Teen ideas

[myladyjane]

I have a 16 year old dd off to college in September. She has limited interest in clothes and is really anxious about a lot of things (possibly ND).

shes quite excited about a new start and wants a bit of a glow up post gcses. Hopefully her braces are coming off after about 3 years of treatment, she’s having her waist length hair cut to above her shoulders, she’s joined the gym (excellent for her anxiety).

clothes have always been tough. She feels very body conscious, over whelmed by choice and conflicted between looking nice in stuff that suits her that gets her compliments and hiding away in huge baggy stuff that then makes her feel worse about herself iyswim.

her natural style is pretty plain, subdued colours, quite kind of gamine (she’s very slim) but not androgynous. Her prom dress is a very plain navy body con type thing that she loves and looks amazing in. High neck but very fitted and she looks very elegant for a 16 year old!

what I would really like is to point her at some ideas/shops so she can get an idea of what she likes and would like to try. Then when we go shopping it doesn’t turn into her getting more and more overwhelmed and withdrawn and me getting cross because she can’t go to college in her pants (flashback of our last trip).

any ideas where to start pointing her? I worry places like Uniqlo and H&M are where I shop and Berksha and pull and bear where her very stereotypical teen twin sister shops and we need to find her a middle ground

Why would you both need to ‘go shopping’ when there is so much more choice online?

Given several months to choose, it would seem more sensible to browse widely (with a tape measure), order things, try them on at her leisure at home, and gradually build a wardrobe that satisfies her.

Oddly enough I would have suggested Uniqlo first. It’s highly unlikely the two of you will look identical just because you both shop there.

Alternatively - if the budget is a little more flexible, Community Clothing makes very plain, high quality clothes that make no strong fashion statement.

And she could look at the new Topshop collections for more frivolous items.

thanks. Ironically she wants to ‘go shopping’ rather than online partially because she quite likes the idea of me and her having a day out, getting some food etc. it’s part of the fresh start/glow up thing she wants.

uniqlo probably is a good place to start isn’t it so I’ll get her to start browsing. Community clothing may be a bit adult looking for her but also she can look. She typically costs me half the amount her sister does so I can stretch to something she likes if there is anything.