Widower needs daughter fashion advise please

[nnallc]

Hi all

Wonder if you can help me. My daughter is 11 but about to hit 12. I am a widow and she is in year 7 at high school.. Here the problem starts

She keep stelling me she needs trendy clothes and wants them for christmas. She keeps talking about Jack Wills and Hollister. However she is very small for her age and normaly only wears age 9-10 clothes (140cm) infact in Zara her last jeans were 8-9 as they come up big!

ANyway I digress, Please help a dad in need. WHat brands etc can I get for my daughter that will a)fit and b)be classed as trendy.

We are in NW surrey area for shop recommendations

Please help :-)

[scurryfunge]

Hollister, Jack Wills are the in thing for teens but very pricey. Superdry is a similar brand, as is Abercrombie and Fitch (also quite dear).

[ItsKurriiiistmas]

I'm sure others here will have more idea than me about what is trendy for teens but I just thought I'd suggest that you take one of her tops and a pair of jeans with you when you shop so you can compare the size - it might give you more idea than relying on sizes which always seem to vary so much from shop to shop.

[Gillybobs]

I would maybe buy her one or two things from the brands she mentioned, topped up with some much more reasonably priced gear, maybe from New Look girls range ??

[Indith]

I have no idea at all what kids are into, never managed ot fit in myself and my dcs are little. But, if she is begging for new things and different brands is there a trusted female relative or friend of yours who could take her shopping? Could you tell her that her christmas present is a shopping trip and give her a budget for it?

[HecTheHallsWithBoughsOfHolly]

Why not allocate a clothing budget to her. She can then use that as she sees fit - (obviously anything you feel is innapropriate you can veto ) that way you don't need to worry about knowing brands or anything.

[HecTheHallsWithBoughsOfHolly]

or what indith said.

[Indith]

A monthly clothing budget is good though too to think about starting in the new year. I think that was about the age I started being allowed to go into town with friends and instead of pocket money got a monthly allowance which was to cover all my clothes and other expenses.

[kuckingfunt]

Holister, Jack Wills and Converse are all trendy for young girls. They also love New Look.

Why not take her out shopping for an afternoon and let her pick a few bits herself? Or ask her for a list of things and tell her you will pick a few from the list for her?

[Kristingle]

My dd is the same height as yours and a year younger. She wears clothes from h and m, zara, and her friends shop in new look and top shop.

None of them are really into labels yet, although their big sisters are so I expect it will come soon.

This is a good age for her to learn about the value of money and how to budget. Once it's her allowance she is blowing on some over priced tat she will be more careful

Don't worry too much about being a single dad, lots of mums wouldn't have a clue about what's on trend for teenagers either. That's why we come onto mums net and ask

My dh was a single dad to a teenage girl before we met and he worried a lot about things like...ahem..underwear and tampons. He didn't want to invade her privacy but also to still be the parent IYSWIM. It's a minefield isn't it

[HowsTheSerenity]

Look on eBay for the branded items. Buy tshirts etc in sales.
DC 13yrs shops in zara, topshop, h&m and next. She has a clothing allowance and once she goes over that too bad. Essentials such as underwear are not bought by her though.

[JustAnother]

I would drive her to Westfields and give her a budget. She'll find everything she loves there. You will be a very bored Dad by the end of the day, but you'll have a happy daughter next to you :-)

[nnallc]

thanks all

[exexpat]

Can I just chip in to advise against one big-budget shopping trip, but to drip-feed it as monthly (or even fortnightly) clothes allowance instead? DS (12) recently discovered fashion, but in the way of most nearly-teens is extremely fickle and influenced by friends - I think girls might be even worse like this, so if she comes back from a big shopping trip with a huge haul of clothes, chances are she'll have gone off one item almost before she's worn it...

Things that DS thought were cool two months ago he is now refusing to wear, so wants yet another trip to Topman to get a different hoodie which will be acceptable to wear to hang out with his friends at the weekend. Fortunately even he realises that we are not going to be buying new hollister t-shirts and hoodies every month, but at topman prices (and sales) it is rather more realistic.

[iheartdusty]

[goingmadinthecountry]

As Hollister is so dark, you may not even notice the sale items (I have threatened in the past to wear a head torch). They are very subtly labelled, often at the back of the store with small labels on shelves. Bargains to be had there though - dd has had some amazingly cheap jeans from there. People moan about the quality but I've found it pretty good.

Wouldn't buy New Look tbh - if she really likes Hollister she's likely not to be impressed. It's a minefield!

[mysteryfairy]

My DS2 is 14 but also smallish for his age (takes an age 11/12 in clothes). I have bought him stuff from the children's section at abercrombie - looks the same as the adult stuff but actually fits him and has the benefit of being much cheaper.

In Y7 I think your DD is old enough to understand that she needs to wait til boxing day and the clothes she wants will be much cheaper.

BTW the Boden sale has started tonight. I know this won't be what she wants but I do find that the skinny jeans with adjustable waists that come in single age sizes are a really good staple for a slighter child and can currently be bought for £12-£14 so make the overall cost of an outfit less eye watering when combined with a labelled hoodie

[shongololo]

new look is good because its cheap and the jeans are designed for skinny minnie teens - give her a budget and tell her to pick out some clothes!

For skinny girls in small sizes, its near impossible to find clothes that fit well. Tammy girl in BHS, New look and Primark are what the lasses in our part of the world are wearing - they aspire to expensive clothes but when given a budget, realise they can get what they want (ie what everyone else is wearing) a cheaper shops.

we have set our DD a budget for winter and one for summer - I take her shopping for her basic wardrobe, and she picks out what she wants. The first time, she picked shoes, a hat, some earrings...then realised she had nothing to wear. NOw she is more prudent and buys basics (jeans, tops, jackets) cheap and one or two more expensive items.

bear in mind that she is likely to grow substantially in the next couple of years, and will outgrow everything really fast - DD bought a load of stuff in September, and already some of it is too tight - she has gone from a size zero (uk size 4) to a size 8-10 in just a year. Your DD should accept that there will be time for designer labels, but for now she should just buy cheap fashionable clothing, because it wont last until next year.