In a couple of weeks Caitlin will be turning 13 years old. Yes, another teen in the house – oh won’t that be fun?
But seriously, at the moment she is still 12.
Just.
She’s going to be tall.
At 12 she’s already the same height as me and shows no signs of stopping. She shows a maturity beyond her years in how she behaves and in the way she presents herself, often being mistaken for someone older than her years.
But she’s 12.
Caitlin has her own sense of style.
Comfort above all else.
She still likes pink as much as she did when she was three and she can pull off any look at all, whether it’s in a pair of jeans and slouchy top or wearing a willowy skirt.
She doesn’t wear make up and hasn’t yet shown any interest in it. She likes to try different styles with her long hair. She likes to keep herself covered up. She isn’t a fan of vest tops or anything low cut. She doesn’t like skinny jeans and she doesn’t like short skirts.
And I agree.
Because she’s 12.
She is still a very young, very impressionable girl who is embarking on a confusing time of her life. Not a little girl any more yet not quite a woman.
Caitlin isn’t 22.
She doesn’t want to be baring her midriff in belly tops or showing off any cleavage she may have (oh, how she’ll kill me for that example!). She doesn’t want to be hoisting a short skirt down to ensure she’s not inadvertently displaying her underwear and she doesn’t want to be squeezing herself into skinny jeans.
So why can’t we find clothes that are suitable someone who cares about keeping themselves modestly covered up yet isn’t over the age of sixty?
Seriously, I am having a hard time trying to find skirts that are stylish, modern, pretty but long. It seems that shorts are the in thing this autumn and winter.
Shorts.
In winter.
Okay, so they are supposed to be worn with tights but still… shorts in winter? Surely you’d need more than than one and a bit layers on your lower half to keep you warm when the temperature is dipping into the minus figures?
She doesn’t want shorts in winter whether they’re paired with tights or not.
She wants comfy jeans. Not big, baggy ones just ordinary ones please.
And pretty skirts she can team up with a pretty blouse or shirt in the summer or with tights, boots and a snug old jumper in the winter.
Ones that preferably come to her knee at least.
That’s what she wants.
That’s what I agree she should have.
She’s 12.
Looking through the children’s ranges of clothes has shocked, saddened and in a few cases even terrified me.
What’s the hurry to wear little black dresses, and clingy clothes?
Why the padded bras for girls who have nothing to pad out?
Why jeans or track suit bottoms with “Tramp” or “Booty” across the rear?
Or skimpy tops with “Sexy” (or worse) emblazoned across them?
Why try to make 12 year olds (and younger) look sexually attractive? To whom?
And this is the kind of stuff available from toddlerhood.
Skinny jeans for 3 month olds? Really?!
Why can’t children be children?
Why do they need to grow up so fast?
Why?
Why do stores do it? Why don’t parents argue against it?
Why do some parents not argue against the whole TOWIE and WAG thing that girls really need to get away from? What role models are we encouraging them to emulate? That’s a whole other post, I guess.
Caitlin has her whole adult life to dress and act like a grown up.
But for the moment she’s 12.
Blog this!- Bookmark on Delicious
- Digg this post
- Recommend on Facebook
- Share on faves
- Buzz it up
- Share on Linkedin
- Share on Posterous
- share via Reddit
- Share with Stumblers
- Share on technorati
- Tumblr it
- Tweet about it
- Buzz it up
- Subscribe to the comments on this post
- Print for later
![bookmark](http://www.largerfamilylife.com/site1/wp-content/plugins/share-and-follow/images/blank.gif" height=)
Bookmark in Browser- Tell a friend
Well said I totally agree I have 3 little girls the oldest being 9 and it’s impossible to buy sensible clothes!
Have you tried Vertbaudet. They do have good sales and vouchers sometimes. Their clothes go up to 14 and the girls’ stuff is pretty. We have the same problem. Especially with shoes!
The other issue is her size! She’s already a size 10 adult and size 6 shoe and so kids clothes come up small for her. You can’t even find modest clothes for young adults!
But hasten to add that I do love, love, love Vertbaudet for the twins though! Especially with their offers
The Johnny B collection by Boden is very good, a little bit more expensive than high street stuff but an investment because the clothes are so well made from good quality materials they last for years and if outgrown can be passed on to siblings.
Also the prettier stuff in the older sizes is often in the sale. We pass them on and my younger daughter still loves it.
You should check out Joe Browns, they have some great funky stuff. Lots of long flowing skirts and some great vest top but they look great layered up with a long sleeve tshirt underneath.
I agree with you, it’s the same here in the United States. Could you please explain the references to TOWIE and WAG?
TOWIE is “The Only Way Is Essex” a reality/scripted tv show about 20 somethings in Essex….kind of like The Hills..but they’re all faked up with tans and boobs.
WAG is “Wives and Girlfriends” and generally referred to those who date Premiership Football (Soccer) players
I am finding the same issue with K who is 5, and even some of the high street clothes for A, who is just 21mths, are unacceptable! I don’t want my girls growing up thinking it’s ok to flash parts of their body or their “role models” to be the bimbo’s on Reality TV, or wear stupid slogans written across their chest or bums. Why can’t we have DECENT clothes suitable for their ages!
Does she want to learn to sew Tania? Even for adult women, it is amazing to me that the shops are filled to the brim with clothing, and yet so little of it appeals or fits.
Yes she does, Sandra. Which is handy as that is the only way she can get a skirt she likes. It frustrates me that stores and childrenswear designers think all girls want to dress in short skirts and skimpy tops.
Try eBay . I was having the same problem for my tall 8 yr old, found several lovely skirts on eBay. All about £2 each, great quality and hardly worn!
My little girl – at three years old – is almost exclusively in boys clothes for trousers and pyjamas because I refuse to dress her like a tart. Yes, she needs shorts for summer, but no, they don’t need to practically show her underwear and have tarty messages written all over them. Yes, she needs jeans, but why are girls not allowed to have basic, plain(ish) pairs that aren’t skin-tight, aren’t covered in more of the same tarty messages etc. SHE’S THREE. And don’t get me started on skimpy bikinis for toddlers.
I dread the time coming soon when she realises the difference and refuses to wear boys clothes any more. But either we’re in the minority so the shops stock what sells to the rest of the television and celebrity obsessed world, or… well, I don’t really know what the or might be. Perhaps other mums and dads with the same concerns have just given up, and think “well, this is all that all the shops stock, so it must be what’s normal”. Perhaps they just don’t care. It’s just sad.
i am feeling your pain, so sad, it is not even fun to take her shopping. I hate that we have to workso hard to keep our little girls little
I sell modest dresses for pre-teen girls and teen girls in my shop, although I must say that they sell pretty fast because of the lack of options in the market today for modest clothes for girls.
I don’t have young girls but I can imagine the clothes dilemma. A friend I met at a conference was tired of this and created an appropriate kids clothes line. Its called TrendyKidz, it Australian.
It’s strange, I have a 12 year old and I have no problems clothing her in anything modest at all.
She keeps herself covered up, looks good in the style she has chosen.
We tend to shop around a LOT for her though, it’s a combination to Peacocks, Joe Brown, local Market place and Tesco.
No short shorts, no vest tops, no micro skirts, just comfy clothing that reflects her style