Anonymous wrote:JohnnyB at Boden is a good place to look too.

http://www.bodenusa.com/en-US/Girls-9-16yrs-Dresses/Special-Occasion-Dresses/93166/Girls-9-16yrs-Darcey-Dress.html?NavGroupID=4

http://www.bodenusa.com/en-US/Girls-9-16yrs-Dresses/Special-Occasion-Dresses/93159/Girls-9-16yrs-Innes-Dress.html?NavGroupID=4

http://www.bodenusa.com/en-US/Girls-9-16yrs-Dresses/Special-Occasion-Dresses/93144/Girls-9-16yrs-Mara-Dress.html?NavGroupID=4

These dresses look more appropriate for an 8-10 year old, definitely not a 14 year old.

Anonymous wrote:OP, are you okay with it being strapless?

Our fcps middle school requires dresses for the 8th grade dance to be in dress code...straps at least the width of two fingers and fingertip length or longer.

JohnnyB at Boden is a good place to look too.

http://www.bodenusa.com/en-US/Girls-9-16yrs-Dresses/Special-Occasion-Dresses/93166/Girls-9-16yrs-Darcey-Dress.html?NavGroupID=4

http://www.bodenusa.com/en-US/Girls-9-16yrs-Dresses/Special-Occasion-Dresses/93159/Girls-9-16yrs-Innes-Dress.html?NavGroupID=4

http://www.bodenusa.com/en-US/Girls-9-16yrs-Dresses/Special-Occasion-Dresses/93144/Girls-9-16yrs-Mara-Dress.html?NavGroupID=4

OP, are you okay with it being strapless?

OP here. Thank you all! Sounds like department stores may be the place to go. We have Lord & Taylor and Macy's at our local mall, so we'll start with those. Thanks for the people who gave links to give me some ideas. Seems like bare legs/sandals are fine. And shorter dresses are in. Thanks to the middle school teacher for weighing in as well. I'm not stressed, I just don't want to make suggestions for something that is not cool or would be out of place. She just hasn't mentioned shopping or started looking for dresses because she's not a typical teen girl who is always shopping - she's the opposite of precocious Feel free to post more suggestions/links!!!

Just ended up at Lord & Taylor for my petite 7th grader. Even though she is still mostly in the girls dept, she found a few size 2 dresses she could wear. We found the girls dept to be very limited for this kind of dress. We started with on line browsing and then went to stores that seemed the most promising.

Anonymous wrote:Surprises she hasn't told you what she wants. Anyhow:

Ideas:
http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/city-studios-juniors-lace-fit-flare-dress?ID=2124605&CategoryID=18109#fn=sp%3D1%26spc%3D1069%26ruleId%3D%26slotId%3D7

http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/city-studios-juniors-pleated-dress?ID=2124610&CategoryID=18109&LinkType=#fn=PAGEINDEX%3D3%26sp%3D3%26spc%3D1067%26ruleId%3D%26slotId%3D110

Shoes
http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/xoxo-garnet-t-strap-flat-sandals?ID=2208680&CategoryID=17570&LinkType=#fn=PRICE%3D0.0|49.99%26sp%3D1%26spc%3D496%26ruleId%3D%26slotId%3D8

http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/style-co.-jodii-platform-wedge-thong-sandals?ID=2272115&CategoryID=17570&LinkType=#fn=PRICE%3D0.0|49.99%26sp%3D1%26spc%3D496%26ruleId%3D%26slotId%3D1

http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/white-mountain-solar-espadrille-wedge-sandals?ID=2277019&CategoryID=17570&LinkType=#fn=PRICE%3D0.0|49.99%26sp%3D1%26spc%3D496%26ruleId%3D%26slotId%3D12

I'm a middle-school teacher and these selections are all spot-on. As for why she hasn't told you -- maybe she's not sure what to wear herself; or maybe she is sure, but doesn't think you'll agree; or maybe she's hoping that one of the other girls will invite her to go shopping with her; etc., etc., etc. All perfectly normal within the vast spectrum of 8th-grade social-emotional development. You might ask her to settle down with you on the couch and show you a few pictures of dresses she'd like, or you can show her these. Then make plans to go shopping and have lunch or dinner after. Have fun with it and don't stress.

My 8th grader isn't even having a dance or graduation. I thought they did away with all of that

It's hard to say how fancy it will be without the details of the school. Private or public? My kid was an 8th grader last year at an area private and that Aeropostale dress would be painfully underdressed for the graduation dance. Something more like this - http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/bb-dakota-rhianna-illusion-yoke-lace-fit-flare-dress/4039615?origin=category-personalizedsort&contextualcategoryid=0&fashionColor=Jade&resultback=2285 was the style. But, there was probably more importance placed on the 8th grade graduation festivities at her school since it was a K-8 and they were spread out at a bunch of different high schools after being with (mostly) the same 50 kids for the past 9 years...so it was a biggish deal. At your average large, public middle school where they've only been there for two or three years and are mostly going to the same high school anyway, it's less fancy I would think.

I don't think you need to buy anything new - just have her wear a dress she wears to bat mitzvahs and call it a day. Of course she can wear bare legs and sandals.

My DD - 13 has a few casual dresses with sleeves from Aeropostal. They don't have much on their website with sleeves as they moved into the summer season, but you might want to check the store.
Something like this may be good but in a nicer print.


http://www.aeropostale.com/product/index.jsp?productId=56386556&cp=3534618.3534619.3534623.3541050.3128374

Surprises she hasn't told you what she wants. Anyhow:

Ideas:
http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/city-studios-juniors-lace-fit-flare-dress?ID=2124605&CategoryID=18109#fn=sp%3D1%26spc%3D1069%26ruleId%3D%26slotId%3D7

http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/city-studios-juniors-pleated-dress?ID=2124610&CategoryID=18109&LinkType=#fn=PAGEINDEX%3D3%26sp%3D3%26spc%3D1067%26ruleId%3D%26slotId%3D110

Shoes
http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/xoxo-garnet-t-strap-flat-sandals?ID=2208680&CategoryID=17570&LinkType=#fn=PRICE%3D0.0|49.99%26sp%3D1%26spc%3D496%26ruleId%3D%26slotId%3D8

http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/style-co.-jodii-platform-wedge-thong-sandals?ID=2272115&CategoryID=17570&LinkType=#fn=PRICE%3D0.0|49.99%26sp%3D1%26spc%3D496%26ruleId%3D%26slotId%3D1

http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/white-mountain-solar-espadrille-wedge-sandals?ID=2277019&CategoryID=17570&LinkType=#fn=PRICE%3D0.0|49.99%26sp%3D1%26spc%3D496%26ruleId%3D%26slotId%3D12

I would look in juniors and petites in Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, similar.

bare legs? Definitely don't have her wear panty hose!

My DD plans to attend the 8th grade graduation party/dance in a few weeks. How fancy/casual should it be? Where is a good place to shop for such a dress? What is a reasonable price to pay for this sort of thing? I definitely don't want to go overboard, but I don't want her to be too casual either.

DD is petite - she wears a girls size 12, so that may be a factor in where she can shop.

Help please!

ps - Is it appropriate to wear dressy sandals with bare legs? Where is a good place to find sandals that are dressy enough to wear with this sort of dress, but comfy enough to wear for dancing? (she wears size 6 women's) I'll take recs for a specific brand/style as well.