To expect to find a whole new wardrobe for dd?

[morethanpotatoprints]

I have tried everywhere and I can't find anything at all that she really desperately needs.

She is 9, quite tall, but is developing and has small hips a bit of puppy fat and is quite muscly so not a small frame.
Trying not to say built like a brick shit house. She is certainly not overweight and until last week had been dancing since 2.5
Just in case anybody thought she may be obese.

She doesn't like one Direction. To be able sit down without showing her bum, something different to jeans t shirt and hoody, which is the only thing she has left.
Since summer her feet have grown from 1.5 to 3, she has shot up.
Her lovely well stocked versatile wardrobe is at the charity shop.
I'm totally lost.

Or hello kitty!
I like HK, I think she's cute, but afore mentioned, slight DD2 would rather not have her on 10-12 aged clothes. Nor is she a great 1D fan.

Basicly it boils down to there being a horribly limited choice for DC aged 8-13 and a lack if understanding by everyone, except next and BHS's trouser depts. that children hit pubity at different ages and in different orders.

So you get short wide 9y who still want HK and slight 12y who absolutely doesn't.

Girls get breasts at widely different ages too. Everything having endowment assuming low necks was a real pain with DD1. The present fashion for sleveless blouses with collars is great.

I think shops want to push DCs into expensive adult sizes as fast as possible and avoid small adults cheating and wearing kids things. I don't think the awful choice is an accident.

Oh, I forgot - Lands End Kids do some good stuff up to age 12.

The other internet site I'd recommend if you've got non-sheep-like DC who hates the 1-D etc logo'd or glittery tops in most high street shops but doesn't just want plain Ts and hoodies, is to look at Café Press - you can get t-shirts etc with almost anything you can think of so they really can 'express themselves' even in casual clothes.

I was in Primark in Manchester yesterday and they have quite a few things in for that age group. Yes they have the (horrible) leopard print and (even worse) One Direction tat but they had some really nice leggings, jeans, cardigans and sweaters at the moment plus some lovely shirts and skater style skirts. Not much in the way of decent party clothes though but some very pretty ballet type flat party shoes up to size 5.
Oh, and I bought one of the skater dresses mentioned up thread for myself, mine is a size 12, fairly snug fitting and a good length, going off that then a size 6 (they had a few in) should fit a taller girl like your DD. They're only £5 too!

I should add that I'm only 5ft 1" tall and the dress came to around 2 inches above my knee if that gives you an idea of the length x

Esprit are quite good.

I have similar problems in that DD is coming up to 8 and well into age 9-10 clothes. Lots of stuff that fits is simply too grown up for her.

Another vote for trying New Look teen range - I have a dd who hates the girly cute kitty look, and she found nice stuff there.

Teen ranges much better shaped, too IME - essentially you want a range where your dd is at the bottom of the size range and definitely not at the top of a 4 - 12 y/o range (looking at you, Next - what 12 y/o wants the same as a 4 y/o )

If you are not funny about second hand - EBAY - and the pricey stuff - Joules, Boden especially. Generous fit. Shaped as for children instead of mini Kate Mosses with slinky hips etc. Brilliant quality. Looks lovely.

Gap, Zara and Fat Face are my Dd's favourite places to shop and she's got a similar figure to how you describe your dd's, although she now has boobs to add to the list as she's 11.

these are lovely from next, hey are very loose and look great with leggings or tights and boots. look especially cute with kicker type boots or hi top trainer style.

star dress

jumper dress

stripes

this with tights

these are nice with a cardi and boots

cute ready made outfit just add shoes

I find sainsbursy generous in size and George at asda dd (almost 8) has some cute tartan shorts she wears with a denim shirt and tights, and a red jumper or cardi if very cold, think it was £8 for the shorts and £9 for the shirt. Also a heart print skater dress again to wear with tights and a cardi was £7 maybe even 6 in asda. the jggings in sainsburys are good s they are denim coloured strtch jersey rather than stretch denim if that makes sense? only £6 a pair I think.

M7s have some lovely bits in but I find they come up small, my dd who is no bigger than a 7-8 in next etc is an 8-9 at least in m&s.

agree with fat face, boden and joules they do some lovely stuff grown up enough to please the dd's but age appropriate. look out for sales and ebay items. fat face have a sale on at the moment and boden codes are good most things at least 20% off at the moment.

Lands End? American, and so is more generously sized than UK brands. There's always a money off code around and usually cashback on TCB or Quidco.

I've ended up buying all my jeans and cords from sainsburys - they fit me better, are nicer fabric and better cut than the ones from m&s at 2-3 times the price. Aim for the classic waist (I think it's called, not 100% sure) rather than the low rise waist so that it does come further up. They also do short, regular and long lengths which can help getting the right fit.

Their winter tops aren't so good, some nice casual Henley tshirts though that are nice and long to keep cosy in. There might be some of the hoody stuff suitable for your dd too, and the gok range has some nice smarter bits although they might be a bit too smart. The work wear will probably definitely be too old for your dd, it can be pretty frumpy.

Worth checking out in the summer though - usually lots of nice basic tshirts, and nice summer trousers and skirts that would suit your criteria.

Argh I figured Sainsbury has a good rep here, so went to see if their stretchy school trousers would be good for my Dd, she's 8 nearly 9, tall not delicate. and I picked up age 11, they don't fit they are too tight across the hips and waist. So I returned them, the Asda ones do fit in age 11 but they were out.
Next stop is Debenhams, they had twin packs in her size I wish I'd grabbed some now, but she needs to try them on really. I know I'll have to hem them.

If she's only 9 and carrying 'puppy fat' that's making you buy adult clothing, are you sure you're being entirely honest when you say that she's not overweight?

Would it be an idea to step up her exercise and look closely at her diet? (she doesn't have to know).

Then perhaps after a while, choosing a new wardrobe might be a bit easier?

Yes, because a lack of exercise causes feet to grow from size 1.5 to 3 and makes you tall

I was referring to her 'puppy fat' and her clothing...not her shoe size.

But carry on posting silly smile faces by all means.

Having size 3 feet at age 9 is not that unusual as feet tend to grow at their fastest in junior school children (in my own experience). So she won't be the only child with size 3 feet.

I agree with Worra. My dd is 9 and the tallest girl in her class, but I wouldn't even consider having to buy her small adult sizes of anything. She also has size 3 feet.

Equally, feel free to continue making dumb sarcastic remarks.

and is quite muscly

Is a muscly frame obese?

I asked the OP if she is being entirely honest about the 'puppy fat' and her child not being overweight.

I then suggested it might be an idea to increase exercise and look at her diet.

You were the one with the dumb, sarcastic comment straight after my post.

Now unless you are the OP (and I know you're not) I have nothing more to say to you.

People ( including children) have different builds.
If I said DD is 5'5" has size 4.5 feet and wears a ladies size 12. How old / fat would you say she is?

Sorry to have only just come back to the thread, we have spent days shopping.
I think the answer was lots of different shops for various things and whilst time consuming trying on in the shop.
To be honest I think IWBU, because we found lots in the end.
Some things we had to go up to age 12 and some jumpers I bought a size 6 as many others were crop jumpers.

No my dd isn't obese, I mentioned this up thread because as I was asking advice nobody could see my dd so was trying to give a picture.
She isn't over weight neither.
Just over night though she went from being sm/average for her age, to tall and developing. I am sure she isn't too far off puberty as she has hips, a small bust and yes, a bit of puppy fat, rather than the small frame she used to be.
Her arms and legs are muscly too, she is quite large, but not too fat iyswim. There are plenty of her friends who are a bit fatter and still not obese.

We found a few tops and a sweater in H&M, leggings in Debenhams, jeans size 6 short, sweatshirt also size 6, Primark. (This was due to price) as they are so much cheaper. A really nice blouse and sweatshirt from River Island, a skirt from New Look, size 6 and a top from international age 12/13.
Thank you all for the brilliant ideas and tips, I am now aprox £150 lighter, but dd has clothes.

Worraliberty

I think you are right about the exercise. She has just finished dancing to do other things, but until about 2 weeks ago she danced for about 6 hours per week, hence the muscles.
I too had puppy fat before puberty about same age as well, so not too surprised.
You have reinforced our belief she will need exercise now.
I know you were only asking, you don't know my dd.