Girls clothing -- Venting! Tweens...

[Marseeya]

Remember my vent about the lack of appropriate plus size clothing? Well, now it's time to vent for my DD!

She's a tween, and in between kid sizes and adult sizes. Sometimes the 16 kids will be just a little too short and a little too snug. But then I move over to junior sizes and the small juniors are too big -- too long and too big in the chest. Isn't there some kind of overlap? Do any of you know what the size 16 kids translates into in juniors or misses?

Also, the majority of these clothes are so inappropriate! They are v-necked and low cut. She's just starting to need a training bra, but most of the cute clothes I've seen in juniors need a chest to fill them out. I went shopping for a swimsuit for her yesterday. No kid sizes would fit her, so I moved to junior/misses. Nearly every suit had a padded chest. She's got nothing to put in those cups! I finally found her this top: http://www.target.com/gp/detail.htm...6?_encoding=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B000CE8CJ0 which I paid the full $17.99 for. I paid $17.99 each for the top, bottom, and skirt. That was tough to swallow, especially after I just had to return an $8 suit in the kid sizes.

Anyone else have this problem with tweens?

 

[powellrj]

we went through the same thing a couple of weeks ago with DD. She is a size 16 in girls, but the girls things are too short for her to wear to school. All of our usual places had spring and summer clothes that she couldn't wear to school. We tried jrs and found the same problem. Everything assumed she already had a bust line because it was pleated and gathered where the bust should be.

I was in a different town and stopped at a Goodies which we don't have where we live. They had lots a tops (yes I bought 20) that were long enough to wear to school and didn't have the bust problem. They were all on sale for really, really cheap, but they seem to be of a quality similar to what you would find at Kohls. I paid right at $100 for all of the tops.

DD had a swim party yesterday and she was of average size for her age. If you lined all the kids up they were all about the same size in height and weight, so I know we can't be the only people that have this problem.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

also going through the same thing. the junior shorts are so short they look like underwear!

 

[ToTLaugher]

We have recently gone through the same problem with DD12. I even called Lands End and gave them her measurements and they admitted they had nothing that could fit her. The girls 16 is too short and the womens assume too many curves!

We did find tops at Eddie Bauer in the XS womens fit very nice and were conservative looking. She is very comfortable in those but because of the price I limit what she can get from there. Then we tried the kids XXL from Old Navy and found the t-shirts to fit beautifully.

Really, the only thing you can do is go to every place you can and try different sizes. It is a pain but when you find something that works buy it in every color!!!

Consider boys jeans for pants. They don't have the curves that the junior sizes assume.

 

[helenabear]

Believe it or not, I am a 29 year old woman who has a hard time shopping. A lot of general department stores (Sears, Kohl's, Penney's and select brands in Macy's) do not carry a misses size below a 6. Now if it weren't for vanity sizing, I *might* be okay though I would need a 4 in some cases, but since they do, I wear about a 2 or a 0. Petites don't always go that low, and not all brands go that low. Mostly specialty stores (NY&Co, White House|Black Market, Ann Taylor, Gap... etc) will go to a 0 but I am on the end of that mark at several places. In short, I am running out of places to go.

I can mostly fit into child size 14 and definitely a 16 to give you an idea (I haven't tried pants as I am mostly good there, but I have done skirts) and with kids shirts I am either a M or a L (M if it is a T-shirt, L if it is cut smaller).

When it comes to misses sizes, like I said I am about a 2 or a 0. When it comes to Juniors sizes, I am about a 5. Since I have more hips than an average woman, sometimes I go to a 7, but that always leaves a HUGE gap in my back & waist (more than 2 inches).

At least that should give you an idea of what sizes to try when it comes to Juniors and Misses. If she is having issues with shirts being too long, don't forget to try the petites section. She would probably be a Small there, though a lot of places a Small is too big and I need the XS.

Good luck though, since I am 29 years old, I don't care to shop much in the Juniors department, *especially* when it comes to bottoms. The shorts and skirts are far too short. It is getting rediculous when it comes to shopping for me. Of course the chest issues is the opposite for me but I can feel the pain of what you go through with girls.

 

[golfgal]

Try the petite department. I have had some luck with DD there, but not a lot. We were looking for a dressier outfit for a band festival a few weeks ago but we couldn't go with a dress (she plays saxophone). We found some gaucho's but couldn't find a top that wasn't like you were describing, low cut, v-neck, need something other then a couple mosquito bites to fill out the top, etc. We finally found a top in the petite section.

 

[chasbos]

We have problems all of the time trying to find appropriate clothing for our 4 DD's.

We are having a really hard with our oldest DD who is 15. She is 5' 5" and only 100 lbs. So ladies sizes are often too big and Jr's too small. We have had luck with jeans but now that summer is upon us, we have not been able to find shorts!

All shorts are now down to the knees (which she hates) or they let your butt hang out (and she does not want hoochie shorts!!)

I think our only hope for this summer is for it not to get very warm! Good thing she goes to a school where she has to wear a uniform - we are good until July!

 

[golfgal]

We have problems all of the time trying to find appropriate clothing for our 4 DD's.

We are having a really hard with our oldest DD who is 15. She is 5' 5" and only 100 lbs. So ladies sizes are often too big and Jr's too small. We have had luck with jeans but now that summer is upon us, we have not been able to find shorts!

All shorts are now down to the knees (which she hates) or they let your butt hang out (and she does not want hoochie shorts!!)

I think our only hope for this summer is for it not to get very warm! Good thing she goes to a school where she has to wear a uniform - we are good until July!

Bermuda shorts are very in this summer. Maybe when she sees a few of her friends in the longer shorts she will change her mind. We got DD a couple pair of them and she really likes them. It is almost impossible to find a good length short for girls. Our kids' school dress code states that their shorts have to be at least as long as their fingertips when their arms are at their side. It is almost impossible to find shorts that long for girls (which isn't that long either).

 

[clh2]

Yes - we are experiencing this pain as well.

It takes twice as long to shop for clothes - hopping back and forth between the kids departments and the Jr.'s.

Marseeya - the swimming suit you did pick out foor your DD is really cute. But now that it is 11.99 online - do you think your target will do a price adjustment for you?

 

[tmt martins]

I know sizes will always be an issue.

But I swear it must be a bunch of Perverts designing these cloths for the tweens ( DD12) low cut showing everything.Writing on the butt (yea lets get everyone looking at my butt).I'm sorry I just can't stand not letting kids be kids.

Thank goodness DD is great with some Basketball type shorts and an oversized tee.She also has a few pair of Roxy board shorts for swimming .

 

[chasbos]

golfgal - she took one look at the board shorts and said no way! She does not care what others are wearing, she likes her own style and is just having a really hard time finding it right now!

I think it is a matter of comfort - for the last month she has been into track (spandex) and soccer (baggy) and those are comfy to wear!

Now if we could find a happy medium!

 

[MoniqueU]

Have you tried size 16 1/2 at Limited Too? They have some really cute stuff if you ask me.

 

[allie&mattsmom]

Oh I feel your pain! My 11 year old DD has just about put us in the poor house this year because of her growth spurts! She started the school year (5th grade) in a size 10, then went to a 12 for a short time, then a 14 and now she's in between a 14 and some 16's! I just found her a cute size 16 swimsuit at Kohl's. With swimsuiits we have a real hard time because she has a cute little "bubble" butt, so it's hard to find bottoms that cover her behind. I also got her some jeans at Aeropostle that come in short sizes, I think I got her a size 2 short. Good thing about Aeropostle is that it is cheap! Oh, and the bra thing...I'll be darned if we can find one that is comfortable for her but she's really at the point that she really needs to start wearing one.

 

[tw1nsmom]

When it comes to the low cut tops, could you layer a tank type t-shirt underneath?

 

[we3disneygo]

I have a dd who will turn 13 in Dec. we have had good luck at Limited 2, and at wal-mart this year for capri's , found 2 pair shorts at Dave and Barry's, the swim suit at Kohl's. it's a real ordeal shopping this spring.!!! good luck to us all!!!

 

[Marseeya]

Yes - we are experiencing this pain as well.

It takes twice as long to shop for clothes - hopping back and forth between the kids departments and the Jr.'s.

Marseeya - the swimming suit you did pick out foor your DD is really cute. But now that it is 11.99 online - do you think your target will do a price adjustment for you?

Thanks for the idea, I'll have to check! I can't just return the suit and order the one online because her class in school is going swimming tomorrow.

She looks really cute in that suit too. You can't tell from the picture, but the chest of the suit is pretty flat and has a very thin padding, but they aren't cupped. Almost every other swimsuit we looked at had definite cups. She loves the cups, but sorry -- it's not happenin'.

 

[VSL]

Can't stand a lot of the clothing for little girls these days.

The designers seem to just take the designs for 21yr old clothing and shrink them down. I mean, why would a pre-teen need a mini-skirt? Or really low-rise jeans? Or low-cut tops?

Ugh.

 

[clh2]

Thanks for the idea, I'll have to check! I can't just return the suit and order the one online because her class in school is going swimming tomorrow.

She looks really cute in that suit too. You can't tell from the picture, but the chest of the suit is pretty flat and has a very thin padding, but they aren't cupped. Almost every other swimsuit we looked at had definite cups. She loves the cups, but sorry -- it's not happenin'.

Marseeya - I just checked our Target sale flyer, and while the suit you bought was not pictured, the similar suits (with the separate tops and bottoms) were 11.99. That extra $6/each would make nice spending money for the day for your DD.

I find it interesting that her class is going swimming. They work so hard at our school to "minimize the skin/tummies/etc that is showing" that swimming sort of negates that whole effort.

 

[RangerPooh]

Have you tried JCPenney's yet? They carry extended girls sizes in Girls Plus. They have sizes up to 18.5 or 20, including swimwear. This might help to find clothing that doesn't look to 'old' for a young tween. Old Navy also has somenice things too.

I wish that more designers would make 'normal' looking clothes for this age range as the clothing that I sometimes se my niece in are eye popping. But this is what's marketed and sold.

 

[Becky2005]

Really, the only thing you can do is go to every place you can and try different sizes. It is a pain but when you find something that works buy it in every color!!!

I thought I was the only one that did this! I figured the cashiers thought I was nuts! My dd is on the small side and is beyond picky for how her pants fit her waist -- if we get the correct length the waist doesn't fit, if we get the correct waist it's way too short (I just *LOVE* capris! Solves that problem!). So far, Kohl's has been our best bet but that's not going to last much longer I don't think as she has gone through some growth spurts this year. She just started wearing a belt - before that it HAD to be elastic waist. So, when we actually found something that fit her well, we just went and bought "one of each color" - sometimes even 2 of the basic black/blue variety.

I also have started doing it with shirts because she seems to be hard to fit properly there too.