Tween girl clothing sizes... skinny!!

[dixielander]

Hi,
My daughter is 11 years old (this month), and will be starting middle school this fall. She is switching into a public school, from a catholic school, and will no longer be wearing a school uniform. I've started our "spring" shopping lately, and have noticed that alot of the clothes seem to run so "slim".

Now, my daughter is by no means skinny, but she is absolutely average by all charts, pediatrician (50 percentile), and being a nurse in an ER, I see alot of kids, she is not heavy. Does anyone else notice how slim the shirts are cut?? I've had to buy her a medium at Aero, and the tee shirt still seems to fit snug. I can't even buy clothes for her at Abercromie kids, they seem to be even slimmer!!

Just looking for someone to share my frustration!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My dd is 13 and 5' 1". She is pretty much done growing. She does not fit into anything skinny or petite and she is not overweight either. She is only 96lbs.

We still have not found a place to get her pants. I know shorts are out now and over spring break we will be going into the trenches trying to find clothes for her.

As far as shirts, you just have to try on stuff until you find what fits here. She may fit into a med. at one store and a small at another store. Trial and error to find sizes really.

Make sure you are looking at JR sizes for shirts.

Good Luck!

 

[mjkacmom]

They styles are definitely form-fitting. My dd13 is 5'4", 120, and wears a juniors medium. I feel very sorry for chubby teens! Unfortunately, dd13 is also a C cup, so I'm not thrilled with the styles these days.

 

[AshleyW]

My dd is 13 and 5' 1". She is pretty much done growing. She does not fit into anything skinny or petite and she is not overweight either. She is only 96lbs.

We still have not found a place to get her pants. I know shorts are out now and over spring break we will be going into the trenches trying to find clothes for her.

As far as shirts, you just have to try on stuff until you find what fits here. She may fit into a med. at one store and a small at another store. Trial and error to find sizes really.

Make sure you are looking at JR sizes for shirts.

Good Luck!

Have you tried American Eagle for pants for her? I'm 5'0", and their "short" inseams seem to fit just about right.

 

[jel0511]

DD 11 kids clothes don't fit her anymore, nor would she be caught dead in them!!!! She is about 5' and weighs under 100lbs. She wears a 1/2 short and a small top at Aero. The tops aren't too tight or form fitting at a small for her, but there is definitely a different fit there than child tops.

 

[luvmy3]

Yes and I am so thankful for it. I'm sorry, I know how hard it is to find clothes to fit your dd right, I have always struggled with it. Mine is very skinny and there was a time when nothing ran slim and "slim" sizes were HTF and now I can finally choose between things instead of being stuck with them.

I don't know if this will help but I noticed the new Tees I got her from Hollister are not as slim fitting as the ones she had gotten last year in the same size. Maybe the have changed their sizing.

 

[CruiserMom]

I can relate.

DD11 (12 next month) is 4'9" and 85 pounds (slim), and does not like anything to fit her tight or be revealing. I often buy girls plus size just to give her more "sideways" room, because she doesn't want anything clinging. When I move up to Junior sizes, everything is still too slim-fitting and lowcut, and usually the tshirts are thin material (she is very shy about her developing body). Women's size small usually don't fit because she has narrow shoulders.

I am at a loss.

 

[honugirl]

It's not just tween sizing that's doing this, it's all girls/women's clothing. I get so depressed when I go shopping. I can never buy anything that's cute or girly. Even the plus sized stuff is running really small these days. I grabbed a 3x top off the rack the other day which should have been huge and it was skin tight. I went to Dick's Sporting Goods yesterday and couldn't believe how tiny the stuff is especially Nike and Under Armour. I literally want to cry every time I go to the mall.

 

[carone0318]

OP - I do not have the same frustration as you, but do have a difficult time shopping for my dd. DD is 13.5, she's about 4'9" (this may be a generous height) and weighs about 80#.

She wants to look like her school friends when she is not in school (catholic school with uniforms). I need to find clothes that look like a teenager but in her size.

I am starting to get better and find that I can get a way with t-shirts from Aero, Hollister and such, but nothing that is v neck or scoop as they look ridiculous on her. I buy all bottoms at 77kids (AE's kids line) or Abercrombie.

I just want you to know that I sympathize with you as I deal with this everytime I go shopping for dd.

 

[lilybrooke14]

It's not just the big girls. I'm finding the same thing and DD is just shy of 4! She's tall and slim. 41in tall and 38lbs. I've bought her 5T shirts in the boy's section, and in the girl's section and the ones from the girl's section are cut so much slimmer! I've noticed it the most at Target and Gap. I picked up a super cute pink sparkley Mickey Mouse shirt from the girl's section of Target last summer. It's a 4-5. It fits her like a tunic, so she wears it with leggings, but I still can't believe how slim it's cut. Who are they making these clothes for? Makes no sense.

On a side note, what's with the shorts? Have all little girl's shorts always had a 1 inch inseam? I've gotten all bermuda shorts for this summer so far. The others that she's tried on have just been too short!

 

[ZachnElli]

I was gonna say I noticed this in women's clothing also. Everything is going toward form fitting. I think it's funny, for years I had a hard time finding pants to fit my slim DD, but now it's not so hard. She's 11, 5'3" and 100 pounds. I'm afraid she's going to be like my niece who is 5'11" and 130 pounds (just turned 15 yesterday). She is built just like her cousin! I'll have to special order her jeans if she does, at least my sil gave me the website to order from! (alloy.com)

 

[HelenePA]

My boys are so easy to dress! HA! Now my girls.. they could not be more different in body shapes! DD7 is a stick of nothing.. I need adjustable waist slims for her.. yes that's right slims are tooooooo big! DD9 fits in to a size 10 girls pants just fine (yay) but shirts? forget it! She has such a long torso everything is like a belly shirt on her... Today she is wearing a size 12 girls shirt from the gap and I almost made her change it before she left for school.. its getting to be one of those that is WAYYYY too short shirts Plus size falls off her shoulders she is not overweight... just long torso.. she's about 4'5". I'm guessing next stop is the juniors section for shirts for her?

 

[Mrs. Charming]

It's not just the big girls. I'm finding the same thing and DD is just shy of 4! She's tall and slim. 41in tall and 38lbs. I've bought her 5T shirts in the boy's section, and in the girl's section and the ones from the girl's section are cut so much slimmer! I've noticed it the most at Target and Gap. I picked up a super cute pink sparkley Mickey Mouse shirt from the girl's section of Target last summer. It's a 4-5. It fits her like a tunic, so she wears it with leggings, but I still can't believe how slim it's cut. Who are they making these clothes for? Makes no sense.

On a side note, what's with the shorts? Have all little girl's shorts always had a 1 inch inseam? I've gotten all bermuda shorts for this summer so far. The others that she's tried on have just been too short!

DD is 2 (yes 2) and I'm noticing this too. What gives?? I have to buy a 4T in shirts for DD, sometimes a 5T. She's not chubby, another 50th percentile, shes just average. I just don't get it. Why does this have to start so young?!!

 

[HelenePA]

DD is 2 (yes 2) and I'm noticing this too. What gives?? I have to buy a 4T in shirts for DD, sometimes a 5T. She's not chubby, another 50th percentile, shes just average. I just don't get it. Why does this have to start so young?!!

My 1 yr old son is in 3T's some 4T's but he's huge

 

[mamamary]

My DD just turned 11. She is about 5 ft. 1 and around 100 lbs. We just went to Aero. at the mall. Some of the shirts looked like they were about 5 in. wide. She picked out two shirts and we got a large. I guess she'll be too big for that store soon. Very annoying. Then we went over to Justice. Those clothes seemed much more like you're normal size clothes. I even saw some pants and shirts that went up to size 16. The pants also seemed to come in slim, regular and (i forget the wording) for a larger size. We did very well with clothes there. We also found the junior dept. at Kohls had alot of clothes. Never thought she'd be considered a junior already. We tried American Eagle and I just don't really like those clothes (my dd either).

So yes I def. get your frustration.

 

[AshleyW]

I was gonna say I noticed this in women's clothing also. Everything is going toward form fitting. I think it's funny, for years I had a hard time finding pants to fit my slim DD, but now it's not so hard. She's 11, 5'3" and 100 pounds. I'm afraid she's going to be like my niece who is 5'11" and 130 pounds (just turned 15 yesterday). She is built just like her cousin! I'll have to special order her jeans if she does, at least my sil gave me the website to order from! (alloy.com)

Delias.com is another good one for jeans. They have a lot of the special sizes like Alloy.com does.

 

[abdmom]

Try Lands End. DD11 has been growing like a weed - most clothes fit her just fine. I bought some jeans last month at Lands End and they're just hanging on her - she's around 25th percentile.

 

[Kit'smommy]

I would second Land's End. I pick up some things for my cousin there and find they are a bit more generous.

I wish I had this issue with boy's clothing. My son is 44 inches tall and 38 pounds. We can not find anything that is both narrow and long enough for him.

 

[krcit]

I would second Land's End. I pick up some things for my cousin there and find they are a bit more generous.

I wish I had this issue with boy's clothing. My son is 44 inches tall and 38 pounds. We can not find anything that is both narrow and long enough for him.

I have the same problem with my ds. 8 slims are too big in the waist but too short, even if they are adjustable waist they fall off of him.

My middle dd is at that awkward in between sizes. I buy her 00 jeans at PacSun but she has to wear a belt b/c they fall off and are so low cut. My oldest is about 5'5" and 115 and she's ok in a 1 but wears a large in t-shirts..a large? Come on, she's a toothpick with ****s I dread trying to find bathing suits for both of them this summer. Neither one will wear a bikini and they insist on the long board shorts too. Ughh. I really feel for regular size girls...between the too small shirts and the short-shorts

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Have you tried American Eagle for pants for her? I'm 5'0", and their "short" inseams seem to fit just about right.

Are they reg. jeans? She will not wear low rise or any other funky sizing labels. She wants just plain jeans.

Thanks for the tip, we will look.