10 year old is too tall for children's sizes but I won't let her wear junior's...

[Misha]

My ten year old is too tall for children's sizes, but having seen some of the junior's clothing available, I'm wondering if petite women's clothing is the way to go. 


She's growing so quickly that I'm not overly fond on spending a lot on any clothes at this point since she outgrows them within 3-4 months at this point. 

Any brands or stores that you like for good quality, modest-ish clothes?  

[Crimson Wife]

Uniqlo has a lot of basics that are inexpensive, relatively modest, and as decent a quality as you're likely to find these days (which is sadly not saying much).

[marbel]

My daughter was in a similar situation a few years ago.  Is your daughter very slender?  Mine could not find clothing below a size 4. She wore a size 0 or 1 at that time.    Misses petites were no help to us at all.  Sorry. 

 

Do you have Primark near you?   One just opened near us and they seem to have some decent things.

[Loesje22000]

We went the XXS women size route with dd.

Or th short length sizes of women clothes sizes.

(After a lot of crying in the store why she didn't fit the clothes she still liked)

 

We also started to sew.

One pattern every time a different fabric for a different size, nobody ever noticed it was the same pattern :)

 

I can't recommend any brands.

(I don't live in the USA)

[mumto2]

When dd was that age we shopped the woman's sale racks for size 0. Not any particular brand, we tried on lots of clothes. Ironically my tall 10 yr old never grew much taller. She can still fit in petite sizes!

[Guest]

Well, whattya know?  I already learned something today.  Here is a description of the differences between petite and regular women's sizing.  I looked it up because when I was preggers a petite woman let me borrow her maternity clothes--the tops were great but the leggings/pants were all like crops.  I have a petite blouse size but long-leg regular britches size.  So now I know what was going on with those maternity clothes.  :0)  

 

In the U.S., a woman is generally considered petite if she is shorter than 5 feet, 4 inches tall. Women’s bodies, however, are not so easily categorized. For example, you can be petite and plus-size at the same time. You may find that petite sizes fit you properly below the waist but not above it -- or vice versa. Though petite technically means “short,†length is not the only difference between misses and petite clothing sizes.

 

Clothing Differences

Petite dresses and skirts are shorter than standard sizes and have smaller waist measurements. Pants are shorter with a smaller waist and also a shorter rise. Shirts, blazers, jackets and the top portions of dresses sized for petite women have shorter sleeves, higher waists and less material across the shoulders than their regular-sized counterparts. To truly flatter a petite frame, clothing embellishments are reduced in size along with the clothing pieces. Smaller print and floral patterns are used on petite clothing, as are smaller buttons and collars, and thinner belts. The pockets on articles of petite clothing are also frequently smaller.

 

[Dmmetler]

Lands End carries some things in "big girl" sizes up to a 20.

[TeenagerMom]

You can find plenty of modest Junior's clothes.  Misses more than likely won't fit right due to the fact that misses are cut wider for matronly hips, etc.  I'm 37 and still wear juniors because the shape of Misses just doesn't fit right.  Aeropostale carries great plainer tshirts and their jeans hold up very well and have resale value & if you catch them on sale, they are reasonably priced.  We also love Rue 21.  There are tons of cheaper clothes (great for outgrowing rapidly) that are modest.  You just have to look.  I can't imagine putting a 10 yr old in Misses styles either.  To me, that would look even more mature than juniors clothing.

[catz]

I agree if you shop juniors carefully, you can find things.  My 12 year old is moving over to more juniors sizes and it's been ok. 

[staceyobu]

My 11 year old is in 14 kid size. What junior size would she go to?

[Ali in OR]

We do okay with some junior clothing. I like Aeropostale and American Eagle for jeans because they carry a "short" version which my 5'2" middle dd needs (sales are essential, especially for American Eagle. Black Friday is a good day to shop there--everything 40% off). My other dd is taller and skinny--she wears the "regular" length and started fitting the 00 size last year at 5'2" and 90 lbs. For tops Aeropostale is good--nice longer styles that work with the lower waist jeans. Their online prices can be really cheap. My tall, skinny kid also likes athletic clothing a lot--she runs and plays soccer. She lives in Nike running shorts this time of year. Sweats are harder because she's so skinny, but I think she can now fit Nike women's XS. It's nice that they are long enough--kid sizes aren't even though the waist still fits. I cannot get the same kind of great shopping deals I use to be able to get when they wore kid sizes. I have to be willing to pay a little more to get the clothes that work for their body shapes and are a style that both they and I find acceptable. 

[Ravin]

We find a lot of cute things at Justice. They carry the girls' sizes up higher than most stores.

[Wabi Sabi]

Ditto the other posters. You may have to wade through some things that you don't want her to wear, but you'll find plenty of perfectly appropriate clothing in juniors sizing that will fit her properly in just about any store. Even stores that sell many things of which you may disapprove still will carry the basics as well. 

[Janeway]

I know plenty of people who will not allow their girls to wear juniors. Go with the women's department. 

[Farrar]

If she needs juniors sizes, I don't get why you would ban all clothing from every store that comes from that section. I'd just shop carefully as others are saying. She deserves to get what fits best.

[itsheresomewhere]

Do you have a justice near you? We are having quite a bit of luck with that store. Longer tops and pants.

[lynn]

My Dd still fits girl size bottoms. I like the junior size tops because they are longer. I usually fun xs/s tops not a huge selection but enough. Jc Penney and kohls works for us.

[mamiof5]

The junior sizes are a hit or miss. We used to have luck at Kohl's, old navy, Ross, Goodwill

[gardenmom5]

It's been awhile, but especially for dd (5'11"), I did end up in the misses dept.  the selection was better, and easier to find appropriate stuff than a jr dept.  jeans and t-shirts are pretty standard.

I did end up shopping JPC tall catalog (didn't carry tall sizes in stores.)

 

[Misha]

Lands End carries some things in "big girl" sizes up to a 20.

I've pored over the Land's End site and can't find anything above a size 16 even in plus, which is too short for my DD. 

 

Is there an area that I'm missing, I wonder. 

 

 

 

She's very, very thin, under 100 pounds. Dad is 6'5 and I'm 5'9, so we always imagined she would be tall, we just didn't imagine it would happen at this age.  :001_smile:

Edited August 16, 2016 by Misha

[Dmmetler]

Check the school shop-you can actually find a lot of good staple clothing items there

[Paige]

If she is very thin, the women's petite won't fit her. She'd probably have to wear about a 5/6 at least in junior's before she could wear the 2s and 4s in womens. The difference between juniors and womens is about more than just style, the clothing is cut differently. 

[Misha]

If she is very thin, the women's petite won't fit her. She'd probably have to wear about a 5/6 at least in junior's before she could wear the 2s and 4s in womens. The difference between juniors and womens is about more than just style, the clothing is cut differently. 

That definitely removes women's petite as a possibility then. 

[Misha]

It looks like Justice goes up to 63 inches in height. She's taller than that. Can I "practically/realistically" sew a wardrobe by hand (I don't know how to machine sew any more)? 

[mumto2]

Have you tried a Gap store? We have an outlet near us in England where I get some great deals and the clothing is cut to suit many body types. Skinny, curvy etc. Something for everyone. Dd has always done pretty well there....

[ktgrok]

Have you tried a Gap store? We have an outlet near us in England where I get some great deals and the clothing is cut to suit many body types. Skinny, curvy etc. Something for everyone. Dd has always done pretty well there....

 

Or Old Navy, which is a beat cheaper, since she is still growing fast. No separation of womens/juniors there. Pretty basic stuff, nothing raunchy or suggestive really. Shorts come in a variety of inseams, clearly labeled. 

[Beebug123]

We have had good luck shopping online Kohls this year. 16 1/2 and 18 1/2 tops online from the girls section and 3Short in pants from Juniors. She has been wearing Juniors dresses for awhile now because she has wide shoulders and her bust won't fit the girl's cut of dresses. It takes a lot of work to find things, especially with how picky she is on styles and how things feel but we've found enough.

[TeenagerMom]

I've pored over the Land's End site and can't find anything above a size 16 even in plus, which is too short for my DD. 

 

Is there an area that I'm missing, I wonder. 

 

 

 

She's very, very thin, under 100 pounds. Dad is 6'5 and I'm 5'9, so we always imagined she would be tall, we just didn't imagine it would happen at this age.  :001_smile:

 

Under 100 lbs probably needs a 0 or below.  You won't find that it misses at all.  I'm only 5'0.  When I weighed 95 lbs, I wore a 12 girls slim.  I couldn't wear juniors until after baby #2 at 105 lbs and that was a size 1.  Now at 120, I still wear a 5 juniors.  At 100ish lbs, size 2 old navy swims on me.  DD is 5'5 and wears a size 3 in juniors at 119 lbs.

[Beebug123]

Under 100 lbs probably needs a 0 or below.  You won't find that it misses at all.  I'm only 5'0.  When I weighed 95 lbs, I wore a 12 girls slim.  I couldn't wear juniors until after baby #2 at 105 lbs and that was a size 1.  Now at 120, I still wear a 5 juniors.  At 100ish lbs, size 2 old navy swims on me.  DD is 5'5 and wears a size 3 in juniors at 119 lbs.

 

I agree. Pants she will need something like 0, 00, 000 sizes which they carry at Aeropostal!

[Jann in TX]

Don't be afraid of the Jr's section-- there are LOTS of modest clothing out there-- but sometimes you do have to search for it.

 

Last week at Penny's we found dd some jeans that were just slightly below waist (they even had some 'at waist' in the Jr section-- lots of styles actually...).  We also picked up several cute shirts that had appropriate necklines and a decent weight to the fabric (plus I had a great coupon!).

 

When youngest dd was that size we RARELY got a complete outfit at one store. Justice was great for tops-- but not for bottoms...

[Joyofsixreboot]

I'm all ears. My 8 yo is fast out growing the length of girls size 14 but she's all of 70 pounds. I had to buy her a ladies small ballet leotard though it is pretty gappy and roomy up top. Weirdly sized kids present problems.

Edited August 17, 2016 by joyofsix

[Guest]

We had the same problem with dd. Aeropostale was the only jeans that fit right. For shirts, we went to Plato's Closet and had her get stuff that fit right. The brands that worked the best are what we looked for in the stores.

[zoobie]

It looks like Justice goes up to 63 inches in height. She's taller than that. Can I "practically/realistically" sew a wardrobe by hand (I don't know how to machine sew any more)? 

 

I don't think that would be very practical. I sew a bunch for my little girls, but it definitely gets more difficult with older kids and bodies. Sewing by hand would take forever and tends not to look very polished unless you're really, really good. 

 

My oldest is tall and outgrew girls' sizes early. We had luck with Target jeans and graphic tees. She layered the v-necks over thin tanks/camis, and they looked cute. 10 was a very awkward age for clothes because she didn't have the adult female shape to go with her height, so many things didn't fit well. She still lives in graphic tees most of the time! :)

 

Delia's had some cute things that leaned toward the "sweet" side rather than the more...mature side if I'm remembering correctly. Though it depends on what you mean by modest. (You want her to look like she's 10 vs the religious modest with long dresses?)

[Lady Marmalade]

I think you should just go to your local mall and really take a look around.  Look past the first racks in the store that are displaying the crop tops and short shorts.  This is a GREAT time to have a tween/teen, because right now the fashions are more modest than they've been in years.  I love all the loose, flowing tops and the distressed jeans that sit higher on the waist- usually with a belt.  Long skirts and maxi-dresses are still in big time, as are the shorter circle skirts worn with leggings. 

 

We've seen great things lately at Kohls, JC Penney, Aeropostale, H&M, Rue 21, Forever 21 and Old Navy.  Rue 21 is brand new to our mall, and I had a hard time dragging my DD out of there.  Lots of nice options and fairly decent prices if you bought on sale.  

[happypamama]

Justice has some decent basics, although a lot of trendy stuff that I wouldn't allow my DD to wear, and they have up to an 18 or 20. Very helpful when my DD was at the tween stage.

 

I have also has good success with small women's tops. I remember looking at the juniors section at Kohl's and being so disappointed in the quality of the shirts. They seemed so thin (which I realize is partly because layering is/was trendy). An adult size 4 shirt fit tweenage DD nicely and was a thicker, nicer top. Bonus is that if it was a little long, no big deal because she didn't have to worry about it riding up.

[purplejackmama]

I think Mini Boden would work. The girls size chart says up to 65 1/2".

[Guest]

I've pored over the Land's End site and can't find anything above a size 16 even in plus, which is too short for my DD.

 

Is there an area that I'm missing, I wonder.

 

 

 

She's very, very thin, under 100 pounds. Dad is 6'5 and I'm 5'9, so we always imagined she would be tall, we just didn't imagine it would happen at this age. :001_smile:

In the lands end adult section you can get pretty much any inseam done on the pants and they go quite small in size. Don't look in their kids or young ladies section for that. But for bottoms and tops the full out adult clothes can be customized and the tall selection is really good.

 

Don't overlook a tailor either, if everything fits but a gappy waist. It's cheap and easy to put in some darts or remove fabric from the side seams and you can do it yourself or pay modestly to have someone else assist. For anyone not of a completely standard size tailoring is excellent.

Edited August 17, 2016 by Arctic Mama

[lailasmum]

I have a very tall daughter and that age was hard. She's 12 now and filled out just enough that the smallest women's sizes fit properly.. She wears a mix of teens clothes too as the few ranges here do go up pretty tall they're just limited. It might just be an awkward couple of years. The smallest adult sizes in gap have been very useful, particularly in t shirts.

 

I would keep going looking at teen ranges. Not every brand does stuff that's too grown up. Next is somewhere we've had luck with because the teen clothing goes up to a decent height (5ft 10 supposedly) while staying slim in fit. I know they have international websites.

Oh and h&m tends to come up very slim so it's worth looking at women's sizes.

Edited August 17, 2016 by lailasmum

[Loesje22000]

 Can I "practically/realistically" sew a wardrobe by hand (I don't know how to machine sew any more)? 

 

 

I bought a little earlier a new sewing machine.

Not  so advanced as my mothers machine, but one easy to use.

It can sew in 3 speeds slow-standaard-fast.

DD uses the slow, my mother the fast :)

 

We use most often Simplicity patterns with some McCalls

I buy them at a Dutch webshop which categorized the patterns on sewing level.

 

A complete wardrobe sewing by hand would be too much for me.

As we were able to buy pants in women sizes, we mostly sewed skirts and dresses without sleeves so far.

The coming year we will start with  (easy to sew) trousers and blouses.

 

My sewing tempo is low so I can not sew a complete wardrobe before she hits a new size.

We mostly sew what not is available in the stores.

[Misha]

Though it depends on what you mean by modest. (You want her to look like she's 10 vs the religious modest with long dresses?)

This. That's my issue with so so many of the junior's clothes I've seen. 

[Misha]

I think you should just go to your local mall and really take a look around.  Look past the first racks in the store that are displaying the crop tops and short shorts.  This is a GREAT time to have a tween/teen, because right now the fashions are more modest than they've been in years.  I love all the loose, flowing tops and the distressed jeans that sit higher on the waist- usually with a belt.  Long skirts and maxi-dresses are still in big time, as are the shorter circle skirts worn with leggings. 

 

We've seen great things lately at Kohls, JC Penney, Aeropostale, H&M, Rue 21, Forever 21 and Old Navy.  Rue 21 is brand new to our mall, and I had a hard time dragging my DD out of there.  Lots of nice options and fairly decent prices if you bought on sale.  

This is so inspiring. My DD is very into boho-chic, she loves peasant tops, long skirts, and boots. Stevie Nicks is a favorite singer as well as fashion icon in our house!  :laugh:

[cera2]

My 11 year old is 61 inches and 86lbs. A 00 juniors size is loose on her.

 

After a few discussions with the managers at some of the more popular teen stores around here I have learned quite a bit about the fit of juniors clothes. A 00 is equivalent to about a 12-14 as far as waist size, a 0 a 14. Both sizes in regular length pants are made to accommodate someone between about 63 and 66 inches. Most of the "brand name" teen stores (Hollister, American eagle, etc) also carry tall and short sizes. Hollister and Abercrombie are the same company and cut the narrowest, American eagle is cut a bit wider, gap and old navy tend to be cut very generously and run at least a full size larger than other companies.

 

You might be surprised by what you find and the deals you can get if you shop the teen companies carefully. They always have good sales and plenty of jeans, t-shirts, etc that are no different than I was finding in kid stores.

[heartlikealion]

I don't know what size your dd wears but thechildrensplace.com shows up to size 16 and always runs sales.

[Bluegoat]

I would not sut out juniors if you can find lines that fit, you just need to look past the trendy stuff.  I haven't seen any that don't include t-shirts and jeans that are pretty standard.  If you can layer with some tank tops and leggings, it also makes things that might seem skanky alone, just fine, like shorter dresses.

 

 

[Lady Marmalade]

This is so inspiring. My DD is very into boho-chic, she loves peasant tops, long skirts, and boots. Stevie Nicks is a favorite singer as well as fashion icon in our house!  :laugh:

 

It's pretty pricey, but American Eagle Outfitters right now looks like it stepped right out of a boho magazine.  Makes me wish I could wear juniors sizes!  So pretty! 

[skimomma]

I would not rule out juniors.  My dd has been into junior sizes since she was 10 because she has very long legs and is quite thin.  We had to move to juniors to be able to find any pants that fit.  She likes very plain and modest clothing even though that is not something we require.  We have found plenty that fits that criteria.  We have also picked up a lot at thrift shops that we then have altered.  I also wear juniors even though I'm in my 40s because women's clothing does not fit me well.  I am also tall so need the longer leg lengths.  I find that women's longs are never long enough.  Obviously, I do not want to dress like a 17yo.  I do find plenty of plain staples.  I have the best luck with Gap, J Crew, Express, and American Apparel for plain basics.  

[Denisemomof4]

My daughter has always dressed modestly and has been EXTREMELY difficult to shop for due to her height and qeiggt, which are more proportional now. She is 5'11 and qeighs 132 lbs but was always skinnier than she should be, making finding the length qe desperately needed very difficult. Still, she has found PLENTY of clothing in all sorts of stores weiring junior conservative clothing. At had wver fit her.no time in her life would a petite

[Denisemomof4]

Had ever fit her

[katilac]

I would also not rule out juniors. It's just a size/age where shopping takes a fair amount of time - I mean, when my kids were 7, I could just grab a few cute t-shirts and a few cute knit shorts, and that was 90% of the wardrobe, lol. 

 

The v-neck of junior shirts can be problematic, especially if they don't have anything to 'hold it up,' but that is pretty easily solved by just sewing a contrasting bit of material into the v or by wearing a cami underneath. 

 

Other than certain 'fit' issues like that, I don't think it's super hard to find modest juniors. You just have to walk past the front row of mega trendy stuff. 

 

Super hero shirts are super popular right now, very cute for kids, and they are tons of them that are basic t-shirt style. Lots of boho stuff as well. 

 

You will have to put some time into it, but I think careful shopping of juniors makes more sense than misses or women's. Grown-up clothes are not nearly as fun, and she has a lifetime to wear them. 

[chiguirre]

Trinqueta wears a lot of basketball shorts because they're the only ones that fall below her fingertip (that's the standard public school/coop/every hs activity dress code) with C9 athletic shirts in a nice print for casual, summer clothes. Jeans are jeans once you find a pair that fits. I've had good luck finding nice tops in the misses' section of Target, but if your dd has narrow shoulders, I'd stick with the junior stuff. There are basics there but you have to look. Juniors and Misses are cut differently. Both dd and I can only wear Misses (even when we were tweens).

 

Happy hunting!