Capsule wardrobe for a 10 year old girl - what and where from?!

[WannaBeWildCosMyLifesSoTame]

I am really stuck regarding clothes for my DD, 10 seems to be a real in between age in that most of what's in the shops is either too old for her in my opinion or too babyish in hers. Doesn't help that she is very petite so what she fits into does tend to be towards the young end of the scale.

She mainly wears skinny jeans or leggings with a longish top or normal jeans, t-shirt and a hoody, and has a couple of nice dresses for occasions. I am sensing that she'd like to start dressing a bit more fashionably but I can't afford to spend a fortune and am unsure what's appropriate for her. We normally shop in Next, Zara, Gap, John Lewis, M&S and supermarkets because that's what's nearby but have just returned from a very frustrating shopping trip with 1 pair of wellies!

She loves some of the things in Zara and tried on a pair of red skinny jeans with a blue and white blazer a few weeks ago which looked absolutely fantastic but it was £50 for the outfit which I was a bit loath to spend - however I fobbed her off with some cheaper jeans from Tesco and she clearly doesn't like them as much because she's hardly worn them so maybe I need to face spending a bit more (or should I not be letting a 10 year old have so much say in what she wears?)

What do other girls of this age wear and any ideas for new places to try - online would be ideal as I can't face traipsing round the shops again any time soon!

[Trills]

In town today I was reflecting that clothes for that sort of age are much nicer and cheaper and there are just more of them than when I was 10.

H&M have some nice stuff, and New Look have a 9-15 range.

[UnnamedFemaleProtagonist]

We have the same dilemma but dd doesn't fit in age 9+ stuff. We use mainly primark, with some Next and some Asda. Tesco stuff isn't nice IMO. H&M is hit and miss for her size. She mainly wears shorts and tights with a range of tops and cardi's and brogues. That is exactly what I wear too.

[workshy]

DD wears leggings with either shorts or denim skirt, a pair of converse high tops, a t-shirt (think retro band tees) and either a hoody or a waterfall thin cardigan

she's happy enough and generally presentable

tshirts I get off ebay the rest generally comes from H&M, tammy or asda

[Clary]

DD won't wear skirts which is a shame as some of her mates look so sweet in little skirts with polo-neck tops and tghts

She wears skinny jeans from Boden sale or Next and various T shirts, also Boden, H&M or maybe M&S tho I find their stuff a bit here and there tbh. It's tricky isn't it, agree with you £50 for an outfit seems £££££ (DD's Boden is sale price of £12 for jeans, £18 hoody and £10 for a T and even that's a lot now I've written it down)

[WannaBeWildCosMyLifesSoTame]

Your DDs all sound quite cool! It's particularly tricky for us because DD is so tiny, she actually fitted an age 5-6 jacket in Zara the other day and averages around an age 8, does make finding clothes extra challenging!

We did try H&M the other day but didn't find much that either of us liked and she doesn't fit into New Look yet which is a shame as I like some of their stuff. Must watch out for the Boden sale although I suspect she'll think their clothes are a bit boring. Agree about M&S being hit and miss - have had 1 or 2 lovely things from there but on Saturday there was nothing, it was either sequinned tunics which would make DD look like a cruise ship singer or very babyish stuff emblazoned with Hello Kitty which apparently is not cool any more .

[NotMostPeople]

I'd get the £50 Zara outfit and then top up with cheap and cheerful bits from Primark etc.

My 10 year old wears skinnys, hoodies, t shirt and converse she benefits from having an older sister so has a few Holister t's that have been handed down.

[WannaBeWildCosMyLifesSoTame]

Have just ordered her some Converse actually, don't think you can go wrong with them and I live in them myself.