I know that this stage will pass fairly quickly given that we’re in the growth spurt stage, but clothes-shopping with my stepdaughter has become an exercise in frustration because of the trouble finding things that fit properly.
She is 11 and about five feet tall w/long legs.
Pants/shorts: wears girls’ 16, but some 16s don’t sit right…legs too short, or too tight in the waist/crotch area (she is normal weight for her height, but has a round middle, plus she tends to pull her pants up too high). How the heck do I start figuring out her size here in juniors or adult? She doesn’t have any hip development, so when I had her try on a pair of adult pants recently they were ridiculously saggy in the rear and hips.
Shirts: she has to wear polos for school, so women’s small fits her for this. The issue is casual shirts: kids’ XL has recently become too tight in the chest area, but when she’s tried on shirts from the junior section, they are too floppy/loose in the chest area. We’ve had some success with X-small shirts from the adult section, but she still likes fun, colorful stuff…maybe I just don’t know where they sell colorful shirts, since my wardrobe is pretty much black, white & gray.
So…other parents…how do you even size kids this age? Just hope they grow quickly? I have moments (after we’ve been to five or six stores) when I think I should just outfit her in a burlap sack for the next year or so!
You might have some success in looking in the “juniors” section. Juniors sizing is in odd numbers, and the styles and cuts are supposed to appeal to and fit young teens. Your daughter might like some of the styles. On the other hand, young women’s and girls’ clothing these days seems to have been designed to sell at WhoresRUs, so I don’t know if the styles will be appropriate.
Have her try on a few skirts, even if she normally doesn’t wear them. That’s what my daughter wore during that time, and it might solve the length issue.
Next time you’re shopping go to the girls section and find a pair of size sixteen pants. Bring them with you to the juniors’ department. Hold the pair of 16s to pairs of juniors pants until you find a size that more or less matches up in width (going by the waistband held flattened) this size is your starting point, and have her try on pairs both this size and the next size up since you said the waist in 16s could be tight. My prediction is that it’ll shake out into the 5 to 7 size range, because when I was in college and wore a woman’s size 6, both girls size 16 for shorts and juniors size 7 for pants would also fit fairly well.
From my experience, I’d say you’re not going to be able to figure out a size. She’ll have to try everything on. Not only will every company be different, every style is likely to be a little different . My daughter was wearing sizes 00 , 0 and 1 all at the same time. If I remember correctly, junior sizes are not just meant to appeal to teenagers, they are also cut differently than the misses’ sizes and I think one of the differences is in the hips.
Welcome to being a woman! I still have to do this and I’m 35. My closet contains clothes labeled as size 4-10, all of which fit me. I don’t know any adult women who can assume something will fit based on the size label.
I would try Old Navy – very teen oriented, and cheap so you won’t feel bad if it only lasts a season.
I have really straight hips, I’ve found that juniors generally has a more narrow cut, but there’s plenty in misses, you just have to look. If you hold up a pair of pants in the store you can tell just by looking if it has a full-hip cut or not, you can see if it curves out at the hip or is straight like mens pants. I actually rarely buy juniors (don’t like quality and styles), I find plenty in misses but yeah, you just have to shop and try stuff on. There’s not really a short cut. Once you find some brands you like then it’s quicker, there are some labels that I just know are cut for woman with hips and I don’t bother. FWIW I have luck with the Sonoma line at Kohl’s – nothing special about them, its just what works for me. I still have to try everything on, even within a line it varies, but I can usually weed out a lot before I go to the fitting room by looking at the cut.
Hopefully she’ll grow soon. I can wear kid’s size 14 (but arms and legs are too long for pants/ls tops) and juniors 00/0 in stores where the sizing is small enough. I have to try lots of stuff on to find things that physically fit, much less flatter. I have hips and a small middle so whatever doesn’t fit me (plenty) will be great for your daughter. Everything made for this age group is very stretchy, that sure helps.
Before I had hips I was a similar size and mostly wore boys pants. Worth a try, they have ‘stylish’ options in boys these days (skinnies).
So where are you taking her? I don’t know what’s available where you live… I’m really limited by the general sizing increase of the last few years, so I only shop at: PacSun, Abercrombie, Aeropostale, American Eagle and the kids and juniors section at Macy’s, TJ Maxx and Ross. All of these tend to be cut small, and have trendy clothes geared towards teenagers. Mostly they are expensive but they have great sales (all I ever buy is on sale).
My daughter is 11, 4’11" and 81 lbs. She’s ALL legs. For pants/jeans, I recommend Gap/Old Navy. They have a whole bunch of stuff in slim/plus styles. My daughter is wearing a 14 (for length) slim but they do go up to a 16 slim if you need additional length.
Also, websites like Boden (super cute clothing, pretty expensive, which is why I use Gap and ON for basics) has their MiniBoden line (up to size 14, IIRC) and Johnny B line (for tweens and teens, my kid is a small there) and have all their inseam measurements available if you call.
Target has a great assortment of clothing, cheaply, especially for shirts. My kid wears an XL in kids or an XS in adults. The majority of their adult clothing is really not stuff real adults would wear. Check it out, you may be pleasantly surprised. We cruise through there every single time we go to Target and she never fails to come out with a shirt or two (generally $10 each). They don’t last long, but when she’s grown an inch in the last month, they don’t need to.
Justice (formerly Limited Too) is horrifying but they’re good for basics and if you sign up for their mailing list, they send regular coupons for 40% off their already pretty low prices. Plus, they have bras, which somehow makes it okay for my kid to try one on. I have no idea.
Good luck. With clothing, estrogen, puberty, tantrums and slamming doors…it’s a wonder more tweens aren’t killed by their parents. I guess it’s just the financial investment that keeps us going.
My husband said something completely innocuous to our daughter a few weeks ago and she said, “Thanks for the info Captain Obvious.” He had the nerve to call me and complain about it! I laughed and told him that I’d rather deal with snark than the, “I HATE YOU! YOU ARE HORRIBLE!” just because I told her that she needed to use deodorant more judiciously.
Sorry, missed the edit window. Because your daughter sounds similarly built to mine, make sure you look for the slim sizes at Justice. If they don’t have any out, ask someone. I live in an area with a lot of skinny Asians (and tweens are generally coltish anyway) so the floor seems to clear of slims first.
You might also need to alter her clothes for a while. She sounds a lot like my almost 11 yr old daughter…SO hard finding pants that fit… is almost impossible; if they are long enough, they are a few inches too big in the waist. if they fit in the waist, they are capris. :smack:
I’ve put a few tucks in the waistband of a few pair which made them fit well.
She has a similar body type as a cousin and aunt on her dad’s side…tall, all arms and legs, slender/very small waist and hips…gonna have to farm her out to model soon. At any rate, they didn’t grow out of it…both had to have their pants altered indefinately.
At any rate, they didn’t grow out of it…both had to have their pants altered indefinately.