post 45,231 on Girls' clothing.

[Vishenka69]

JCrew outlet is online as well. Both the outlet and regular JCrew currently have a good sale.

Kelly, I was also going to suggest Gap and Lands End for every day. I would try to find special occasion stuff at JCrew on sale.

In the department stores, take a look at Polo by RL. They rarely have any wording on the clothes or neon colors. Many stores have big sales right now.

Lastly, sign up for online sites like Ruelala.com, Gilt.com, Hautelook.com, etc. They also have juniors maybe once a month or so.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

[Deebs]

Gap, H&M (though not while colleges are on break - it can be crazy in there), Lands End, and Nordstrom. I'm not a justice lover, either, but do buy pieces from there. I'm lucky that DD still fits in Gymboree, but I have to dig there, too because there are several lines that look like toddler clothing blown up.

[Phoebe]

post 45,231 on Girls' clothing.

I feel your pain. My 7 and 10 year olds wear size 10. They won't set foot in Gymboree or Crazy8s. They like Justice but I want to vomit when I go in there. I veto many of the gaudy choices. However, I will take sequins over off the shoulder shirts any day. I make the girls wear tank tops under most of their shirts because they are too short or too wide of a neck. My girls are long-waisted. DD10 is into the layered look anyway. For everyday wear, my girls like Justice, Aeropastle (shirts only and at my discretion), Target and Abercrombie Kids ( mostly clearance items) for tops because their jeans don't fit my kids well. I get some pants at Children's Place because my kids don't prefer that store overall. I got some cute stuff for DD7 at Von Maur in the fall. They have cute dresses too. For nicer clothes, I hit up a dept store like Macys, Nordstrom or Von Maur. My kids favorite store is Abercrombie Kids. I'd recommend taking a look at Zulily.com which is a buyout website for kids and women. The downfall there is that they take a long time to ship things and you sometimes can't return stuff. They have cute stuff though. Do you get the Garnet Hill Kids catalog? They have some really cute stuff, but can be pricey but not as bad as Chasing Fireflies.

[mommax3]

Obviously not speaking from experience, but my boys (except the giant) like American Eagle, and my DS's long-time gf (not anymore, but through most of HS) shopped there, too. She always dressed modestly, which was one of the things I liked about her. I am sure it is hit and miss there, too, but they seemed to have good basics and they have great sales.

[rainbabies]

Hard time here, too. Dd1 is a teeny little petite bean. She's almost 10 and can still wear a 6.
She can wear anything and it looks good on her. Dd2 is 8.5 and built like me. Solid. But not fat. I can't keep her clothed. She's in a different size every 3 months. She can wear a 10/12. Sometimes I have to shop the plus size dept for her. But she's not truly plus. They're baggy on her. But the run of the mill straight cut/skinny jeans don't fit. The regular boot cut jeans sometimes fit.
I shop ON, gap outlet, target, llbean, landsend, walmart, jc penny, and I'm always at the (super nice!) resale shop.
I'd have to go to Saratoga, Albany or Massachusetts, for the other stores you girls mentioned.
Ds is almost 11. So thankful he's easy with cargo pants, jeans and stripes. Lol!

[PrincessFiona]

As cute as those choices were, Kelly, I vote no. *ahem*

Children's Place goes up to size 14 and they have some cute options.

In the past, when we went through this with Amanda, we relied on GAP, Old Navy, Kohls, JCPenney, Target and Aeropostale (to name a few). Ultimately, she chose her own style (not Mom approved for a very long time). Finding clothes once they hit that age/size is more complicated than walking into Gymboree, but there are several shops that do the trick. We often did a "girls day" and made a fun shopping afternoon with lunch out of it. This is the worst clothing stage .... and frankly, I'm with you in that I hate that the skanky, over-sexualized look is in.

[SoonerTexan]

FWIW, Old Navy has gotten a lot better. I stopped shopping there for years because their styles sucked, but recently It's gotten a lot better.

[houseelf]

Pollyanna- She already owns a track suit and one of those monkey t-shirts, so we have participated a bit in the Justice craze. I'm cool with that being a part of her wardrobe. American casual with sequins and bright colors ARE definitely de riguer for this age group. TBH, I'm not sure I'm completely able to articulate why Justice strikes me as obnoxious without coming off like a full-on nut job. It is kind of a visceral response. When DD was tiny, one of her classmates' mom was a published author in women's issues. She wasn't over the top in her thinking, a la Sweden: "Gender is irrelevant!", but she did offer me a nugget that has always stayed with me. She asked me to think about "What can I give my daughter that is different?" The whole world will give her the hair, makeup, boobs, shopping-at -the-mall version of femininity. We do participate in this normal "girl stuff" and I have taken her to get her nails done once last summer, she has a bin of play makeup, and we have visited both Bibbidi bobbity boutique and the AG cafe. Nonetheless I try to make sure that "girl" time involves more things like shooting hoops, going for bike rides, building Legos, reading books, camping. Does this make any sense? Anyway, I feel like Justice taps into that marketing directly to the kids rather than parents a little earlier than I am comfortable. It also places toys next to fashion next to Boy band items.

I *hope* this doesn't come off as preachy because I think all of this stuff is SUCH a moving target. Really. My 14 y.o. nephew wasn't allowed to see Planet of the Apes last summer, but is allowed to watch Breaking Bad alone now. This household decided the exact opposite on these two decisions. Our 13 y.o. could see Planet of the Apes last summer, but is not permitted to see Breaking bad. (Although it won't be too long until we might capitulate and watch something like this together so we can have conversations about it). Furthermore, he played Mature video games before my nephew, so really, who's right about all this stuff. Yes, I'm going ALL OVER THE PLACE with this thread, but I'm unsuccessfully trying to explain how we are all just trying to intentionally parent and make decisions on the fly. Sometimes it is just a gut, you know? Justice just isn't my favorite. It seems too close to slapping "PINK" all across her ass and shopping at Victoria's Secret.

By the way, you all can laugh when she decides to go Goth in high school. Evidence of the dichotomy between my intention and her self will can already be found in the fact that her sport of choice is cheerleading. Have I mentioned that God has a colossal sense of humor? There is a world of difference between a Dallas Cowgirl and the University of Oregon Stunting team. They are both Cheerleaders, but I think it might be a tad healthier for her to lean towards the latter example. Kris, are writing this stuff down? This should be super humorous to reread in years to come. I'm pretty sure I'm awakening the Gods of karma with all of this.

You are all correct. There ARE options out there, it is just going to take some legwork. I'm really NOT a shopper, so this kind of sucks for me. Personally, I like to go to the mall about once a quarter, do a big shopping spree, and be done. This is going to require more work. Sigh. Because I'm not a big shopper, I tend to be VERY brand loyal to a few boutiques that I know work for me. I shop almost exclusively at Athleta, White House Black Market, and Ann Taylor for myself now. Gymboree was my go-to store for DD. I generally could find lots of stuff at moderate prices (especially working their system) in one fell swoop. I haven't found a boutique clothier for her that fills this niche for me.

I quit shopping at Old Navy about 5 years ago. Cheaply made clothes. I will look again. I have had some luck with the Gap, but I'm not overwhelmed with cuteness. Crazy 8 is no longer close to us but I will look there again.

I'm kind of embarrassed to admit all of this. Rereading it makes me think that I just need to let go a bit.

[HouseofWool]

I am really struggling with this too. DD is a few weeks shy of her 5th birthday and I am already struggling to find pants to fit her. She is tall, but not freakishly so and her weight is very proportional. But this tread of super-skinny pants does not work for her. She needs a looser cut because she is built like her momma and has an, um, "athletic" build, solid thighs and tush.

Even when we try on pants at the store - there is no guarantee that they won't shrink so much that they are unwearable. I've had to return a couple of pairs like that already this year. I'm beyond frustrated.

Why does my 5 year old need skinny jeans? Why?

[diggitydot]

post 45,231 on Girls' clothing.

We were on the other side of the problem when DD2 was that age. She couldn't fit into anything that wasn't a slim skinny. It would literally fall off of her hips if it was a normal straight or boot cut.

Now that she's finally in juniors, skinnies are mandatory or they just won't stay on her.

[PrincessFiona]

I. am writing nothing down! I worried about this a lot with Amanda and tried desperately hard to avoid fads.... I wanted to teach my daughter to be her own person. She is the only kid who didn't have her own pair of Etny? shoes when they were popular, etc. I wasn't going to cave to fashion trends. I didn't buy Hannah Anderson, Gymboree etc because I wanted to avoid the brand name trend. See, laugh away! Fast forward now and Aidan and Alex both get their clothing exclusively from Zumiez! I wasalso all about trying to keep her from getting involved in the slutty fashion trend and I failed. She went from wearing the homely (and to me cute) clothing I picked out for her to the horrendous. She is much better now than she was, but during her "I will do the opposite of what my mom wants" phase, she cut up every pair of pants I bought for her to make them her own. What I discovered though is that all along, Amanda was paying attention to what I was doing/saying. She still wears booty shorts and her cami's pulled up around the waist line (thud) but she also has started to return to more cute and conservative choices. I have been through the emotional ringer over her clothing choices. Keep the good, wholesome choices coming for as long as you can. She will be learning from this. She may or may not hang onto that once the peer pressure gets too intense. I hope she does. It makes life easier when fashion doesn't become a battle. It's extremely difficult to deny your child fashion choices when the 'cool' and 'popular' kids are wearing x, y, and z. It's a great theoretical position to take (I learned) but it places them on the outside of a circle that can ultimately cause them social stress. I hate the fashions, but if I could go back in time, I would have allowed Amanda more wiggle room in the tween years. My lack of flexibility created rebellion.

Personally, I'm now mostly at peace with her fashion choices even though I don't like many of them. I don't know how I got to that place, but I think it was from the sheer exhaustion of fighting it all.

I am conservative about what Zoe wears. She gets Gymboree, unlike Amanda. I guess I've caved to the brand name trend. I will keep her in those clothes until she outgrows them and then I will scour the stores for appropriate clothing ... knowing that the day might come where clothes become a battle between us too. I hope not ... because at that point, I will pick my battles. I will cave on some fashions that I swore I'd never let her wear and stand my ground on others...and I will worry every day about where this is taking us.
Kris

[Sheherezade]

If it helps at all, you only have to ride this out go a few years. I used to be the one posting this question, but at 14 my kid has settled in to her own styles. Luckily, they are acceptable to both of us...

[spotty_dog]

I am really struggling with this too. DD is a few weeks shy of her 5th birthday and I am already struggling to find pants to fit her. She is tall, but not freakishly so and her weight is very proportional. But this tread of super-skinny pants does not work for her. She needs a looser cut because she is built like her momma and has an, um, "athletic" build, solid thighs and tush.

Even when we try on pants at the store - there is no guarantee that they won't shrink so much that they are unwearable. I've had to return a couple of pairs like that already this year. I'm beyond frustrated.

Why does my 5 year old need skinny jeans? Why?

DD is average in every dimension, and we've been pretty happy with the Land's End jeans she got recently. Straight leg, none of this skinny stuff (she's actually very opinionated about fashion and doesn't prefer the skinny look, or leggings, just straight leg or boot cut jeans and a tunic/dress over). Great butt coverage, adjustable waist elastic, sturdy fabric that feels like it will last. I don't launder carefully and these have not changed at all. Wow...and the dark wash are currently on sale for $9.99! Just FYI.

[moonlight]

Kelly I don't think that sounds nuts at all. Sounds like a good goal for now. She seems like a very sweet girl that focuses on other things right now rather than how much glitz will make her one of the popular kids. Ride the wave until something (f ever) changes. When I read your first post I knew what you really wanted: a one stop shop. Not gotta happen. Sorry, you'll just have to get out there and shop the sales. I've noticed with my nieces each store basically tries to offer a little of everything. Target and Kohls has those classic basics and the crazy sparkle. So much hell-to-the-yes re. the non average sized child (raises hand) its hard already at age 4. Booo hisss!
BTW I love those dresses you picked out. Clearly you like a fresh, clean, classic look for your daughter. Love that! Time to pound the pavement!

[peggyfromwastate]

Lol. My dd1 did go goth in middle school so I was *thrilled* that dd2 loves the bright sequinny stuff from justice.



That's where I'm coming from. I try not to look at societal messaging from clothes... Perhaps my standards are lowered from my PTSD from dd1s awful struggles thru middle school, but as long as the kids are covered up, I let them wear what they are comfortable in. True, I spend a lot of time biting my tongue. But clothing battles are just not worth it to me in most cases.

And about toys and boy band marketing in a clothing store-- well there are toys at the grocery store too. Doesn't bother me really.