<p>Flipping through the yellow pages certainly hasn’t provided any clues. But within the assembled multitude of parents here, someone must have an 11 year old girl or know an 11 year old girl’s shopping habits. I would like to buy a gift card (rather than an actual item) to a “cool” store, since I don’t know the girl’s size. Thanks!</p>
<p>Hollister is good- not pricey, good sizes and not icky…and its a “cool” store- with jeans, cords, sweaters, tshirts, etc</p>
<p>my D is on the smallish size, and hollister has good porportions for younger girls, without the clothes being too trendy or flashy </p>
<p>mom would approve</p>
<p>Limited Two or Old Navy/Gap. Build A Bear Workshop. Discovery Store.</p>
<p>Limited Too, Claire’s (for accessories).</p>
<p>Aeropostale, Limited Too…
Aeropostale is the “pre-teen” version of American Eagle in my mind. They have cute shirts, hoodies, jeans, etc. Limited Too is good as well, but it depends on how “girly” she is. I know when I was younger they tended to have more girly stuff than tom boy stuff.</p>
<p>American Eagle. Is she 6th or 5th grade? Limited Too might be young. Plus I find them overpriced.
Hollister is good but check if they have one in her area. (we don’t)</p>
<p>I see lots of them at AE.</p>
<p>My daughter is 10. The above mentioned all good, and I’ll add a new store for our area called “Justice” - (“Just” for girls)</p>
<p>She also is thrilled to have gift cards from Barnes and Noble and Target - she does like things other than clothes still!</p>
<p>mom60, she is in 5th grade and will actually be 11 in January. I do appreciate all the guidance since you can tell from my screen name that my experience in this department is limited, too. ;)</p>
<p>In thinking this over some more, I think you should buy a gift certificate that can be used anywhere in the mall (as these are mostly mall stores being suggested, I will assume that you can shop in a mall). Depending on this girl, her peer group, and her school, she may be delighted by Hollister and appalled by Gap, or vice versa. She may buy all her clothes at Limited Too, or at Hot Topic. For an 11-year-old, this may be of VITAL importance, and these stores are not interchangeable. So, a mall-wide gift card.</p>
<p>Edit: posted this on the original thread but then it came invalid; I’m responding to some of the replies there.</p>
<p>Sephora for an 11 yr old? I wouldn’t do it unless you know the parents, and even if you did, none of the 11 yr olds I know (I do/coach gymnastics - trust me I know too much) wear the kind of makeup you largely find at Sephora. Personally, my parents are pretty reasonable people, but I’m not sure they would have been too happy with that when we were 11, and I know stricter parents who flat out would just take it away. Quite frankly I think if I had an 11 yr old girl I wouldn’t be terribly pleased with that idea. </p>
<p>On the other hand, that would be an amazing gift for a girl in high school. </p>
<p>For 11, I wouldn’t do anything like Hollister. I’m the last person to say there are no acceptable clothes there (some of the stuff isn’t worse than LTD2) but some people’s values reject the whole idea and it is aimed at an older crowd and the physical store/ads usually reflect that. I wouldn’t want to put the parents in the position of saying “no, you can’t use it” or “I have to go choose for you”. </p>
<p>Limited 2 is still popular at 11, and even if the “label” is becoming less popular, they have lots more clothes, shoes, and accessories there that don’t have it. The 11 yr olds I know love it - they have lots of stuff that says “Gymnast” or whatever other sport. Gap is fine, depending on the personality - LTD2 is more “sparkly.” Libby Lu is another store kind of like LTD2 but they do sparkly “makeovers” there - again, I’d be careful with that if you don’t know the family. Justice is popular here too, and similar to LTD2 from what I’ve seen on the kids. Claire’s is okay, some are smallish and kind of meh. For an 11 yr old boy or girl, the Lego store would be pretty cool (I’m pretty sure people my age still buy stuff there - the Lego store is just cool, period). If she likes art, you could try to find a local studio like Clay Cafe where you can paint your own pottery, or even a gift certificate to a store like Michaels or JoAnn Fabrics would be cool. Gift certificates to bookstores can be used on lots of neat things, books, CDs, kits, etc. Another cool thing would be a magazine subscription, if there’s some way to do it where she could select it, but that would get complicated. It would be a nice gift that would keep up for the year though, and kids love getting mail.</p>
<p>The style of clothes at all those stores differ widely. It’s true. If you don’t know her style, it may be tougher. The Gap is different than Urban Outfitters. Limitted Two is different than American Eagle. </p>
<p>I think many girls might find items they would enjoy at Claire’s because it is all accessories of all types…jewelry, nick nacks, stuff for the room, hair accessories, journals, etc.</p>
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<p>Best advice I’ve seen on either version of this thread. But can you buy mall-wide gift cards?</p>
<p>5th grader? Limited Too, Aeropostale. Claire’s for accessories. Old Navy. Also Target has all sorts of stuff - CDs, DVDs, accessories, etc.</p>
<p>Hollister is not pricey? I beg to differ. Also I think it’s more of the high school crowd. (Depends on her size, Hollister is aimed at teens but they do carry size XS. Same with American Eagle). Limited Too is a bit overpriced as well, but I don’t remember it being as bad as Hollister. I have a 15 year old who LOVES Hollister, but I’m getting tired of paying $39.99 for a cotton shirt. BTW, if you go to Hollister, bring a flashlight. That is the darkest store I’ve ever been in. Even D has to take items over to a spotlight to see what color they actually are.</p>
<p>You can buy these Visa gift cards that are kind of like pre-loaded debit cards, but our mall has mall wide gift certificates. The Visa thing can be used anywhere plus online though.</p>
<p>Thanks again to everyone! Hunt, I had already decided to do precisely as you have suggested and will get a gift certificate to a mall which has a number of these stores. Her parents are pretty conservative in lifestyle and the girl is quite shy, so I will need to give her choices. I’m headed to the mall!</p>
<p>jessiehl, there are Simon Malls in my part of the country which do permit purchase of a gift card which can be used at stores within the mall.</p>
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<p>LOL! So true.</p>
<p>Mall-wide card is an excellent choice! </p>
<p>Also, the pre-paid Visa cards. They carry some relatively hefty fees, but my D LOVED swiping the card and signing her name when my mom used to send them to her. It was like her very own credit card, she felt so grown up. Once she bought something, then returned it later - I think she just wanted to swipe the card and sign her name on the electronic thingy.</p>
<p>Another vote for “Justice”.</p>
<p>As a mom of a 5th grade girl, I would agree with the recommendations for Claire’s, Aeropostale, and possibly American Eagle. My D considers Limited Too clothes to be for “little kids”(though I honestly think they that have a lot of cute clothes for kids this age).</p>