Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Start with an XS or a size 3. Now is probably a good time to introduce the idea that clothing size doesn't matter, that all brands are different, that she should buy what fits and looks nice regardless of what "the number" is.

This.

And if she shops places like Target and Old Navy, a women's XS is usually close to the same as a girls' 16. I'm a petite woman and shop in girls' a lot for basic pieces like t-shirts.

But OPs daughter has grown out of a 16, so she’s not going to be an XS. S would be a better bet.

I realize OP’s kid is 6 years past this age now and firmly in Juniors or Misses sizes by now. But for anyone else in this situation, try the smallest sizes at the teen stores and teen brands. 0 or 00 juniors at department stores and Target. Sometimes you have to order online. The smallest size pants at Hollister for example, fit a 23-24” waist size, so should be pretty comparable to the bigger kids sizes. Also look at Brandy Melville. There will probably be a few awkward seasons where she’s too tall and/or too mature for the girls department but small clothes for adult women will be hard to find.

My teen went from size 14-16 at Gap Kids to size XXS in women's.

Unfortunately, it’s totally unpredictable. When my oldest outgrew girls’ sizing, we went shopping and she tried on tons of clothing. That day, she literally bought 4 different sizes of shirts that all fit. She was busty. When my second outgrew girls’ sizes, she was a 4 in misses and a 3 in juniors and a total string bean. It depends on how your dd is built and the cut of the styles you’re looking at.

So much of this depends on brand.
My 12yo DD is the same size as yours I think.
She mainly wears athletic wear but even that varies. I tend to buy men’s small tshirts or shorts and women’s med/large.
A pair of jeans I got from Old Navy were a women’s 4.

Anonymous wrote:I found the sizing to be really unpredictable as you move into the smaller women's sizes - i.e. my daughter wore somewhere between a 0 and 4 depending on cut, brand, etc. She needed to try everything on to make sure it would fit.

Same. A lot depends on body shape too. Is your DD too tall for 14/16 or too curvy/wide? My curvy DD went from girls’ 14/16 to petite women’s 4 (small)

Anonymous wrote:In theory I think it should be a Junior size 2 but my dd went from a Kids 16 to a Junior 4/5. A lot of the junior and women's sizing depends on shape. My dd got curves early. She was not heavy or fat, just curvy. Your best bet is going to be to take her shopping and try on a few different sizes.

Similar with my tween —curvy hips and thighs - and women’s size 2 fit her.

Anonymous wrote:In theory I think it should be a Junior size 2 but my dd went from a Kids 16 to a Junior 4/5. A lot of the junior and women's sizing depends on shape. My dd got curves early. She was not heavy or fat, just curvy. Your best bet is going to be to take her shopping and try on a few different sizes.

+1 the kid/junior/misses/petites/women's are about the cut for shape. The sizes overlap a bit. Once you have a bust and hips, kids and juniors typically won't fit. Height begins to matter more once you are out of juniors too.

Anonymous wrote:This is such a bizarre thread. Op could figure out her daughters size by taking her measurements and looking at some size charts.

Girl maths.

This is such a bizarre thread. Op could figure out her daughters size by taking her measurements and looking at some size charts.

Women's and Juniors sizes vary so much that it's pretty much meaningless to discuss this without having a better idea of height/weight (at a minimum).

For instance, someone upthread said their 5'4" 95 lbs. daughter wears a Gap 00 or 0. My DD who's 5' and 93 lbs. is too small for anything from Gap. The only jeans that reliably fit her are from Hollister (XXS/000 Short; Waist size < 23" but she makes do with this). You'll just have to take her shopping to some young people stores, and have her try out a bunch of stuff.

FWIW, because she's short, DD fits into kids size 10-12, sometimes even smaller.

My DD went from a 12 / 14 to a 00 /0 - depended on the brand.

I'm a women's size 0 or 2, and I can fit girls 14 or 16 (depending on cut etc).

OP, it would be a lot easier if you post your DD's height and weight, though.

My daughter went from a girl's 14 to a women's 6. She prefers loose fitting jeans and wears a belt.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD went from a 14 up to a women's 4.

When I was 19 and worked as a camp counselor, I wore a women’s 0 or 2 and could wear some of my campers clothes in size 12. I weighed 100lbs - not curvy, just to give you an idea of size equivalence. So I would think that a 14 would be a 2-4 (juniors size 1-3) depending on body type.

+1. When I was in my 20's, I could wear size 12-14 in kids. At that time, that would be 0-2 in women's sizes, depending on the brand. Beware size inflation. Back before I got chubby (thanks to kids and my laziness), I was seriously in danger of being sized out of women's clothes. I'm short and only certain brands maintained their size dimensions.

Soooo if a 12 is around size 2; 14 is about a size 4; a girl's 16 would be about a 6; and a girl that was too big for a 16 would be in the next size up, ergo women's 8. Which is a small women's size.

Also -- if you were adults in and these sizes, I'm imagining you are on the small end of the bell curve, no?