Style notes: Dressing the tween - and other great fashion dramas

I had a vision when I had a little girl - a fashion vision. It would be navy, navy, navy for me...well, for her, maybe with touches of raspberry and other reds and whites. Pink didn't really cross my mind but is most certainly burst across my my front door step very quickly in the shape and form of the many frilly polyester clothes my daugther gravitated to. We found a happy medium, I think, in those early years and now I find myself on the threshold of yet another great fashion trasition - the modern tween. These girls have clear ideas of what they want. As someone who has occasionally forayed into bits and pieces of fashion journalism and has always loved it, I hope I have imbued her with some appreciation of the art of fashion. But what she chooses to do with it at such an impressionable age is another thing. Truth is, this age daunts me. Much of the choices on the market I find are versions of women's clothing, with motifs and cuts with way too much attitude for young kids. So I am slowly finetuning an approach to dressing a tween which hopefully satisfies my vision as well as hers......here's hoping! Finding dresses in great styles and fabrics which are still in essence, girls dresses I find I stick to a couple of great labels and then supplement with fun little sun frocks picked up at places like Cotton On Kids and Gumboots. One of my favourite labels is One Red Fly, an Australian label which make the most divine girls clothes in vibrant stunning patterns and colours. I have included a couple of pictures of some of their dresses I have kept even though my daughter has outgrown them! They are so lovely they look beautiful draped on hangers on her wall. Tees and basics I like to source out cotton sleeping gear amid the great sea of polyster pjs out there. Recently found great top and bottom pjs in packs for around a tenner at K-mart. As for t-shirts, I stick to plain solid colours and avoid those with text on them for children - that way they look great under anything and my daughter is not a walking 'statement.' Jeans Love the Next website for denim in all colours for kids. FOr locals, take a look at another fave of mine - the Little by Little boutique in Black Rock where Helen presents a fabulously well picked lineup of children's clothing every season. Visit: www.littlebylittle.com.au