Girl clothes help - Updated - found the dress!

[doctorjen]

My oldest dd is 13, and not really a girlie girl. She is graduating 8th grade next month and needs a dress. I don't think she's otherwise worn a dress since a year and a half ago for Halloween, which doesn't really count, I guess!
She tends to wear mostly jeans (which she has written all over - mostly song lyrics, which I don't get, but they actually are kind of interesting looking) and fitted T-shirts, with a hoodie (she has 2 she likes, one all black, one black with pink and white tiny skulls on it that some one gave her for Christmas.) She likes sort of odd accessories - currently she is wearing long white fingerless gloves that lace up with black ribbon that she knit herself. She won't wear shorts, and therefore, no shorter skirts (although she has gorgeous legs!). She really dislikes the baby-doll look, and isn't crazy about more tailored looking things.
We are having one heck of a time finding something acceptable to her. Any brilliant ideas on what kind of store sells something that is not too girlie, not too short, has a bit of funk aspect, and might be acceptable to my girl? We have a month to come up with something!

[UnschoolnMa]

What about Hot Topic? They have lots of band/music inspired stuff. There are a few cute dresses and skirts. The skirts are short, but would she consider them paired with some cool leggings and a heel or ballet flats?

[Bird Girl]

Gap has some dresses in stock now, and they're pushing a kind of Audrey Hepburn-ish look which might suit your daughter.

[Marsupialmom]

How about bribery? Not Joking.......Pick a few dresses out and say if you just were this for the ceremony you will get.


How about a plaid skirt with a funky top? And a pair of her gloves??

My 9 year old is wearing the fingerless gloves and asked for a plaid skirt She has a plain. I wouldn't say she would never wear something. Take her out looking.


http://www.teengirlclothing.com/jean...skirt-diy.html Denim dress? This is to make it yourself. Doesn't seem to hard but it could combin what she likes. Maybe match up a matteral to one of her gloves.

http://www.asiajam.com/catalog/index.php/cPath/3

Maybe put a pair of leggings underneath skirt.

K-mart had these long skirts for women. They might be too big for your dd.

[doctorjen]

Nah, no bribery needed. She really does want a dress - just finding one that suits her is the issue. She wants to look "nice" she says, not just technically be in a dress. So far, we've been in a couple junior depts (Kohl's, Bergner's, and Sears as that's what's in our local mall) and they seem to be showing mostly these baby doll type dresses, or very tailored things, and she really doesn't like the look.
My oldest ds's girlfriend sent some pictures out of the JC Penney catalog and apparently they are "not awful" such as this one so I think we are going to recruit the girlfriend for a shopping trip. (The girlfriend was once a homecoming queen and has more fashion experience than dd and I put together!)
I wish sometimes I could still dress her like I did when she was 4, as she looks so good in anything! (I might be biased)

[doctorjen]

Ooh, actually I think she'd like some of that Asiajam stuff if it went past her knees. Maybe we can find something similar.

[smillerhouse]

Cara found some stuff at Beal's Outlet and Tj Maxx for 8th grade social last year. She also likes stuff from Forever 21. Sallie

[pigpokey]

I have always liked Delia's. www.dELiAs.com

[Jessy1019]

I'd agree with the suggestion of Hot Topic or Delias. Totally different stores (though I love and shop in both of them, ), with more funky styles than you'll likely find in a department store.

[terrordactyl]

Originally Posted by UnschoolnMa

What about Hot Topic? They have lots of band/music inspired stuff. There are a few cute dresses and skirts. The skirts are short, but would she consider them paired with some cool leggings and a heel or ballet flats?

thats what i was thinking

does it have to be a dress? can't it be a nice pair of slacks and a nicer shirt

[queensgirl]

why does she have to wear a dress?

[schmee33]

Do you have a Forever 21 near you? My dd sounds much like yours and we got her a nice dress for Easter there and it was very reasonable!!! She likes delias too...Hot topic is one of her favorites stores, but not too much dressey stuff there! They also have cute sun type dresses at Aeropastle and American Eagle. Good Luck!!!

[doctorjen]

Believe it or not, the school handed out a dress code for graduation and for girls it is "dress or skirt." I'm not a fan of mandatory dress codes for things like this, but dd does not object to getting a dress, so a dress we are looking for. She is also going on a mission trip this summer and the girls have been requested to bring a skirt or dress for attending church, so she wants to have one for that as well. It's not that she refuses to wear dresses so much, but she just prefers her own look and it hasn't been important to me to make her wear things she's not as comfortable in. However, all her friends are wearing dresses to graduation and she has decided she would like to also, and I'm looking forward to seeing her in something a little more dressy for once! If she objected strongly and preferred to wear dress pants I would definitely go to bat for her on this dress code thing.
She liked several things we looked at from the Delia's link. There is one in driving distance, although not where we usually shop, but we might make a trip up there. I think our big plan for now is to hit the mall close to where her brother and his girlfriend are in college. That way, we can take the gf along and get some free fashion advice (and an opportunity to hang out with the cool gf for dd.) Hopefully, we can find something. The suggestions have been really helpful so far - she has enjoyed poking around websites and at least seeing different colors and styles.

[Marsupialmom]

I thought she didn't want to wear one not that she couldn't find one. Good luck on your hunt.

[kennedy444]

Hot Topic was my first thought after reading the OP.

[karne]

Do you have any vintage clothing stores around you? I have seen some that have truly funky dresses, and often junior/high school girls can fit into the smaller sizes. You can often find amazing accessories as well. Just an idea. Your dd sounds really interesting, and I loved the description of the jeans that she has written on that you gave, by the way!

[mswiginton]

Wow ... your 13-year-old sounds a lot like my 13-year-old. :-) She likes to wear black, along with odd accessories. She also likes to describe herself as "weird," "geeky," etc.

A few days ago, she and my 11-year-old daughter (who is much more girly and into more mainstream fashions) were in a shop called "Rue 21." Much to my surprise, my 13-year-old spotted a dress she really liked. (She has a band concert coming up in a few weeks, and said she needed a nice dress to wear.) The dress is kind of a hippie, bohemian-looking thing, with tiers of brightly colored print fabrics. It's strapless and held up by elastic gathers across the top (like a tube top? sorry, don't know what to call this). The style is very similar to dresses I wore in the seventies. Anyway, we got the dress and a little short-cropped thin sweater thing to wear on top. (Her choice, too.) She's happy; I'm happy.

[mamabeca]

Oh that koala one from Delia's is SO CUTE! Would she wear something like that?

On the Asiajam site my dd said she liked the two-piece dresses best, like the beachy one . Another place I really like is the miniboden/boden site, but their stuff runs smallish, so buy up. Would she wear something like this? Would that be allowable?

[alima]

I don't think a requirement singling out females to wear a dress can possibly be legal... or constitutional. I'd ask the school staff if they wanted to hear from my lawyer about this, but I can be a real b*tch about stuff like this.

[mntnmom]

They're MAKING her wear a dress...but boys can wear nice slacks? Sounds sexist to me...I'd say so and let her wear a nice pair of pants and an appropriate shirt and DARE them to say something. But that's just me, I'm confrontational like that too.