My daughter is five and a bit. (The bit is very important apparently, when you are desperate to be six). She is tall for her age and ever since she was two, I have been buying clothes that are at least one size too big for her. I want her clothes to be comfortable and I want them to last as experience has shown me that children grow out of clothes pretty quickly and having some room to grow is a good thing.
As my daughter has three brothers, I have started to notice something very different in the way clothes evolve for girls, which definitely did not happen with the boys; when you get to the aged 7 and over clothes, in some shops the clothes become more grown up and I have to say in some cases quite inappropriate.
Now I understand that in most cases, clothes are split into age groups where there are clothes for younger children and then ‘more grown up’ clothes for slightly older children, but I am not comfortable with dressing my five-year old daughter like a teenager. She is a little girl and a very girlie girl at the moment, which I love. I want her to wear dresses and pretty clothes, she enjoys it and it makes her look like a five-year old.
If I am honest, when I went shopping for some summer clothes for her the other day, I really struggled to find clothes that I liked. Some shops do have clothes for 7 or 8 year olds that I think are suitable for younger children, but so many don’t and I came away feeling really disappointed.
If you look at the clothes for boys in the same age group, there isn’t such a big difference. Yes the clothes might be a bit more ‘fashionable’ but many would look as nice on a two-year old as a twelve-year-old.
So for my daughter it is back to the drawing board with clothes for her for the summer. I could buy smaller clothes and try to squeeze her into them or I will have to widen my search and try to find other brands and shops that offer a bigger range of younger looking clothes. Alternatively, she will have to wear her dressing up dresses for the whole summer. She probably wouldn’t mind that too much.
A friend suggested making my own, but sadly she has never experienced my limited sewing skills, so that won’t be an option but if you know of any good shops or websites that have lovely girlie clothes, I would love to hear about them.
I know what you mean! My daughter is average-sized and at 9 is obviously older and more grown up, but I still think some of the clothes around are too old for her – some of the stuff in Next is OK, strangely I find M&S seems to jump straight to clothes appropriate for 12 year olds as soon as they turn 7. Good luck in finding something (or keep washing that Elsa dress!).
Sarah MumofThree World recently posted…Working at home: IT issues
Oh this is something I never thought about before but you’re right – there does seem to be a real difference in clothing for girls past a certain age. My two are still very little so don’t have any advice to offer with regards to brands that do more girlie stuff but good luck with finding some clothes that you like.
Louise recently posted…Friday Fabulous Five #31
I always find it easier to buy for boys. I’ve just spent half an hour buying for my friend’s 4 girls and they really do jump style wise and some look too old and vice versa. Same with the price, sheesh! I found Next is ok as is Monsoon but I struggle in other places.
It’s true that people sometimes buy age inappropriate dresses for kids. Dressing kids likes grown ups is bad idea. I think finding dressed for girls is easier as we have lots of options in design and models. For boys its very difficult. Big or small they always have few options—shirts, t-shirts, pants, trousers.
Interestingly I never seemed to struggle so much with my sons but I know what you mean, there is definitely less choice for boys in general. I just wish that clothes brands would understand that some kids are big for their age and not assume that parents want to dress their kids up like teenagers from the age of eight onwards. Thanks for commenting
You are right dear because i also had to face this situation. My baby girl is 6 years old and her height is good enough. The clothes which i bought for her in one season is becoming useless in another season. This is because she is at her growing stage. I always try to purchase the bigger size clothes for my baby. I also suggest the same to every mom to purchase bigger size clothes and saves money.