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Bella
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| Posted: Dec 17 2008 at 11:14pm | IP Logged
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teachingmyown wrote:
Usually, the girls wear hand-me-down dresses, just very pretty ones to highlight how special the event is. Some years I buy new. Costco had some beautiful, inexpensive dresses this year for my little girls to match. I was able to find a similar one on ebay for my 9 yr old.
DD12 is just so in-between right now! She doesn't fit in a size 14, but a 16 swims on her. We haven't had luck with petites, yet. She is also in-between as far as style. She doesn't want to wear a fluffy Bonnie Jean dress anymore  , but she certainly doesn't want to wear what is offered for "tweens" and teens. She is a tomboy which makes the whole process harder. If I could find her dressy pants and a pretty shirt, I would probably let her wear that.
I will probably hit the mall this week with her to find something. I have learned my lesson about mail order shopping for this child. 
Thanks for all the input! |
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Molly,
I just found a pair of velvety(word?) black pants at a thrift store-dd didn't try them on yet, but if they don't work out, I'm selling them on craigs. Now-the search for a blouse!! 
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Bella
Wife and Mom to my sweeties!
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Bella
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marihalojen wrote:
Marianna is going to wear the skirt we picked up for All Saints Day actually. She removed the icicles she worked so hard at sewing on the hem and we'll just top it off with a black tee probably. If we could find one with a bit of velvety edging that would be ideal as all the black in the skirt is velvety. We found it at Ross, one of our only clothing store options here. (KMart and Sears are the others  )
As for shoes, I love all the fun and different flats in the stores right now. The shoes you see in her picture are actually mine - black velvet with patent leather tips and heels.
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Jennifer,
Your dd is so beautiful! How clever to turn that skirt into a Christmas one-it will be very elegant!
I love her shoes! It's funny that you showed that,as I was at Kohl's today, and saw the cutest ballet-type flats-lots of colors,fancy to plain. On sale for $12, I think, and most styles came in her size! 
OT-We went to our parish's school Christmas show, and there were so many little girls in adorable dresses. So very sweet. I feel so glad,that I "soaked" up the times when my dd was little, and I was able to dress her in whatever I liked(for the most part!). (Sentimental cry...)
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Peace and Blessings,
Bella
Wife and Mom to my sweeties!
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marihalojen
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| Posted: Dec 18 2008 at 7:01am | IP Logged
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Oh Bella, I know what you mean, I have to stay wa-a-ay far away from the infant/little girl section of stores, esp. at Christmas and Easter.
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~Jennifer
Mother to Mariannna, age 13
The Mari Hal-O-Jen
SSR = Sailing, Snorkling, Reading
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Christine
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I know that this thread is almost a year old, but I have been trying to find a normal looking dress for my oldest (she is a little under 5'4" and no longer fits a girl's size 16 or Hanna Andersson 160). She usually wears a skirt and top to Mass, but she would really like a dress or two. All the dresses that we have seen in the Juniors departments or smaller clothing stores look sleazy and ladies's dresses just look too old for her. Why can't clothing stores sell dresses similar to the ones that Alice's girls wore for their Confirmation? If anyone has found a good resource for pretty dresses for pre-teen/teen girls, please share.
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Christine
Mommy to 4 girls, 5 boys, & 2 in God's care
Memories of a Catholic Wife and Mother
Pretty Lilla Rose
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Bookswithtea
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Christine wrote:
| I know that this thread is almost a year old, but I have been trying to find a normal looking dress for my oldest (she is a little under 5'4" and no longer fits a girl's size 16 or Hanna Andersson 160). She usually wears a skirt and top to Mass, but she would really like a dress or two. All the dresses that we have seen in the Juniors departments or smaller clothing stores look sleazy and ladies's dresses just look too old for her. Why can't clothing stores sell dresses similar to the ones that Alice's girls wore for their Confirmation? If anyone has found a good resource for pretty dresses for pre-teen/teen girls, please share. |
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Those pictures are gorgeous. If thats the style you are looking for, I would try the Christian and Mormon online sites that cater to modesty. Hanna Lise, New Creation, Lilies of the Field, etc. Run a search under modest dresses to start. Fwiw, my almost 13 yr old is 5' 3" and we are having the same problem, but we are sticking skirts, mostly because its just easier. Fwiw, a Lands End 16 or a plus sized 14 (these are almost the same size) will still fit my dd. They carry their girls sizes to bigger girls than HA. As an aside, I found out from LE customer service that a size 7 girls shoe is the equivalent of a women's size 9. Their customer service is also awesome about finding out the length. I call them all the time to check on length before ordering. They have free shipping coupons almost every day now, or you can go to Sears and order from the store with free shipping as well. Here's a few that might work?
this one in red plaid
this one in black with red tights and a hair ribbon, maybe?
Here's aholiday skirt that would look nice on a preteen girl with a pretty blouse.
And we have this skirt in a 16 and I can tell you it comes to her knee. Its super cute without being babyish when worn with two layered tops, tights and flats.
I would call to double check on length, but most of the time, they are long enough and my dd is tall. The only exception would be the simple knit dresses that we all love so dearly for our little girls. They run short for tall girls over age 10, imho. Hope this helps.
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Blessings,
~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and  due 9/10
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melanie
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Nope. (sigh)
My daughter is 13 now and built like a woman, God help us all. She likes clothes, likes young looking styles, so it is a constant battle. Even finding shirts that keep her covered in all the right places and still look "cool" has been an issue. And I have to just crack up at some of the shoes she pulls of the shelf to ask for,,,,
I have no idea what to do for Christmas for her. Last year we could still pull of a Lands End in their biggest girl size...that won't be the case this year.
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Melanie
homeschooling Maria (13yo), Kain (10yo), Jack (5yo), Tess (2yo), and our newest blessing, Henry Robert, born 4/23!
slightlycrunchycatholic.blogspot.com
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Bookswithtea
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I just remembered, we had good luck recently with Old Navy online for tops, too. They had these sweaters, which look really cute with a long straight black skirt, and they seemed to be sized generously.
here
and
here
Can you tell I've been shopping lately??? 
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Blessings,
~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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JodieLyn
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It's not cheap..
Dress from Territory Ahead
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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JodieLyn
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Also, think outside the box a bit.. if you can find a pretty dress except the neckline is too low.. can you fill the neckline with a pretty camisole or scarf.. create that layered top look some items have.. don't just think white or matching color undershirt.. but maybe for instance if the dress if solid black.. you could get a shiny mettalic pink to wear with it.
Or a sleeveless dress that would look good as a jumper with a pretty top under it.
Look for simple styles like some of the "travel dresses" and plan to dress it up with a scarf or jewelry or belt or jacket or such.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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Bookswithtea
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JodieLyn wrote:
Or a sleeveless dress that would look good as a jumper with a pretty top under it. |
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LE and Old Navy also have affordable Peter Pan or other feminine styled collar tops that look nice under jumpers, too. Dd has two jumpers we found at thrift stores that are nice for non holiday Mass, and we bought pretty collared blouses to go under them to dress up the look.
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~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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teachingmyown
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I have been eying that dress for me!
If your daughter will wear a turtleneck, Northstyle has some nice skirt and turtleneck combinations. My dd will not wear a turtleneck.
We have, once again, been spending hours internet browsing for a dress. She may end up wearing her Easter dress for Christmas. It is a lovely dress and covers her well.
What a struggle!
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Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
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Christine
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Bookswithtea wrote:
Fwiw, a Lands End 16 or a plus sized 14 (these are almost the same size) will still fit my dd. They carry their girls sizes to bigger girls than HA. As an aside, I found out from LE customer service that a size 7 girls shoe is the equivalent of a women's size 9. Their customer service is also awesome about finding out the length. I call them all the time to check on length before ordering. They have free shipping coupons almost every day now, or you can go to Sears and order from the store with free shipping as well. Here's a few that might work?
this one in red plaid
this one in black with red tights and a hair ribbon, maybe?
Here's aholiday skirt that would look nice on a preteen girl with a pretty blouse.
And we have this skirt in a 16 and I can tell you it comes to her knee. Its super cute without being babyish when worn with two layered tops, tights and flats.
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Thank you! I ordered the dress, holiday skirt, and some size 7 shoes. Hopefully they fit.
I wish that I could afford that dress for me.
Thank you to everyone for their suggestions and advice. Molly, I had never heard of Northstyle. They have some really cute clothes. I bookmarked the site for me. 
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Christine
Mommy to 4 girls, 5 boys, & 2 in God's care
Memories of a Catholic Wife and Mother
Pretty Lilla Rose
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donnalynn
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We are going to try a dress this year for our 15 yo from the Shabby Apple.
Our total came to more than we would usually spend but dd is helping by contributing the cat sitting moeny she will get this weekend. I am also hoping that she is almost done growing and we might get an extra year out the dress.
But others might want to look at their preteen section -not a lot of sizes but I thought some of the dresses were very nice.
For the life of me I do not understand why so many of the models are photographed in positions that suggest they do not have adequate control of their limbs!
We are going to try this one for dd - just ordered it today - we'll let you know how we like it. We added the red sash for Christmas.
My favorites were this one
and
this
There were others too - I thought they had a nice selection and the prices weren't too bad for a dressier dress. We did not like the ones with wierd collars and dd would not go for anything that had a bow or buttons.
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DianaC
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We hit a good sale at JCPenney a couple of weeks ago. We hadn't been there in quite some time and I was pleased with the dress selection. My daughter chose a very lovely dress that was also modest. The only problem was the short sleeves. Later, we went to Joann's to find fabric to make a pretty stole and hit another good sale. We're making a cream-colored stole with a beaded trim for her to wear with the dress at Christmas and a pink stole with a pink beaded trim for her to wear with the same dress to the Daddy Daughter Valentine Dance. The stoles cost only $4 apiece! 
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Christine
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My Land's End order arrived this week. This dress didn't fit my 5'3" daughter, but the holiday skirt did. It falls below my daughter's knee and she reallly likes it. She wants to wear it with a black velvet top, and black stockings and shoes for her Confirmation in December. Thank you, Books!
If anyone else is still looking for something for their daughter, the skirt is currently on sale.
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Christine
Mommy to 4 girls, 5 boys, & 2 in God's care
Memories of a Catholic Wife and Mother
Pretty Lilla Rose
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Bookswithtea
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Christine wrote:
My Land's End order arrived this week. This dress didn't fit my 5'3" daughter, but the holiday skirt did. It falls below my daughter's knee and she reallly likes it. She wants to wear it with a black velvet top, and black stockings and shoes for her Confirmation in December. Thank you, Books!
If anyone else is still looking for something for their daughter, the skirt is currently on sale. |
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Yay!!! Sounds really lovely. I think that skirt is gorgeous.
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Blessings,
~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: Christmas dress pre-teens
