I am a 'shop twice a year, once for the summer, once for the winter' type parent - definitely a functional shooper, both for children and for myself. DD, up until now, has loved shopping, and so we have reached a compromise of a 'big shop day', where she and I go to a few shops where she tries on anything that catches her fancy, parades around the changing rooms for ages and ages, and we emerge with enough clothes for the season.
Problem is that this year we cannot find anywhere to go for the 'warmer weather' shop - have browsed through assorted shop websites and NOTHING has caught our eye.
DD is a tall 10 year old - does ballet, so slim, but tall so in 11, perhaps 12, year old sizes. For summer, we were thinking along the lines of genuinely colourful tops - perhaps print, perhaps plain - some knee-length shorts, and maybe a dress.
Everything is either grey, or pink, or very very short, or sparkly (a no-no for her this year), or pastel, or logoed. She just wants some genuine colour and brightness, without little-girl pretty prettiness.
Looked at H&M, Next, M&S, Debenhams, even in desperation at Boden [out of our price league, really]. We have previously had success at Sainsbury's, but that lacks the ritual changing room experience. We live in a good town for shops, so....any suggestions???