The tween years are tricky — no longer a child but not yet a full-blown teenager — it’s a period of enormous transition and change for kids. Nowhere is this more felt than in tween fashion. Although fashion is a big part of the tween experience, often marking the time when they develop their style and character, shopping for tweens can be difficult.
Tweens don’t want to dress in the same clothes as they did when they were little girls, nor are they quite ready for the sophisticated styles represented in the teenage trends. So what do you buy for your tween girls? Here at David Charles, we’re proud of our broad range of tween-suitable luxury dresses that hit that tricky sartorial sweet spot.
In this post, we’ll break down everything you need to know about shopping for your tween girls.
Get the Right Cut: Streamlined Silhouette or Skater Girl
When little girls are young, they love to dress up like princesses in big puffy dresses with all the bells and whistles that come with it. But when it comes to tween girls, things are a little different. As a general rule of thumb, when shopping for tweens, you should opt for a more streamlined look. Our feminine A-line silhouette dresses with ruffled trim and pencil pleated skirts are just the ticket for those girls in the in-between years. Finishing just above the knee and with delicate embellishments, they’re a sure-fire winner for fashion-savvy tweens.
Gone too are the high waistbands that fall just below the chest. Even if tweens haven’t quite hit puberty, a cinched in waist is a much more flattering cut for their physique. Our skater girl design is perfect for pre-teenage girls. Cinching in at the waist and elegantly cascading down and out, the skater girl cut is one of the most comfortable and flattering shapes around.
Mix Up the Color Palette
What little girl doesn’t love looking pretty in pink? Yet, one of the first things to change in those years between teenage years and childhood is colour preference. If you’re looking to buy something pretty for your tween princess, don’t feel consigned to pinks and traditionally “girly” shades.
Cool shades like icy blue and silver are an elegant choice. Versatile and vibrant, these shades are a great alternative to pink and peach colours. Darker shades are also popular amongst tweens — think navy blues and blacks. That doesn’t mean you are restricted to dull and drab dresses. We have a wonderful array of dark dresses with beautiful floral embellishments and glittering designs to elevate a little black dress into something unique and opulent that will leave your tween feeling like the belle of the ball.
Go for Character and Flourish
As our little girls enter into the “teenage years”, we often become cautious of purchasing dresses, worried that we’ll miss the mark and make an inevitable “adult fashion fail”. But that’s a mistake. At no other time in your little girl’s life is it more important to create character and style than in those transition years.
As she grows older, she will be crafting her sense of style and developing her unique personality. So, pay homage to the adult that your little girl is blossoming into. If she loves things that sparkle, opt for a dress that glitters like gold. If she adores the gothic romance of popular tween book Twilight, then go for something that is dark and rich, opulent and on trend. No one knows your little girl better than you, so don’t be afraid of going with your gut and getting her something she’ll treasure forever (even if she does outgrow it).
Tween girls needn’t be hard to buy for. Browse our full collection of luxury dresses for girls between 11-16 and take the hassle out of shopping.