Teen DD wants a new dress for every nice occasion

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD is like this, and I'm frugal, so I get your pain. But with her peer group constantly wearing new things, I understood her feelings. We found a couple ways to make us both happy. First, she has a few cute tops and skirts that she can mix and match to make a "new" outfit from the same clothes. She also shares clothes with friends which also makes something seem new (again) when the friend returns it. She's good about scouring sales and Amazon for inexpensive dresses. Finally, she works and relatives often give her $ gifts, so she can use her own money.

+1, especially to the tops and skirts, but really all of it.

Also I think it depends on what you mean by "nice occasion." Wanting a different dress for each school dance, pretty normal. Wanting a different dress every time you've ever posted something isn't. Even social media influencers with tens of thousands or even millions of followers who get gifted clothes all the time will post re-wears.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is a dress worn six months ago, in summer, appropriate to wear now? You said every occasion but this is pretty rare.

OP here. One was a family event in early Sept. The next is a school trip to Florida coming up with none of the same people. Totally reasonable to rewear the Sept dress. In fact the dress she showed me she wants to buy is crazy similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is a dress worn six months ago, in summer, appropriate to wear now? You said every occasion but this is pretty rare.

OP here. One was a family event in early Sept. The next is a school trip to Florida coming up with none of the same people. Totally reasonable to rewear the Sept dress. In fact the dress she showed me she wants to buy is crazy similar.

Tell her to use her own money for a new one.

[Anonymous]

Tell her she can skip posting the dress this time then...

Also get her into using accessories and shoes to make the outfit fresh. A jacket or sweater etc can change the whole look. If she's into fashion, it's a good skill to learn.

[Anonymous]

Get her subscription to rent the runway for her birthday

[Anonymous]

Have her watch Buy Now on Netflix.

[Anonymous]

"Wants" should not be your concern, Op. As a parent, I assume you have lots of experience in being a good parent.

[Anonymous]

My Father was funny. He never seemed to notice the credit card bill if I went to the sewing store and bought whatever I wanted. I bought velvet. I bought expensive fabric.

He would have complained incessantly if I had bought new dresses frequently. So I sewed and made something new for every HS occasion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Come on op. I was in high school in the early 90s. You didn’t wear a dress twice back then either. We might borrow from a friend, but not wearing the same dress to two homecomings or proms if the same people are there.

+1

My daughter‘s friend started doing a dress swap get together the week before dances.

[Anonymous]

Tell your teen that buying a new outfit for every event is "mid" and have her look up Micarah Tewers. She'll be asking for a sewing machine. https://www.youtube.com/@MicarahTewers

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get her subscription to rent the runway for her birthday

Agreed, easy way to have a different dress for every occasion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I ask why she can’t wear “the blue one” we just got and she’s worn once, she says “I already posted that one!”

Is this actually a thing? I told her I am not buying disposable, one-wear dresses. She is usually pretty reasonable so this came as a shock to me. She agreed but acted really disappointed. This is clearly coming from the peer group which is irritating.

She needs a job is what she needs

[Anonymous]

Yes! Rent the Runway or Stitch Fix or something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, you allow your daughter to post pics of herself in dresses so this can hardly seem as shocking as you're making it out to be.

How many 17 year olds do you know not posting things? Just curious. I don’t know any.

Most of my DDs friends don't post. They're at fancy private school, so many parents value privacy and teach their kids about internet privacy etc. Only a few have social media accounts, most don't. I've been surprised by how similar the other families at DDs school approach this topic. Of course, it doesn't stop her from wanting a new dress for every occasion. We give her a monthly clothing budget and never a penny more. We don't have this issue anymore. I spent time teaching her how to buy quality basics and dress it up with trendier cheaper pieces.

OP, can you solve the problem by doing stitch fix or some clothing sharing program for formal/semi formal clothing?

[Anonymous]

I allow it because DD dresses are all relatively inexpensive from Amazon or online stores; plus DD is overweight so allow her to get what she wants so she feels she looks good.