and they carry 00 jeans which fit her. The prices are great and they have killer sales and clearance stuff. We also get a few things from the clearance rack at Delia's.

Could you sit down and look at clothes on the web with her?

[mata]

Justice and Tilly's. Wouldn't be my choice for her, but her clothes are her own decision.

[sesa70]

not insensitive or difficult at all!

Yes, she goes to school everyday. She is also in yoga, speech therapy, and physical therapy weekly at a center for special needs children. In her classroom, there is only 1 boy (poor kid!) and the rest are girls. She is technically going into 6th grade next year but will remain in her current 3rd-5th grade class because of available space and classroom sizes in the Jr high. its no problem since she is really at the young end of 6th grade with an Aug. bday.

Her favorite accessory it seems latey is shoes. She loves shoes!

As for her look, its hard to tell exactly. She says no to anything with hearts. She says she still likes butterflies. Silver not gold. Still likes pink (in fact she is sporting hot pink highlights right now). She used to be very girly; skirts, dresses, flowy hippy on the beach type stuff. Now I am not so sure. She seems to get really excited about denim, which is odd because for years she hated it. It would seem uncomfortable to me to sit in jeans all day, but its what she likes. She has her ears pierced, so I can definately start exploring more jewelery with her. She does like bracelets.

We took the website advise and she seemed to like some of the bermuda shorts from gap so I ordered a few to see how they fit. She also liked the short shorts (*gasp!* Who knew? ) but I am concered that since she is sitting all the time they will be even shorter.

I am not a fan of the adult stores like aeropostal because they are made to accentuate the figure, and she is SOOO not there yet (maybe *I* am just not there)

As for her SN affecting her clothes, not really. Just something that will work with her sitting. Straight dresses tend to look frumpy because they bunch, I buy her jeans in plus even though they are huge in the waist so that she isn't being squished while she sits. I am the one who is dressing her, so really I am happy to take the few extra minutes or do a bit more work as long as it makes her happy.

Originally Posted by karne

I hope that these questions aren't impossible to answer, or insensitive, so please forgive me if so! I also found that 11 proved to be the time my dd had strong opinions about clothing, so I feel for you. Is your dd in school where she's seeing particular styles that she wants to make her own? Is there a popular "look" that you think she's after? Or, alternatively, are there styles or looks she simply doesn't want as part of her wardrobe right now? Are accessories, ie scarves, headbands, jewelry becoming important?

I wonder if the two of you could look at some of the websites for different clothing companies and see what exactly appeals to your dd? It might give you more of a jumping off point when you do go out shopping. Gap and Old Navy have good pics of their clothing. I have looked at the more teen-ish clothing websites, ie American Eagle, etc., but most of the clothing that is modeled there won't cut the mustard for school. However, a few pieces seem to give my dd enough of a sense of being part of a cool look, while still being age appropriate. A cute jeans skirt that is too short on it's own is great w/a pair of capri leggings, for example.

My dd has a very funky, mix and match style, and is also as tall as I am right now. She definitely goes for the funky consignment store, boho style, but school has influenced some of her tastes, so I see that influence as well.

Does your dd have sn that affect the type or style of clothing that works for her?

[karne]

[QUOTE=sesa70;15317118]
Still likes pink (in fact she is sporting hot pink highlights right now).




Love it!

[CarrieMF]

I buy her jeans in plus even though they are huge in the waist so that she isn't being squished while she sits

If she wears the right size of jeans they won't squish. Most jeans have some stretch in them now too. I wear jeans all the time.

[Dr.Worm]

My DD is 10 and starting to get into fashion and accessories. We went to Kmart the other day and she went nuts. She also LOVES pink, just like your DD and they had a lot of pink clothes there including a pink purse and a pink baseball cap. My DD really loves dressy clothes but also jeans and leggings...I really recommend Kmart! Also, Burlington has some really cool stylish clothes that are brand name but without the price...and TJmaxx too!

[Christalynnbebe]

Anchor Blue [if you have one] always has really cute clothes, most that are modest as well. Tillys, and Hot Topic always has really cute tops and even jeans for ridiculously cheap in clearance [check out the website]

[doulatara]

I have a very fashion-forward 10.5 year old who is pretty specific about her style. We are on a tight budget, but you would be surprised at the amazing clothes we can find at thrift stores. Preteen girls grow so much at this time, so almost everything we find looks barely worn and we find alot of popular brands, we have found seven jeans, hannah anderson dresses, american eagle, etc. She also avoids the majorly short-shorts that have been popular this year and last, so at thrift stores we seem to have better luck with finding slightly longer pieces anyhow.


DD and I are also really into sewing, so we reconstruct alot of thrift store finds and my old clothes to fit her. My partner used to wear alot of threadless t-shirts (http://www.threadless.com/) so we do alot of tshirt surgery to turn his old tees into skirts, tank tops, dresses, etc. (if you are into sewing you can get lots of tutorials by searching t-shirt surgery.)

She does like justice jeans, occassionally we will find stuff at Target, Old Navy, Gap sale racks, if your dd is tall you can check out women's clothes size 0 or 2...dd finds lots of great stuff in women's now....sometimes stuff is slightly too wide for her, but very easy to alter and the length fits.

Oh, and she has been pretty fascinated by the delia's and modcloth websites lately, but since they are online I have been hesitant to order not knowing the fits...but she uses those sites for inspiration definitely.

[amnesiac]

My dd is 11 but she's really tall so she doesn't fit into kids clothes anymore. She actually really likes the juniors section, shoes & accessories at Target & Old Navy. She also likes to recycle clothes she's grown out of into other things.

[SweetPea94]

Around 11 is when clothes became a big deal in our house too. It's a combination of wanting to pick out her own clothes, and also having a particular style in mind.I'm still able to pick out some clothes that she really likes but usually she prefers to be with me when I shop. We buy some stuff at Justice - when we get the 40% coupon and from their clearance racks. She asks for Justice gift cards for birthdays and Christmas too. Outside of that we find things at Belks and Kohls, and honestly our staple items - jeans, shorts etc usually come from Target and she's still ok with that. She's tiny for her age - she's the same size as her 9 year old sister and they share clothes. She told me the other day that a lot of her friends shop at Aeropostale and I tried not to groan out loud. Luckily she's not big enough to wear any of their sizes yet. She told me though that she would like to have a lot of variety instead of just a few really expensive things - so I hope that sticks.

[magpie mamma]

We (DD 11) like the clearance racks at Bloomingdales, she knows that we will not buy regular priced items, so we just shop the sales. It is the only place we have found the occasional dress she will wear. She is a jean and tee shirt girl. The dresses are cute and don't make her look like she is older than she is, modest but young and fun.

[afresh]

im 12 years old and the best clothing store for teens is justice to look up more about justice got to shopjustice.com and ask your preteen if she love this place. im sure ur preteen is going to love justice oldnavy gymboree,gap are ugly clothing for preteens. so choose justice or aeropostale,abercrombie,or hollister.

[chfriend]

I have 10.75 year old who is 5'3". She wore Hanna forever because they are soft. Now her clothes are consignment, Land's End or JC Penney. She can still get kids' clothes that there.

[onlyzombiecat]

My 11 year old has also gotten opinionated and is changing her style. She suddenly does not want plain clothes. She wants clothes that sparkle. She wants to wear dresses and skirts where she used to really prefer pants. She doesn't want to wear leggings or skinny pants. She is starting to wear some junior size clothes.

We typically get clothes for her from Old Navy, Walmart, or JCPenney.

I would look at Kohls or Target as well.