Is this OK for first day of school? (4th grade girl)

[sarahsthreads]

I remember 4th grade being the turning point for me socially in school...the girls really started to get mean. Especially about clothes. And DD1 is totally me at that age - basically oblivious to anything relating to popular culture, including fashion.

To be honest, I still am. ;)

So, is this Children's Place dress (http://www.childrensplace.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10001_10001_-1_1048853_951349_27151|133161_girl|dresses%20&%20rompers_girl) going to be OK for the first day of 4th grade, or are we setting her up for failure on day one? We also bought some lace-trimmed leggings in the darkest color of the dress, and I was thinking of getting her some ballet flats to go with.

In general, she gravitates towards graphic tees and Children's Place yoga pants (active pants? whatever they're called) but I talked her into a couple of pairs of jeggings and some tops that had elbow-length ruched sleeves. And she found some accessories like a sparkly fashion scarf and some necklaces. Does all that sound OK for a 4th grader? (I feel like the blind leading the blind trying to pick things out with her!) I was pretty minimal in what I bought, figuring we could go back out once school starts and we see what sorts of things everyone else is wearing. Plus it's still hot here when school starts - no point in getting tons of cold-weather clothes right now!

An aside, she REALLY wanted to wear matching dresses with her sister (who is starting Kindergarten and will be getting on the same bus as DD1) but I feel like that would be a huge mistake. So we picked out this dress from Gymboree (http://www.gymboree.com/shop/dept_item.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524446028864&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374306231096&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395917465&bmUID=1375123153465&productSizeSelected=0&fit_type=) for DD2. Similar colors (= good first day of school pictures) but nowhere near the same style or brand. This should be OK, right?

Sarah :)

[urquie]

How about a tea collection dress? They are pretty and cool. They have some nice sale dresses right now... and I think most of them look nicer on, than in the photos. :-)


http://www.teacollection.com/index.php?type=&page=category&action=&id=sale%2Fgirls-dresses&skip_redirect_suffix=&view_id=50930d9b56c5e44dc28aceeac2a67bcaf6a5d74f&mode=&search_query=&category=&thumb_sort=store_price.asc

[AnnieW625]

I think the dress is fine. I might discourage the accessories in case they were to get lost. I love the Gymboree dress too.

[sarahsthreads]

How about a tea collection dress? They are pretty and cool. They have some nice sale dresses right now... and I think most of them look nicer on, than in the photos. :-)


http://www.teacollection.com/index.php?type=&page=category&action=&id=sale%2Fgirls-dresses&skip_redirect_suffix=&view_id=50930d9b56c5e44dc28aceeac2a67bcaf6a5d74f&mode=&search_query=&category=&thumb_sort=store_price.asc

Those are all really pretty - but they seem young to me? Or are you suggesting for DD2?

Sarah :)

[sarahsthreads]

I think the dress is fine. I might discourage the accessories in case they were to get lost. I love the Gymboree dress too.

Eh, none of the accessories were so expensive that I'd be that upset if they got lost. I definitely noticed that she was not anywhere near as...accessorized...as most of her 3rd grade girl classmates, so if she's showing an interest I'm not going to completely discourage it. ;)

And yeah, the gymbo dress is even cuter in person than on the website. I bought off-white leggings with pink polka dots to wear under, and DD2 LOVES the combo! Will make for VERY cute first day of Kindergarten photos.

Sarah :)

[vludmilla]

In my area (Westchester) there are a lot of middle-older elementary girls that wear Tea but I guess it could depend on the area. There is also a lot of Justice wearing at DD's elementary school and that is quite different from the Tea stuff.

[mattiew]

My DD (who just finished 4th grade) said she would wear it. They wear uniforms and only have free dress once a month or so but she definitely became pickier in 4th grade. She didn't want anything too frilly. Many of my favorite brands have now been rejected : ( It seems like the girls started dressing much more casual in 4th grade but I'm sure each school is different; like you said, you'll have time to purchase items as the weather changes. I think JCrew Crewcuts strikes a nice balance between cute, not too babyish, and yet still age appropriate.

[westwoodmom04]

I am going to try to get my dd into one of her Tea sundresses for the first day of school (third grade). Thereafter I suspect she will go back to shorts and graphic t-shirts/tank tops until the weather changes.

I might skip the leggings, my dd used to love that look but seems to have outgrown it. Could she wear just the dress and sandals?

[erosenst]

DD will be in 4th. She would wear that dress, but either with knee length bike shorts in a coordinating color, or 'playground shorts' (shorter version of bike shorts that aren't meant to be seen). The lace leggings might be worn when really cool. Maybe.

At DDs school, 4th appears to be the transitional year. A lot of graphic T's from Justice/Target/Old Navy with shorts/jeans /leggings. Some are wearing more Hollister/A&F etc.

Sent from my phone. Please excuse typing errors I've made, and auto correct 'fixes' I missed.

[Green_Tea]

My 4th grade DD probably would not wear that dress BUT she has an older sister exerting her influence ;). She's not into things that are matchy, and big sis is quick to share opinions (god help us!).

We just bought this dress, and it's a strong contender for the first day: http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/kids/dresses-dress-clothes/arizona-print-challis-dress---girls-6-16/prod.jump?ppId=pp5002760354&catId=cat100260201&deptId=dept20000016&N=146%20510&topDim=Brand&topDimvalue=arizona&dimCombo=Brand%7CGender%7C&dimComboVal=arizona%7Cgirls%7C&currentDim=Gender&currentDimVal=girls

[sarahsthreads]

At DDs school, 4th appears to be the transitional year. A lot of graphic T's from Justice/Target/Old Navy with shorts/jeans /leggings. Some are wearing more Hollister/A&F etc.

Yeah, I'm expecting this to be a transitional year - it's the first year in a new building plus she'll be in a multi-age classroom with 4th & 5th graders. She really wanted this dress, so I guess we'll go for it. I think part of my concern is that she doesn't really have an "I don't really care what others think, I'm just going to rock my own style" attitude, but she likes what she likes (graphic tees, yoga pants, dresses that I think are on the young side) and it's going to be hard to watch her get torn down over that. (Or maybe she won't and I'm worrying for no good reason.)

I guess I should just let her wear what she's going to wear and help her deal with the fallout if any occurs. But she's definitely NOT matching little sister on the first day of school. ;)

Sarah :)

[sarahsthreads]

My 4th grade DD probably would not wear that dress BUT she has an older sister exerting her influence ;). She's not into things that are matchy, and big sis is quick to share opinions (god help us!).

We just bought this dress, and it's a strong contender for the first day: http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/kids/dresses-dress-clothes/arizona-print-challis-dress---girls-6-16/prod.jump?ppId=pp5002760354&catId=cat100260201&deptId=dept20000016&N=146%20510&topDim=Brand&topDimvalue=arizona&dimCombo=Brand%7CGender%7C&dimComboVal=arizona%7Cgirls%7C¤tDim=Gender¤tDimV al=girls

Pretty! And I totally expect that DD1 could *try* to influence DD2's clothing choices somewhere down the line...except that DD2 has that "I'm going to rock my own style" attitude already and I can't imagine her changing. She's my comfortable-in-her-own-skin social butterfly, so the chances of her ever being teased over clothing are ridiculously tiny. Honestly, I can't imagine her taking any teasing from anyone over anything, she's just a very (VERY) self-confident child. She and DD1 are like night and day. ;)

Sarah :)