Fashion Dillemmas

Today has been a rather stressful one for me!  After month's of complaining of my daughter's clothing bulging at the seams of her wardrobe, we finally decided to have a much needed clear out. Although I had been noticing her not wearing a lot of the items, I have been living in denial that the reason for that was that she just didn't like them. In all honesty, these were item that had been on sale which I had purchased for her without her approval - items that I loved and wanted to see her in them! But alas, although my little mini-me may look a lot like me, it would appear that our fashion tastes are quite different. Although I was touched when she told me she had kept all the items because she didn't want to hurt my feelings, I am rather annoyed that because she didn't feel she could be honest with me, it has ended up hurting my pocket.  I find it difficult to understand why she doesn't like the clothes - whether this is because of peer pressure or that it just isn't cool to wear dresses and skirts anymore, I don't know.  For a long time I have caused myself a lot of unnecessary stress for myself in trying to force her to wear things I liked, but I think I am finally finding the grace to let go of this battle and allow her to discover her own sense of style, without me interfering.  Whether I will be able to do this and still keep her clothing modest and feminine is another story...  I guess this is just one of those challenging areas of motherhood that God uses to grow our fruits!