Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Me again. I think she’d love a whole wardrobe for A&F. Problem is she doesnt need the brand name of it. And too much of it would be embarrassing. (not like when we were growing up. A whole wardrobe of A&F was a signal).

It’s too expensive to not even need the brand cred. One item in the closet is good.

I will only buy their tops if they have a small af on it. No big names like a billboard. They are hit or miss like many stores.

Is A&F popular with the younger set? Their rebrand seems to have targeted an older crowd and I see Aerie as being much more popular among the younger set who like that style.

Anonymous wrote:Me again. I think she’d love a whole wardrobe for A&F. Problem is she doesnt need the brand name of it. And too much of it would be embarrassing. (not like when we were growing up. A whole wardrobe of A&F was a signal).

It’s too expensive to not even need the brand cred. One item in the closet is good.

I will only buy their tops if they have a small af on it. No big names like a billboard. They are hit or miss like many stores.

Anonymous wrote:OP I think some lululemon pants are a safe idea and then she can watch what the other girls are wearing for a while.

I think it would be ludicrous to walk into a new workplace without feeling out the dress code and in middle school, that includes brands.

She doesn’t have to immediately buy everything to fit in, obviously, but it makes no sense to pretend that observing trends in middle school and considering participation is morally wrong.

Especially as a new student to the area I 100% support the idea that sometimes having some of the “right” clothes is valuable armor.

I totally agree and commend you for thinking of this. Middle school girls can be judgmental and mean. There are certain things you can influence and one of those is making sure she blends in fashion-wise.

Check out your school's social media posts from last year to see what the kids are wearing. Trends change but it will give you a sense of what's generally popular. My middle school aged DD doesn't wear any fancy brands. Target, H&M, and Gap are most of her wardrobe. We went to a lululemon recently and she wasn't interested.

Some middle school kids are totally in to the thrifting thing too. Mine is and you can find some good deals — Lulu, Aerie and the like….

OP I think some lululemon pants are a safe idea and then she can watch what the other girls are wearing for a while.

I think it would be ludicrous to walk into a new workplace without feeling out the dress code and in middle school, that includes brands.

She doesn’t have to immediately buy everything to fit in, obviously, but it makes no sense to pretend that observing trends in middle school and considering participation is morally wrong.

Especially as a new student to the area I 100% support the idea that sometimes having some of the “right” clothes is valuable armor.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Converse
American Eagle
Brandy Melville
Lululemon
Fill in with random crap from Zara and Shein

Any specific items in AE and Brandy Melville?

Oh, FFS. Let your daughter choose some stuff. Look, she won’t be cool just because she has certain clothes. She’s gotta do that on her own.

Lululemon , hollister crop tops , pacsun jeans ,, Zara jean , brandy Melville tops , garage jeans , Shein , aerie , American eagle jean shorts

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Golden goose are ridiculously trashed out and pretentious. $700 on worn tennis shoes. No.

Clearly what's in fashion is dictated by region. In my area (not DMV) only middle aged moms wore those - and that was about 5 years ago.

I live in a decidedly not high fashion suburb of a non coastal city and, even here, that was a mom shoe trend that died years ago. Are middle schoolers in expensive cooler places wearing them ironically now?

Nobody is wearing genuine ones. Chinese knock offs are always on trend and golden goose shoes are easy to copy because they're hideous.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Golden goose are ridiculously trashed out and pretentious. $700 on worn tennis shoes. No.

Clearly what's in fashion is dictated by region. In my area (not DMV) only middle aged moms wore those - and that was about 5 years ago.

I live in a decidedly not high fashion suburb of a non coastal city and, even here, that was a mom shoe trend that died years ago. Are middle schoolers in expensive cooler places wearing them ironically now?

Anonymous wrote:Golden goose are ridiculously trashed out and pretentious. $700 on worn tennis shoes. No.

Clearly what's in fashion is dictated by region. In my area (not DMV) only middle aged moms wore those - and that was about 5 years ago.

I would not do a lot of shopping ahead of time as trends vary by school and social group. Let her feel out the school and get to know her peers a bit before committing to a style.

Neutral (not label focused or trendy) basics can work until she has a firm idea of what she wants. This is also only my advice if she doesn’t already have a strong personal style in which case she should continue with that.

Imo expensive labels and trendy items can, in some cases, come across as desperate and try hard. Don’t blow a bunch of cash on labels before your daughter even knows what she likes and what her peers are wearing if she wants to emulate them

Most MC kids wear Converse in solid colors, Nike Blazers, and Air Maxes. My daughters also have Dunk Lows, Uggs, and Birkenstocks on their Christmas/birthday list but Birkenstocks aren't super practical, Dunks are pricey, and Uggs are for winter. Please help the Croc trend die by not buying Crocs. A lump of plastic with holes isn't worth $50.

She's only in sixth grade. Most of the girls I see wearing Golden Goose are older high schoolers and the kids I see wearing Aviator Nation are at least in eighth grade. For a sixth grader I would try Target (the All in Motion brand), PacSun, American Eagle, and, Altar'd State. JC Penney has two brands for juniors-Arizona and Forever 21. Most wouldn't think to check at JCP but they have good sales-we have found some cute tees and affordable sweatshirts there. I would buy her one Swiftly Tech from Lulu. We've found some good jeans at Hollister.

I agree with the person who said Ambercrombie is the rich elementary school brand. No middle schoolers I've seen wear it.

Anonymous wrote:These posts have no value. It doesn’t matter what is considered “cool “. It matters what your daughter likes. People have said it over and over go to the mall where there is a large variety of stores, look in the stores, try on what she likes and buy it.

I have three kids with three distinct styles of dress. Their favorite stores are not the same.

One suggestion - There is nothing cool about $40 plastic shoes called crocs. Buy some decent footwear.

Every middle school girl I know is currently wearing crocs everywhere. We are in an UMC neighborhood.