Dressing an 8-year-old.

Bebe is almost 8.5, and I will confess that I still pick out her clothes daily. She does not really have much of an opinion on what she wears, so it has made my life easier to select things for her. I stick to mix-and-match items. She has leggings and yoga pants in a variety of colors, shirts of various brands, etc. As she moves into size 8 clothing, though, I have been feeling a lot more stress in choosing appropriate clothes for her.

I'm not a fan of dayglo colors (and they're ALL the rage). I find a lot of clothing on the racks to be WAY too racy for an 8-year-old. At the same time, I also struggle with not wanting to dress her like she's 5.

I'd say about 70% of her clothing is Jumping Beans brand at Kohl's. But it's size 7, and they don't go up to size 8. Due to this, I've found myself browsing many websites looking for clothes that I thought would work for her. 

Today we went on a little shopping expedition, and I think we made out pretty well! She had a $50 gift card from Macy's to use, so together we selected some tops I thought were appropriate and she loved. Then we finished off our trip with stops at H&M and WalMart.

In the end, it wasn't as traumatic for her (or me!).

She loved putting on a fashion show when we got home, so I thought I'd share some of our findings. 

Before we went shopping, we went to a birthday party. Pardon the laundry pile behind her. This is one of the cute ensembles I managed to put together. Top is from The Children's Place, skirt is from Macy's, and boots are from The Children's Place.

 

Outfit #1 that we picked up. I had her wear a white tank top under it because the neck is lower than I prefer. Top is from Macy's. Navy blue leggings are from Gymboree.

This cute ruffled sleeveless T we got from Macy's looks great in person! Paired with pink leggings from Gymboree.

Bebe's favorite color is red, and she found this dress on the clearance rack at Macy's. It was only $7 so how could I say no?! It said it was a medium, so it's an 8-10. It's big on her, especially at the neck, but she loves it. Perhaps we'll hang on to it for next Christmas?

 This was the first shirt she picked up at Macy's. The flutter sleeves are really nice, and the 3-D bow on the puppy was definitely her favorite thing. Paired with black Circo leggings from Target.

 This shirt we picked up at Wal-Mart for only $3. It's a lot like what I have in her drawers right now. This outfit is pretty typical of what she wears most days. French terry pants are Circo brand from Target.

This outfit was only $7 at WalMart for both pieces! I was worried an 8 was going to be too big, and it is a little bit, but she has room to grow into it. Our store didn't have many to choose from for these sets, but I've found more online. I think I'm going to pick up one or two more!

This shirt was actually a gift from her Auntie. It's a Gap shirt that has that off-the-shoulder look. We finally picked up a tank top to go under it, so she wanted to try that on, too. Paired with black Circo leggings.

Would you believe that this dress was only $6?! I LOVE H&M! Bebe was excited to find another dress with red in it. This is actually a size 6-8y, which is hit-or-miss for her build. Sometimes I find she needs an 8-10y at H&M, but I'm so glad this dress fit her! I know she will wear it a lot this summer.

As we venture into summer weather I know she'll need more things. My #1 hunt is for nice knit dresses that aren't too pricey. Wish me luck!!