Tween Fashion Finds

Okay, peeps.

Holy goodness.

There's a lot about parenting that's a constant learning curve.

But there's also a lot that can be learned through in-the-weeds experience.

And if there's one thing I've learned through the years (on the kid fashion front, at least), it's this:

It's not worth a lot of time and money to do back-to-school clothing shopping, because my kids never seem to know what they really want to wear until they launch school and start looking around and others.

Truth.

My first run-in with this whole wait-and-see-what-peeps-are-wearing situation occurred in 5th grade, with Chica.

We've never really done a whole heaping lot of shopping just before school because temperatures are still hella hot where we live and nobody is all that interested in buying the same hot weather clothes they're sick of by that point.

So our tendency has always been to buy: 1) a pair of shoes, and 2) just a couple of tops, and call it a day until autumn. 

And this tendency toward holding off solidified in a major way about four years back (in that 5th grade year of Chica's) when I realized that my kiddos were inevitably going to have a fashion crisis of some variety that we'd need to address, and I realized it was a whole lot more efficient to just wait to shop until we knew what that particular crisis--or need--was going to be.

Enter: CHICKET.

If you know and love my middle born, you are aware that she does not like to shop. Like, at all. Will pretty much do anything to avoid it, and has long preferred that I act as her personal shopper, doing all the legwork (and hefty return work!) to spare her the effort of going and doing.

NOT an efficient process.

But, if you know and love my middle born, you are also probably aware that this is sometimes the path of least resistance. It's often better to just cave and go shop for her and buy a slew of things she *might* like, than drag her unhappy and unhelpful, along for the ride, ha.

So.

When she came to me about a week ago and told me she wanted a pair of jeans, I was equal parts excited--and terrified.

I mean, the horror. The Everest! Buying my jean-averse (at least, up to this point in her life) tween, a brand-spanking-new middle schooler some jeans, off the cuff, without her guidance and input???

An impossible task!

But if there's one thing I've learned about Chicklet's clothing needs, it's that impossible tasks are just part of the game. Oye.

I spent one afternoon, last week, sweating until I thought I would pass out in triple-digit temps, running to several places, buying a whole slew of options for my girl, imagining her possibly-heinous reaction to all of them, and...you know what???

I brought nine pairs home, and we had ONE winner! Woohoo!

And one kind of substandard runner up, but you know what? That's a victory to me!

Welp. Fast forward to the next day, when she actually wore the jeans (a fun, black pair, actually) to school, and it was a MAJOR moment. :)

However.

There was a bit of angst to go along with the Black Jeans Wearing because my girl didn't have any shirts she liked with the jeans, so she had to do the hilarious and obvious thing: steal something out of her sister's closet!

I DIE.

First time this has ever happened, and it warmed my heart--and Chicket's, if her Cheshire Cat smile was any indication. She loved the fact that she could go into her sissy's closet and grab something, and her sister (who wasn't home at the time, as she had to go to school early, that day) was shocked and tickled when she crossed paths with Chicklet at school and noticed her "borrowed" clothing.

It was the CUTEST.

Until...the very next morning, when the first word's out of my Chicklet's mouth upon waking were: "Are my black jeans clean?"

And I was like: "You mean the black jeans you just put in the dirty clothes last night? Yeah--NO."

And I realized we were about to have a big, BIG problem.

Because once you tween up your wardrobe, there's no going back! (For the record, this is technically the second iteration of Chicket's teen glow up, since the first iteration happened last year, when she switched from colorful leggings to black, only black--plus fun cropped tops.)

At that point, I basically saw the writing on the wall, and was like: okay, I love you, but if you want more clothes--and specifically, more jeans--you're going to have to come shopping. With me. Because I just can't do this alone.

And Chicklet proved her interest in gathering up a few new clothing items, because...she agreed to some shopping! Reluctantly. Begrudgingly. But, she agreed!

Fast forward to yesterday, when we planned to send Coda pup to the play place for most of the day so we could have a family marathon of church, lunch, and shopping. What we didn't plan on was pouring down rain for, like, eight hours, which made shopping at an outdoor mall quite the ordeal. But...we were determined! In it to win it, if you will!

After gathering some intel from fellow Mama friends, we made a plan to launch at Abercrombie Kids for the greatest jean success of the tween variety (meaning shorter lengths in many styles, for the kiddos who haven't hit their massive growth spurt).

It helped in a MAJOR way to start with a successful store, because, even though it required lots (and lots!) of trying on of various styles and fabrics and cuts, we found two, versatile winners! Whew!

If absorbing trends by observation is at all a thing, it seems like Kids These Days are gravitating toward lighter washes. It's a thing for Chica (and her one pair of jeans, ha). It's a thing for all the kids I see at drop off. And it's become a thing for Chicklet.

It seems my Chicklet also enjoys herself some fun distressing to her jeans, which I love.

The above pair is a low-rise, baggy style (again; seems to be the trend). And if my kid gravitating toward it wasn't a heads-up that it's more of the style these days, the fact that the store carries this cut in 16 (yes, 16!) color variations was a dead giveaway, ha.

Blessedly, my Chicklet also really liked this higher rise, tighter-but-flared pair (also distressed; also in a light wash):

So we came away with not one, but two, fantastic pairs of good quality and decent price (bless you, buy one get one 50% off!), and it was a HUGE relief. And, yes, yes I did go online last night and order yet another pair of the low-rise baggy pair--in black. Because I know my girl. 

As part of this shopping excursion, we sent the men off to do something while the girls shopped, and it was a joy when I sent Chica out of the dressing room to find a random top for Chicklet to pair with the jeans as she was trying things on (because she was wearing a dress, since we were straight from church).

Anywho, Chica comes back with this adorable grey sweater that's kind of wide necked, so it fell off one of Chicket's shoulders and when she slipped it on, she started glowing. Loved, loved, loved it--and Chica was bummed because she wanted it for herself, ha. I see more sister swapping in the future!

It was really so precious to see them interact. And how happy it made Chicklet when she selected something that her sister liked, as well. They have VERY different styles, but it's adorable--and fascinating--to see the small crossover. :)

Okay. Now.

Jeans? Check.

One sweater? Check.

But we live in South Texas. So that sweater will come in handy in...oh, JANUARY.

So the real challenge came in finding tops. Because I've learned that if Chicklet doesn't have a full outfit, it's pretty much going to be a disaster all across the board.

Welp. By that point, Chicklet was over it. A couple stores is pretty much her max--full stop. So the hubby and I realized we were fighting an uphill battle, and that we should forge on alone. So we picked up Coda pup, dropped the kiddos off at home...and went back out into the fray, for MORE shopping, on Chicklet's behalf.

Oh, how we love this kid to go to so much effort for her!

I'm thrilled--and relieved!--to report that Old Navy really pulled through for us. I find that it's either an epic win or a colossal fail for me, in recent years, so I was so happy for it to be the former, this go-'round.

We found a few basic, fitted (stretchy, soft) tees; the kind that Chicklet was wanting to pair with her baggier jeans, and we basically scooped them up in every color. Especially since they were on sale!

Seriously--when I say we bought them in all the colors, I'm not really exaggerating. The only one Chicklet flat-out rejected was the hot pink (and I got to say I told you so to the hubby, on that one, ha). Hysterically, when I pulled the white one out of the shopping bag once we were back home, Chicklet scrunched her nose in judgment, wondering when she'd ever wear just a plain, white top.

And, do you know what she wore, today???

That's right. The white top! Sometimes, Mama knows best!

Better still...the hubby and I took a risk and bough Chicklet some nicer sweatpants, thinking she'd probably reject them, and do you know what she wore, today??? That's right: the sweatpants! Go figure.

My girl was happy and light, this morning, dressing in her new clothes. She loathes posing for pictures, but I snapped a couple of candids that she didn't yell at me for, ha:

So cozy. So cute. So tween-y.

It was so lovely to see her in a positive mood--in part, thanks to her clothing. In fact, when I dropped her off at school, as soon as we pulled in, she said, "It's bright and happy today. It's going to be a good day." And I know her mood was boosted by her new gear. She came home solid and stable, too.

I know it probably seems obnoxious (and uber privileged!) that my kid could request some new jeans and we could buy a whole slew of items that basically amount to a mini wardrobe-lift in one weekend, but if there's one thing I've learned with my Chicklet, it's that we have to roll with the momentum when she requests it! Because it will be light years before the willingness comes around, again.

Middle school is tough. But my beloved middle born is handling it with such stability. :) I'll share a longer post about her launch into 6th grade soon (I'm waiting to get a few more weeks under our belt before I make any bold declarations), but it's just fact that clothes influence moods.

They can build confidence, help kids assimilate, or simply just not feel different from their peers. And if a little bit of shopping once in a blue moon can help my girl feel happy in her skin, then I am here for it!

Okay. Whew! Long post after a long weekend!

I'm not gonna lie: this weekend was so busy with errands and to-do's that I had to cancel a couple of things this morning just to regroup and square up on life. But it was worth it!

And, now...onward and upward for this 5th week of school!

It's going to be a bit of a wonky one with two early release school days for Little Man (I loathe those days), plus the middle school Meet-the-Teacher night (tomorrow), and a whole host of other things. But...we can do it!

More soon, peeps!

Until then...over and out. :)