Last Sunday, our oldest daughter Julie came to me and asked me to help her pick something out to wear to church. I quickly realized after perusing her closet, she truly had nothing "church-like" to wear! Don't get me wrong, we wear jeans to church sometimes and it's totally fine (in my humble opinion) to do so, but we gals like to get dressed up now and then too. I told Julie right then we were going shopping that afternoon for church-worthy clothes and of course, she was thrilled!
Little did we know what we would face when it came to the selection for girls her age/height/weight! She is 11 years old, is in the 90th percentile for height, and is very slim. She dresses modestly as well, so we were simply hoping to find a few things for her to mix/match that would be appropriate for spring and possibly transition into summer. The list included: camisoles (love those for layering), dress shoes, skirts, tops, and a belt. Not an impossible list, right?
Our first stop was Once Upon a Child, a consignment shop that offers some very nice quality clothing at a fraction of the cost we would pay at most retail stores. We found one beautiful chocolate brown skirt (still had the tags!) for about $5.50. Next stop - the mall. We hit Macy's first. Oh my...there was absolutely nothing other than one really cute jacket, but it was nearly $35 and I wasn't sure how long she would actually be able to wear it, so we passed on it. Elder Beerman had absolutely nothing to offer her age other than frilly or casual wear.
JcPenney and Sears were very slim pickings too! We found one top for her at Sears for $6.00 (on clearance) and then at JcPenney we did find a very pretty top and dress slacks. Justice was on our route too for camisoles. These are a great little addition to any wardrobe because they can be layered in so many ways. Julie surprisingly found a beautiful plaid/flowered shirt she liked there too. Luckily, I had a 40% off coupon, so the total was very reasonable. Payless Shoes was our last stop and we did find adorable slip on shoes for a whopping $7.00. All in all, I think we spent just under $80 for everything, which was more than I wanted to spend, but considering what we got, it was relatively reasonable.
But, ladies, here are my thoughts on clothes for girls size 14/16. Most of what we saw for her size was either very "little girl" looking or it looked like something I would never let her wear (and she wouldn't want to wear). Where did the cute blouses go? What about cute little jackets that could be a great addition to spring and fall outfits? It seemed like the styles went from very casual to very dressy, with nothing in between! It was very frustrating and disappointing at times to walk into the section for her size and then look around and say, "is this it?"
The other thing we both noted was that the color seems to be gone from clothes for her age too. The pieces we found for her were black, white, and shades of brown. Every girls needs their neutral pieces, yes, but where is all the color?? Just curious what your thoughts might be on that topic?
The one store we didn't make it to was Kohl's. We need to visit there at some point soon, but we are overall very surprised and disappointed at the choices available for girls size 14/16 in the major department stores.
Boy, if someone had the talent for designing, I'd say that's a niche that's wide open!
Boy, if someone had the talent for designing, I'd say that's a niche that's wide open!
Where do you shop for your girls? Where have you had success? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic!
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