What kind of thing do 12 year old girls wear for a nice occasion?

[Ohyoubadbadkitten]

Need to take dd clothes shopping. Got an evening do to go to that has suddenly come up, mostly an adult thing. Dd is a hoodie/jeans/converse kind of girl. she has nothing smart. Help please!

My 12 yr old dd is the same but she will on occasions wear leggings and a dress top or mini skirt. We like Zara, johnnie b (boden) and h&m. Difficult as she is about 5ft 6 and has to wear adult clothes really. Fine line between trendy young teen and clubbing wag!!!!

dd found nice modest dress in TK Maxx recently for an up coming wedding.

Tea dresses are "in" I think, with a nice bolero cardie perhaps - could get some use in the summer too? Try Hollister, H and M, Dorothy Perkins.

Or if she wants to be less dressed up, then cigarette pants and a baggy, sparkly, sequin top?

Good luck

Warehouse do some nice smartwear that is sensible and elegant, if shes in womens sizes. If still in kidswear id second the Zara recomendation. Vertbaudet (kids La Redoute) online is nice too.

A mini skirt with boots or ballet flats, with a floaty top, is suitable for girls who aren't used to dresses.

And take her to the hairdresser for a trim and a proper blow dry in the afternoon - it makes a world of difference to their self-perception! You could even treat her to a manicure.

Or a playsuit with black opaques and ballet flats? New Look have quite a few in the 9-15 range atm.

you are all complete stars, thank you :) she is just about scraping into adult sizes. I'd have never thought of taking her into Zara. Hair trim is very good idea too, she has very long hair which I tend to trim myself. she is feeling a bit nervous about it so it should give her some confidence. I'll have a look round the websites so I can drag steer her into the right shops.

H&M have some nice bits for teens, and I second (third?) Zara. Marks and Spencer is often worth a look too.

DD2 is 13 - she would probably wear a short skirt with a vest top and cardigan combination, with ballet flats, OR she has been eyeing up this, which would work with a cardigan over it and ballet flats:
www.hollisterco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=11558&storeId=19659&langId=-1&categoryId=85292&parentCategoryId=85292&topCategoryId=85265&size=&productId=929737

DD3 is 11 - she favours shorts over tights - she has some nice tweedy ones which look lovely over black tights, although maybe a bit wintery? Again, with ballet flats or boots. That might work if she's more of a jeans kind of girl? Otherwise again, skirt and vest and cardigan combination wins out.

Thank you :)
In the end dd went for a lacy floaty top from h&m and a pair of 7/8 skinnies from new look along with a cropped jacket and some ballet flats also from new look. Can't find the links to any of them!

It's not quite as smart as I'd hoped for but it's not too bad an outfit and dd will feel confident which is the most important thing I guess. After 3 billion tryings on of things, most of which required her to Have to untie/retire her shoes in a most maddeningly slow manner. I'm just glad she has an outfit.

Hadn't appreciated how good new look is for this age group. Also hadn't appreciated that almost all of the shoe shops seem to have disappeared. Dd needs some new school shoes but all the ones we found fell off her skinny feet and even the clarks we tried were rubbish (much to dds relief)

I am shattered!

Dd refuses to have her ears pierced. She also asked with some horror as to whether she would have to wear make up!

She's the one who stands out a mile at school cos she ties her tie up with a little knot and does her blazer up. Aargh! She is certainly her own person.