Also...

[telophase]

...related to my post about the gift-giving thing my work is doing: what clothing stores are currently cool for teenage girls? They're 14 and 15, and wear junior sizes. I'm not getting them clothes, but am thinking about throwing in a gift card for some store they can go to and pick out something they like.

Comments

[inkstone]

Forever 21/XXI Forever/XXI

(It's the same store but it's called by different names depending on the location.)

[telophase]

Cool, thanks!

[inkstone]

Hollister's another one.

[telophase]

Thanks! I'll figure out which one's closest to me and if I can avoid going in to a mall and get it there.

[chomiji]

Yikes, it depends on the individual girl's sense of style.

For grunge/rocker-types, Hot Topic (sister store to the Young Lady's favorite, Torrid, which is similar stuff in plus sizes). For preppier stuff, American Eagle Outfitters. For basic denim and related stuff, GAP. For girlish/fashion stuff, Delia's or Charlotte Russe. These all have stores in your general area.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Hee, yeah, it'll be impossible to figure out exactly what they'd like (other than knowing they like gaming), but I can at least give them something that's not Target. :)

Thanks! (I'll figure out which ones is not in a mall the closest and go there.)

[vom-marlowe.livejournal.com]

FWIW, I have also heard good things about American Eagle and GAP.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Isn't Abercrombie & Fitch also hitting that sort of American Eagle / Hollister sort of trendy-prep style?

Urban Outfitters maybe leans a bit more towards college-hipster, but they typically have enough in the way of accessories, books and novelty giftware tchotchkies, etc. that might appeal to teens even if they don't love the clothes?

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

I'd say Hot Topic is more rock/punk/goth in general, with a hefty side dose of pop-culture licensed stuff related to various movie and cartoon franchises -- they and Torrid started out more punk/goth but have been branching out into more and more mainstream-ish styles over the years. For a 15-year-old, "grunge" is a genre that was mostly dead before they were born -- unless they've got retro tastes, I'd imagine it's likely to be something their parents are into. ;)

That said, I would second the suggestion of looking into places with mall-wide gift cards, or something like an Amex gift card that isn't limited to a particular store; it was always a headache for me when well-meaning former inlaws gave me clothing-store gift cards, and that's just dealing with issues of personaly style/taste and fit -- teenagers might be more likely to be very brand-conscious and concerned with whatever's cool in their social circle.

If a mall-wide card isn't a good local option, maybe something for a big department store (that's fancier than Target) could be an alternate? Even if the store itself isn't something they'd find intrinsically cool and the juniors' section doesn't pass muster for their tastes, a store with enough variety of merchandise means it might be easier to find *something* -- cosmetics, jewelry, candy, accessories -- they'd be happy to buy.

Or if they're gamers, maybe a gift card to someplace like Best Buy/Circuit City/Gamestop instead?

[chomiji]

Well, I didn't know how to describe the black-stuff-and-plaid-flannel-with-frills get-ups that I have sometimes found at those places ... grunge seemed the closest. But of course you always know better about fashion than I do ...   ;-)

Torrid has had some Loligoth-influenced stuff that's actually quite fetching, but the interiors of the garments were always too uncomfy against my skin for me to purchase them.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

A lot of the plaid stuff you'll find someplace like Hot Topic or Commander Salamander is punk -- especially things like little kicky pleated schoolgirlish short skirts, pants with lots of random buckles/straps/zippers, black stuff with random plaid trimmings or vice versa -- it's seemed to get to be more and more of a big thing with the sort of defanged mall-punk commercial youth fashion that's been in vogue with Kids These Days, but the plaid/punk style association really does trace all the way back to the UK punk scene of the 70s, where you'd see a lot of loud tartans mixed in with all the black leather. Grunge fashion, at least in its original pre-commercialization state, was really sort of an anti-fashion rolled-out-of-bed sort of style -- it was more about cheap, sturdy thrift-store stuff like old plaid flannel workshirts. It might be easier to convey in pics, of course -- 90s grunge plaid flannel (http://fernrocks.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/2333028931_0e3dd40ef0_o.jpeg) vs. classic punk tartan bondage trousers (http://www.redhaze.com/acatalog/L_ADF802.jpg) vs. dolly (http://www.pullipdolls.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/-117983004319512750.jpg) and Hello Kitty (http://www.kiddyland.co.jp/en/images/classics/kittydoll.jpg) versions of more current schoolgirlish punk looks -- the latter's often somewhat younger/cutesier and less aggressive/transgressive than a lot of old-school punk fashion, closer in some ways perhaps to Japanese punk lolita (http://www.lolitafashion.org/punk_lolita.php)?

Speaking of which, was the lolita clothing at Torrid just sort of a seasonal thing that they've since abandoned? I don't see anything particularly loli-ish on their website right this minute, but I don't really check in on them very frequently ever since they shifted further and further away from "Hot Topic in larger girly sizes" and more towards "Lane Bryant's slightly edgier kid sister". They do still seem to have some of the music/pop-culture printed t-shirts/hoodies and a smattering of the punk/goth brands like Tripp, the usual plaid kilted skirts and corset-styled blouses and such, but I don't see any real lolita-style frills there, gothic or otherwise.

[kintail.livejournal.com]

I see that you'd rather avoid malls, but another option would be to see if one of your local malls offers mall-wide gift cards -- you should be able to discover this via the malls' websites. Here in Toronto a lot of the malls are owned/managed by the same mega-corp, and they offer "Shop!" gift cards that can be used in any store in any of the participating malls, so you don't have to worry about what their style is or if they'd really rather get perfume or a video game.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I'll look into that, thanks!

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Some of the places that sell mall-wide giftcards will also let you buy them online, BTW -- Simon Malls (http://www.simon.com/giftcard/) does this, for instance, and they seem to have about a half-dozen locations in Texas. So depending on what malls look like they're the closest and most accessible to the giftees, you could do this without having to actually venture forth into the madding crowd. ;)

[mme-hardy.livejournal.com]

Look at both Delia's and ModCloth and see what you think. (Mail order is a really good thing IMHO.)

[pseudo_tsuga.livejournal.com]

Forever 21 and H&M are also popular.