Trendy Ways

I took Ashley shopping this weekend to a couple of her favorite clothes stores: Charlotte Russe, Pac Sun and Rue 21. I thought I was going to go crazy! She had a gift card from her birthday that she finally used, so that was fine. But I just can't stand shopping in general, and watching her pick out clothes is even worse.

I don't mind buying my kids clothes. Most of the time it is on a need basis. My son grows like crazy, so it seems like I am having to buy him clothes every couple of months. My daughter is a little different now that she is a teenager. She's not really growing much anymore. Well...not that much that she is wearing high-water pants every year. She is tall, almost as tall as me now. But she could still wear the same jeans and shirts she was wearing last year. Her feet are the one things that grow every four months. She is thirteen and has to wear a size 10 shoe in womens' sizes. I can only hope they don't get much bigger. But with her clothes, I probably take her shopping maybe three or four times a year. She just has to stay with the trends! So for her, it has become a "want" basis.

I have learned to let my daughter pick out her own clothes. I have bought things for her before that have been worn once...and that was it. A waste of money on my part. I prefer now for her to get what she likes, that way I know it will be worn and get it's money worth. I still need to approve of them before I pay for them, but she has pretty good taste in clothes. Her favorite clothes? Jeans and a t-shirt. I mean trendy jeans and trendy shirts.

The one store I don't mind too much is Rue 21. We have never paid more than $19.99 on any one thing in that store. Most of the items are priced that, but then they always have sales going on. Plus, a lot of their items are cute enough for Moms to see their daughters in, and trendy enough for the daughters to wear them. A decent store. I used to like Charlotte Russe but lately some of their clothes are becoming a little too...trashy for girls my daughters age. Too see-through, too low-cut tops, too short skirts. Maybe that's the trend and I'm definitely too old fashioned. The shoes they sell are definitely too trashy. I saw a teenage girl (maybe 14 or 15 years old) with her mom trying on 3-inch stiletto pumps. Not appropriate to me. Thank goodness Ashley isn't into shoes like that! Her favorite shoes? Bearclaw slippers. You know...the ones that are fuzzy enough to seem "fancy" enough to wear everywhere, but really should only be worn inside. She wears them everyday, everywhere!

I'm glad she likes stores that don't break our bank account. And Ashley does understand that there is not a necessity to go shopping every month. When we do, it is a treat. She's lucky we don't make her shop at Goodwill. However, I remind her there are people like us that donate to that store. So they do sell decent clothes. Kids don't realize how good they have it sometimes. But that's another story for another day...another blog.