Formal night preteen daughter

[NCRedding]

I am having trouble finding formal wear for DD (11) for this trip. She is in junior sizes but is not developed enough to wear the styles I am finding in the stores. Everything is strapless or slinky. Does anyone have any websites, or suggestions for possible formal wear--she really wants to dress up.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

my problem exactly!!! My DD is 11, wheres juniors size 0-1 (what a problem to have), i have been looking at stuff and forget it. unfortunatley she has the bustline to hold the dress up! She's 5'5" and all of 95 lbs! I'm going to start looking for some plane sheath style dresses, kind of Jackie'O ish! Also I will let here wear nice capris with cuite tops the other nights, but for the formal night, I will keep checking e-bay, there have been some, and will head to the mall after prom season, even a womens size 0 may work, she has the height for it! If you find anything let me know!! I showed her a dress, actually it was a gown and she freaked! If it doesn't have denim and smell like her horse I don't stand a chance!!

 

[MrsPete]

You could have the opposite problem: My 9-year old daughter is a pushing a B cup already -- at this rate she'll be a C cup by age 11. She is definitely my child.

 

[fhagan]

Do a google search for "modest gowns" ... there are dozens of dress shops that specialize in less revealing formal dresses for dances, proms and the like. Several of my daughter's friends used one locally for their high school dances, as they didn't want to wear the "slutty" gowns available from the bridal and other formal places.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

Don't despair!

Go to www.cydninicole.com

There is a website devoted to the preteen formal wear dilemma!

Hope this helps!

 

[Seasca]

I have a DD that is 11 and for our night at Tritons, we dressed up but not super formal.....we went to sears and found a very nice upper semi-formal dress that was quite reasonable. She was dressed just as nice or nicer than some of the other young girls that we saw that night. Hope that helps a bit.

 

[Ginny]

NCRedding -

Here is a website that might be helpful. Storybook Heirlooms has beautiful clothing. Some of their fashions are exceptionally fussy but they also carry lovely, elegant dresses. They are also having their winter sale right now with their holiday fashions!

http://www.storybookonline.com/storybook/default.asp

There is also another catolog: The Wooden Soldier. They don't have a website but here is the phone number to order a catalog: 1-800-375-6002. I just received their latest catalog on Thursday and I saw some lovely dresses for pre-teens that would be perfect for formal night.

It just amazes me that so many designers struggle with dressing young girls as just that: young girls.

Good Luck!!

 

[Verandah Man]

DW, DD 12 and I, had just left the movies after seeing Pirates of the Caribbean near our local mall. After the movie we took a stroll through the mall and made a stop at The Deb Shop. Our DD wanted to check out dresses for the cruise we were taking in August. Our DD found four dresses that she just had to have. As a side note, our DD hadn't worn a dress in over three years up to this time. The dresses were all originally priced at $90-$100 each, we got all four dresses for around $110.00 as it was an after prom sale. Our DD is becoming quite a shopper!!!

 

[eye R.N.]

Had the same problem last year, solved it at Limited Too. We found a nice long black skirt and matched it up with an acceptably funky (daughters term) white top. I think the whole outfit cost about $25. Since she never wears dressed otherwise, this was an acceptable investment.

 

[NCRedding]

fhagen: the modest gown search was very helpful (I didn't realize what I was looking for had a name). I may even get the sewing machine out and try again.

Ginny and Mickeyhugger: Loved those websites, but couldn't find dresses that were larger than girls size 16 (other than some matching women's dresses that looked a little too matronly). Did I overlook something? I loved those styles, and wish DD would still fit in them.

eyeRN: hadn't thought of limited too--I always forget they have junior sizes also.

Thanks for all the replies. The good news is we have a little bit of time before the cruise, so I get to go shopping!!

 

[ClarabelleCow]

funny - I have the Wooden Soldier spring catalog on my desk!! There were a few pre-teen sizes, but I really don't want to spend 142.00 for a dress she will wear once or twice!! Maybe I will suck it up and hit the mall with her! YUCK!

 

[heart]

I just found a great dress for my 12 yo DD on talbots.com (under Talbots Kids). It was a great sale--marked down to $28. It arrived after about three days, and it is beautiful. Talbots seems to be one of the few that goes up to size 20 for girls. 18 to 20 seems perfect for my tall, thin 12 year old who's built, well, like a 12 year old!

Good luck!

 

[minniemouse1]

I second the Wooden Soldier. They have some beautiful dresses for preteens. They are a little pricey for one wear but you might be able to resell them to a consignment shop or ebay. I can't wait to dress my girls in them when they are older.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

I found a nice dress at that Cyndi and Nicole's, but my almost 12 year old DD is out of size 14. She wears 2-3 juniors or possibly 16 for kids (rarely). She keeps nagging me to shop, but now that I've read this I think I'll wait until late May and check out the prom sales. I may order that coral dress on cyndi and Nicole's for my 9 year old who is in a size 10 or 12.
Robin M.

 

[NAT&MAGSMOM]

I think we are going to do what Andy found for his DD.

Wait until after Prom and after Christmas.

Our cruise last year was the week before Christmas...bought preteen DD a lovely dress....satiny material with sparkles(she calls them diamonds..lol) a slanted ruffly skirt - adorable. It was
45.00. Found it after Christmas for 8 bucks!!!! Thought DH was going to die......anyway. We shopped for dresses for next Christmas cruise but couldn't find any in her size.

So, we'll wait until after prom season this year for this years cruise and we'll wait until after Christmas for 2005 cruise.

JMHO
Phyllis

 

[southern sass]

i went on a cruise last year for the first time and i didn't wear a really big formal dress. it was just a nice little purple dress. i was 13 at the time too. this year on our cruise in May i am going to wear this cute little spaghetti strapped top dress that is black & pink. now don't get me wrong there were some ppl dressing up REALLY formal and stuff but just for me i liked the nice looking dresses.

~Lindsey

 

[kcashner]

We got a sheath style long dress in a low quality stretch velvet (can you tell that I'm a fabricaholic)....black with a rose printed on the front. It was very inexpensive. It came from the Misses department, but the styling and fabric was such that the only real fit issue was the length. You could do the same thing in a fabric that is called "slinky knit." It isn't revealing slinky, it is stretchy slinky, and packs without wrinkles.

DD is now 13, but from 10 to the present, we never found anything suitable in the junior department. We did much better with sale items in the Misses dept...maybe they didn't sell because they were somewhat conservative.

A long black skirt (again, a stretch velvet is a good choice) goes anywhere and can be paired with many tops.

 

[aaronamy]

My DD is 12 and will be 13 when we cruise so finding a dress that does not look to young or to old is not easy (she is very picky and knows exactly what she likes) I found a dress on clearence at Von Maur strapless, hot pink floral, slinky on top but A line. We will just add spaggetti straps and it will be perfect! Next the shoes, I have seen these very cute little thong type shoes with a little tiny narrow heel(maybe 1 inch) at Von Maur and American Eagle. Now I'm just waiting for them to go on sale!

 

[jbix00]

Originally posted by Verandah Man
DW, DD 12 and I, had just left the movies after seeing Pirates of the Caribbean near our local mall. After the movie we took a stroll through the mall and made a stop at The Deb Shop. Our DD wanted to check out dresses for the cruise we were taking in August. Our DD found four dresses that she just had to have. As a side note, our DD hadn't worn a dress in over three years up to this time. The dresses were all originally priced at $90-$100 each, we got all four dresses for around $110.00 as it was an after prom sale. Our DD is becoming quite a shopper!!!

Andy - you three hit the right place! My daughter (14) loves to shop at Deb just for that reason - bargains (she inherited her mother's shopping saavy ways). We leave on our 7-day cruise in a few days and DD went directly to Deb to find her dress for the formal dinner night!