Im taking my niece shopping for her b'day (11), she has never worn girly clothes....advice?

[pepsi]

My niece has always refused to where girly clothes or girly colours. She wears shiny boys track suit bottoms, t-shirts, tight jersey style shorts, hooded tops, etc bought from the boys section at asda mainly. She starts secondary school in September and isnt very confident. She had her haircut at the hairdressers for the first time ever this week....the first time in fact that anyone other than her Mum had cut it. I get the feeling she would like to be more "girly" but is just embarrassed to change and doesnt now how. I have offered to take her shopping as her birthday pressie and she has jumped at the chance. My plan is to ask her to take me to the shops she likes and show me things that she likes but wouldnt dare wear, Im hoping that I can sway her onto a more girly tomboy look. If you have girls of this age perhaps you could tell me what they like to wear and what their cool shops are to go to. We have primark, mark one and H & M here. I like H & M myself....and of course next but I want her to come back with quite a few things. I think I can go up to £100.00.

I love H&M for girls. You could get her a mini makeover as well, everyone likes to be pampered. Have a session the night before with some age appropriate magazines and let her show you her idols, she may be a bit early avril lavine now but even she went blonde.

My youngest (11) is a tomboy through and through and I know what you mean about them wanting to change but feeling like it's become an issue.
She has actually worn a t-shirt with a tiny bit of pink on it this month () but still won't countenance skirts or anything really girlie.
IMO just take her to shops and let her choose her own stuff and she'll find her own way, the more you try to push IME the worse it becomes; they change dramatically in yr 7&8 anyway. She may stay a tomboy (I did), does it really matter?

I dont think being a tomboy matters and that can be rather cool looking, its hard to explain on a thread because things dont come across how you mean them sometimes, but the fact that the clothes her Mum buys are actually boys ones, couple with the fact that she is a little overweight....average height I would say but nearly 8st and coming up 11, she does rather stand out from her peers which for some kids is fine and they like to dress different, but my dn is very sensitive and I fear that once she hits secondary that she might be picked on. I certainly wont make her buy something she hates but Im hoping if she is away from her Mum she might be a bit more adventurous. Her Mum told me that she does have a pink tshirt but she only wears it underneath her hooded top and has it zipped up to the next when she wears it.

H&M is an excellent choice. DD1 has some fab clothes (I am a clothes nut, and especially good with childrens clothes) but she still wear the same old crap every day, despite having a very cool wardrobe. She does love H&M, though, and anything she has picked herself always goes down well. £100 would go a long way in there and none of their older girl's stuff is 'girly', much more of the cool and trendy variety. DD1 is into rock music, plays the electric guitar and drums and very much of the 'baby Avril Lavigne' trend that Pigleto mentioned. Girls with attitude, that kind of thing.

Perhaps some accessories - Accessorize - not the girly pink glittery stuff but the slightly more funky/hippy stuff? H & M is a good starting point and go from there. Aren't you a lovely aunt?! The idea to flick through some magazines before is a good idea too.

Tesco have a good range, Primark, M&S (although quite expensive for some reason), Next.

They are all wearing long tops with leggings underneath and pumps at the moment. Before your trip why don't you take her somewhere first and let her pick out clothes on girls that she thinks look nice to give you some idea.

H & M do have a really good and reasonably priced teenage range. She can still dress like a tomboy and H & M do have really good combats, hoodies etc, but more girly than Asda boys range obviously. The only thing I'd say is that I don't find H & M sizes very roomy so you might want to bear that in mind if she is a bit bigger than average. Do you have a New Look? My DD likes their clothes too.

How tall is she? My dd is nearly 12 but has been able to get away with t-shirts & tops in womens sizes for quite a while.

Watch the sizes in H&M if she's slightly chubby. Depending on where she shops, you may find that she wears boys clothes as they are a lot more forgiving in the waist than girls (speaking as a mum of one curvy girl & one skinny minny). H&M have a lovely pair of cropped trouser/long shorts at the mo, khaki coloured, but def go up at least one size. Also, check the lycra content of any t-shirts - too much lycra not a good look for this age/shape.

Look at the funky jewellry in Claires (cheap & cheerful). They have some good chunky bracelets that dd1 likes. Also, dd1 amazed me last week by buying a pair of leggings! (think they were H&M also) Turns out that she doesn't like bare legs with a skirt, but feels quite happy in the leggings and you can wear them with trainers if you get the right type. See if she will try some on.

Also, 'shirt' dresses (button through) worn over leggings/jeans/black trackies also look good and are not too girly.

Can you tell I've got one of these dds myself? I hope you have a lovely time & have fun.

I think Primark would be your best bet tbh

if she wants to change her image, then £100 would go FAR in there

go early to avoid the queues and hachet faced mothers with crying children

my daughter has always been a tomboy - but is soo girly. i think a lot of it had to do with having to be rough and beat up two brothers and mum not being arsed to iron frilly dresses when jeans are so much easier.

so listen wisely grasshopper my kids love to pideon hole - chave, goth, punk, emo - all linked to music choice. ( mine are in senior school)

my girl is a self proclaimed EMO, likes the darker side of music, faux punk, bit of rock, my chemicle romance etc etc.

she dresses uber cool when she tries, this includes jeans with statement belt - so she wears a glittery skull belt. with t-shirt.

t-shirts are best if they are teen angst - che guevara, kill the hippies - kind of thing, but equally plain t-shirts will do

so, my advice would be to get a couple of pairs of cheapo jeans - one dark, one light,

spend the money on the accessories - the statement belts. and lots of plain t-shirts from primark.

the other thing which is a must spend is the shoes.

shoes and belt - i swear. so if chavtastic - its trainers, if goth/emo tastic is boots with metal on.

if you have access to a market near you - travel!

my daughter is a complete snob. i took her round oldham inside market a couple of weeks ago and she nearly died. so i told her she better get some jeans for a tenner becuase i'm not spening £40 back home
hope this helps

Thanks everyone, good advice, will bear in mind the sizes are small in H&M. She has always worn boys stuff from Asda......in some ways I think her Mum hasnt helped. I dont think she will go for leggings, I think baggy combats with a funky tshirt will be the way forward. All that matters really is that she enjoys it. am planning to take her 8 year old sister to legoland so I dont show any favourtism. The niece Im taking shopping hates it there as she wont go on rides so the younger one misses out on that sort of thing. We have just bought a pass and with it comes a free ticket for another child. My own son (7) has just been diagnosed with a mild ASD and so we can avoid the queues there now so my youngest niece will be over the moon at the prospect of not queueing!

Custy, your DD sounds exactly like mine.

How old is she? Mine will be 13 in November and we have the stripy armwarmers with safety pins in them, skull belts, 'de-constructed' converse and My Chemical Romance all over the place (she tells me they represent who she is). We have been on a quest for a pair of light coloured, ultra-skinny overly long jeans that wrinkle at the ankle, but to no avail. Anyone seen them? Do they exist??