Is there anyone more difficult to shop for than a girl in that 11-12-13-14 age group? I submit that there is not. She’s not a little girl anymore, but grown-up stuff is still inappropriate. My aunt was the QUEEN of shopping for that age: she gave me teenagery perfume (it was called Blue Jeans, if I remember correctly), a narrow gold bracelet, a small leather purse with flowers on it, a hot-turquoise collar-up shirt with a long string of pale-pink plastic pearls (shout-out to 1985!).
There is no way I could choose any of those things correctly. I’d end up accidentally choosing an old-ladyish perfume, a motherish purse, fashions from a decade ago. Instead I’d turn to earrings: I’d try to choose earrings I would wear myself, but ones that don’t seem too mature/sophisticated for a young girl. And if she doesn’t like them, well, maybe her mom will. Sigh.
Antiqued Brass Key Earrings from CuteAbility on Etsy (photo from CuteAbility). Keys are romantic but in an innocent way: they manage to evoke diaries, “key to my heart,” treasure and attics and innocent secrets, without evoking hotel rooms and locking people out.
Chubby Mod Love Bird Earrings by Vintage and Glam on Etsy (photo from Vintage and Glam). Love birds, aw! Romantic! But in a sweet, nuzzling-beaks kind of way, rather than in a necking-in-the-backseat kind of way.
Retro Petite Daisy Studs by Crush Jewels on Etsy (photo from Crush Jewels). Only my reluctance to link to a sold item keeps me from buying these earrings myself. I love them. I also think the packaging looks really cool. WANT. And WILL HAVE.
Two Owls Earrings by Wear For Art Thou on Etsy (photo from Wear For Art Thou). My mom’s embarrassingly lame 1970s owl collection is magically transformed into radness now that owls are hip again. Owls! Daisies! Flared pants! It’s COOL when WE do it.
Little Bird Little Tree Earrings by Lila Ruby King on Etsy (photo from Lila Ruby King). Tiny and adorbs.
Orbit Girl Earrings by Marmar on Etsy (photo from Marmar). They’re cute little girls, but do you think I’m right that with the right outfit these could look kind of gothsome?
Pearl Stud Earrings (photo from Amazon.com). Pearl earrings are classic and sophisticated for a grown woman, but not jarring on a younger girl. Perfect for a special occasion such as a thirteenth birthday.
omg love the birds and the OWLS!!! Eeeek! Love them!
Devan | April 28th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
My goddaughter just turned 11 and she is NOT INTO GIRLY STUFF, as I have been reminded over and over again. She also lives across the country from me, so I have a hard time getting a sense of her interests. Sigh. I don’t think she’s a tomboy; I think she’s just railing against 11 years of being the “princess” in her family. That won’t stop me from buying all of these adorable earrings for myself, of course.
If anyone wants to chime in with gift ideas for an 11-year-old who would rather die than be given something pink, I’m all ears.
Buttercup | April 28th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
I was one of those “don’t get me that girly stuff” girls. Sort of. DOLLS were fine, and stuffed animals. But anything that felt “now-that-you’re-a-woman-y” made me blush with mortification.
Things that I loved anyway (these were what my parents got for my 12th birthday): stuffed chimpanzee. A subscription to 17 Magazine (and there are a lot of cool new preteen girl mags). A nice sweater (but this is so, so touchy, because NOTHING is worse than getting the Wrong sweater). An embroidered blank journal.
Other ideas: cool bubble bath that’s semi-grown-up: not Disney princess, not, I don’t know, Aveeno. Or maybe just bubble bath for grownups would feel cool and luxurious. Ditto Burt’s Bees chapstick or some similar non-makeup-y body product.
Books (Lauren Myracle is one preteen girl author I know of and I think there are TONS)
DVDs (though maybe not that new one with the 12-year-old who kicks people and uses the c-word)
Depending on the girl: stuffed animals/ toys/ coin purses/ little decorated boxes with a backstory (i.e., handmade by Guatamalan peasants–some of this stuff is just preachy and over-the-top, some of it is cool and the backstory is interesting yet unobtrusive)
Decorated boxes in general: I love little decorated boxes, but I’ve come to learn that they have absolutely no practical use. Twelve-year-olds, though, might find all sorts of practical uses (uh, I’m trying not to think “like, she could put her WEED in there.” So, so inappropriate, Melospiza.)
Beautiful embroidered blank journal.
melospiza | April 28th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
I was a tomboy super-nerd so I feel my tween-age preferences would miss the mark but, I did like jewellry to a certain extent. I had a silver scorpion puzzle ring that I loved. My sister, who was like me but to a lesser extent loved the Tamora Pierce “Alanna” books -
http://www.amazon.com/Alanna-First-Adventure-Song-Lioness/dp/0689878559/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272473060&sr=8-2
nnodnar | April 28th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Ooh, like this - http://www.etsy.com/listing/45662376/size-8-sterling-silver-4-piece-puzzle .
I drew a colour-coded diagram so I could get it back together until I had it memorised. I only stopped wearing it when one of the rings snapped because it had thinned out from being worn so much.
nnodnar | April 28th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Oh those little bird, little tree ones?? MUST HAVE THEM.
vegas710 | April 28th, 2010 at 10:01 pm