Jane Norman dress

[nickthedad]

I'm a dad with a daughter who turned 12 last week. Her gran (my mum) bought her a tight fitting size 6 orange Jane Norman dress as a present. Link here - www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/231146520084?hlpht=true&ops=true&viphx=1&lpid=95&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=95
Me and my daughter's stepmum think its way too old for her to be wearing. Are we being over protective?

Just looked again. Even the description says "women's bodycon dress". She's nor a woman, she's a child.

not

I agree the dress is too adult btw. I just don't like the use of 'tarty' in relation to women's clothing choices.

It depends what it fitted like - if it clung everywhere, also what she wore it with - lashings of fake tan, platform shoes, hair extensions- but if she goes for a pretty natural look normally I think it would be fine - summery colour.

I think with stripy tights and trainers yes but with heels and lipstick no. Its fashion and you can read too much into it. Its bright orange which is v cool for young people atm and looks comfy in spite of how it 'could' look.

Not at 12, no. And I think, whether they realise it or not, a lot of young girls actually like to be a bit protected from the sort of attention wearing a dress like could getthem, because they're not equipped to handle it yet.

I know I would have done, I was 12 when I started attracting sexual attention from men (and it was men, not boys) and it terrified me. My mum used to tease her "shy little girl" about it, but I wish she'd taken it a bit more seriously and been a bit more protective.

I wouldn't encourage my dds to wear a dress like that. They are 12 & nearly 16. Is it for a holiday abroad? I think it would look better somewhere hot & sunny than in the UK.

Ewwwwwwww please please don't use the word tarty anywhere near the world 12 year old child

Very very nasty.

I would let my dd wear it if she wanted to. She is 11. My dd is developing a very womanly shape and it is up to me to make her feel confident about it. Not in a sexual way. In a, this is me, take it or leave it way. She is very strong and into cycling and gymnastics so is very used to wearing lycra. The dress is adult but many girls have grown out of childrens clothes at this age. My dd wears a womans size 8.

It's not the clinginess, it's the low back. Also, it depends on how tight it is on her really.

Nothing wrong with it at all unless she's planning to team it with a pair of six inch heels. That would be a nice summer dress with a pair of flip flops.

12? It's blooming lovely!

Black tights. Black parent doc martens. Massive cardigan and she will look young but age appropriate.

She's not going to wear fishnets and heels now is she?!?! Think about her existing wardrobe. Even with converse and denim jacket bare legs she would look perfectly age appropriate.

I'd let my 12yr old wear it.

I'd let my 13yo wear it. She wouldn't want it, but she does have a bodycon dress in black and white from Sainsburys. She teams it with thick tights and her Mock Docs and looks good - not sexualised, just funky and individual.

She got asked out by a 17yo last year when she was still 12 and at that time was dressed in baggy joggers and a T-shirt with giraffes on - I don't think the clothes make that much difference, really. (Obviously she said no, and the poor lad was mortified when he found out she was only 12 - she's tall, physically mature and looks much older)

Ok there is nothing wrong with the dress but it is for a woman not a girl.

I went to a 40th bday party last week and my friends 11 yo niece was wearing a very similar outfit - she is 12 and looked much much older and I could see various guys leering at her. I found it really disturbing in the way that she looked so much older than her years.

So no, if I had a DD I wouldn't want her wearing that dress at 12 despite the fact there is nothing actually wrong with it.

I make no sense!

I do understand it's difficult to see young girls being leered at by older men, but can we be clear this is the men's fault, not the fault of the young woman's clothing choices? There's a lot of victim-blaming on this thread, I think it's unintentional, but it's not for women and girls to change men's inappropriate behaviour. And I doubt changing clothing would do that anyway. Sleazeballs gonna sleaze...

Wilson - god yes of course it's the mens fault for leering I totally get that...but.....I just don't see the need for a 12 year old to dress like a young woman, I thought she looked odd and would have thought that whether she was getting leered at or not.

I just wondered what on earth her mother was thinking letting her go to a party in a pub dressed like that and I asked my friend (the mothers SIL) who totally agreed with me.

It just looked wrong on so many levels.

How tight and clingy is it?

My 12 year old DD has a similar dress, same colour, from H&M last year. If I wore it I would be tight and clingy, on her it's much looser and more like a loose t-shirt dress. She wore it with Converse or flip flops

Has anyone looked at the back? its really low cut so you can see the wearer's bra.

Not on a 12 yr old. EW

Inappropriate or tarty is as other posters have said is rarely simply one item of clothing.

It's the whole way you look and the whole way you behave. Sadly some where between 13 and 16 a lot of teens seem to manage it, but not at 12.

If your DD is happy and confident and has lots of interests she won't feel the need to join the thick foundation, high heels, black eyeliner brigade.

She'll wear that dress her way, just as DD1 wore a very tight next dress at that sort of age and DD2 wears shorts and vest tops and doesn't look inappropriate.

minnie nailed it, docs, big cardy, it will look great!

Actually, no I didn't see the back of the dress, in that case it's nothing like the one my DD has

The low back would make it a no, and for DD, she wouldn't wear anything that low.

You could dress it down, a cardi/denim shirt or something like that, flip flops, but as a dress, I just wouldn't buy it for my 12 year old

I think it depends on what she wears it with and when she wears it. It would probably be fine for a party with flat shoes. Does she like it anyway though? If not, problem solved.

It's a tight dress with a very low back. Not appropriate for a 12yo in my opinion.

Too old, it is a dress for a woman.
Possibly okay in black, with black leggings and trainers?