To think it is really hard to find nice clothes for 8+ girls on high street?

[MinimalistMommi]

Went shopping for DD today, found it so hard to find 'plain' clothes like fitted t.shirts in pretty colours without tacky slogans/pics plastered on the front. Everything was so fussy (H&M), glittery or bows/fuss (Next). I just makes everything look 'cheap'. It was easy shopping for my 5 yr old DD.
It's so frustrating!
Shopping for 5 yr old = easy and fun
Shopping for 8 yr old = difficult and frustrating

I really struggle for DD. She is nearly 7, but very tall so needs the age 8 clothing. I tried to get her a nice outfit the other day and failed. I hate anything with skulls on for kids, and most t-shirts in her age group in Primark had a skull on them.
The rest were really thin fabric that you could see through.
I gave up in the end after finding nothing she or I liked.

Tesco were ok for dresses, but did not find any tops I liked for her.

Oh, I had a right rant about it the other day. I was in the same position and could not believe the abismal design!
Joules is on sale, so I went there. Also Mistral, they introduced a children's line and most of it is ok.
However, for basics it is an absolute nightmare. Look, I just want a T-shirt in red/yellow/navy/gray, just plain, no glitter, no half naked girls on it, not pink, no tractors on it, no blimin cats with sodding tiaras.
Try finding a grey cardigan around here!!!!!
Grrrr.

Yep re H&M.We've jut moved up to the older girl stuff and amazed at how hideous it is,soooooo missing their basics.

M&S wins the prize for the crappiest and biggest contrast between younger and older girl.

I bought a fair bit for DD8 in Crew Clothing this year.

I've started buying plain adult size 6 tee shirts in Primark for DD(7). They are quite long, but look nice over leggings.

Didn't know River Island did kids stuff and assumed Zara was expensive, going to take a look in both. I agree that the older girls stuff in H&M is dire, which is a shame, I used to get lovely younger stuff in there.

Yeah what is with cats in tiaras???? I see it as much as I see rabbits with glasses on (on 8mo dd the rabbit jumpers look cute though).

John Lewis, Boden, Gap, Joules.

I get plain leggings from Tesco, Sainsbos, Asda, ditto straight leg plain trousers/jeans but splash out a bit on tops and frockery from the top 4. (never ever full price though, apart from JL)

Zara grey cardigan

Basic tshirts

It's free delivery to a store if you have one nearby too.

I've never had an issue for my 8 year old. She has jeans from H&M, a rake of vest tops from Sainsburys (navy nautical ones), leggings from Next, those baggy trousers that taper in at the ankle from Tescos, the odd bit from Primark, the Pop Art type leggings, cut off jogging bottoms from M&S and the odd bit from Asda. This summer she has lived in shorts, vests and fleeces.

Sainsburys is great

break that's brilliant, thank you! No Zara around here, so didn't think to look. Thank you!

Oooh, had a proper look at zara dresses for kids, amazing! Just what I was looking for! When are they on sale???

Plain coloured basic cotton T-shirts I buy from eBay -- various sellers do new FOTL T-shirts very cheaply.

I so disagree about H&M!! I got some really nice, untrashy, unfussy stuff for 8yo DD for summer at H&M. Nice simple cotton summer dresses and cardis and stuff. I love H&M! They seem to be one of the few places on the High Street where you can still get 'little girl' stuff for 8 year olds. I find other places a bit too grown up and trendy. I don't want my DD looking liking a teenager.

When my DD were younger they liked New Look but i have no idea what it is like now. DD2 always wanted things that her sister had (5 year age gap) and i started getting her a small sized petite from Top Shop.

I get virtually everything for my 8 year old in the Boden and Johnie B sales as I can't really afford their normal prices. The quality is usually really good so I can sell it on Ebay afterwards. I also get quite a lot of Boden 'seconds' on Ebay at a fraction of the normal price. Boden are great for colourful jeggings, plain tops and practical hoodies and coats.

got lucky with the fat face sale for some of dd1s favourite clothes. Now she's nearly 11 I'm starting to try size 8 adult clothes on her, as there is more choice in those. I had trouble finding slippers that weren't pink and yucky, then found that MandS did adults ones down to a size 3, which were much nicer.

She also sometimes wears boys clothes, as she hates pink/sparkles/fuss- she loves her 'angry birds' fleece from the boy half of next, and always wears boys trainers.

We had some nice summer stuff (sundresses, cardies, etc) from sainsburys but they don't tend to be as good for winter stuff.

DD2 will be less trouble, she loves all the chavvy sparkly pink stuff

Does anybody buys in HAnd M or Gap? Or TKMax?

My 10 year old dd wears H and M. She likes spotty and stripy clothes this year as she wants to channel her inner Taylor Swift. The boys section never had spots but has much better selection of stripes in all sorts of colours.

Have you tried Pumpkin Patch?

I buy Gap trousers for my kids. They last well enough to pass on. The sizing is haphazard but I think that they are good.

Sainsbury's is brilliant for this age. Cheaper than all the rest, but not tacky or nasty. Just simple and wearable, lots of cotton too, although polyester does sneak in

Yeah, gap can be ok as well.