My granddaughters (12-nearly 13, and 15) are thrilled to go to Goodwill. But now, the older one likes name-brand purses like Coach and Gucci, and goes to The Buckle to get jeans that are long enough.
Auntie Retrokitten is generous, but not THAT generous. LOL
She likes Limited Too, but she's pretty much out of their sizes. It's so hard to find stuff for the tweeners. Girls stuff is too kiddie and juniors stuff is too racy.
My sister in-law, God love her, I know she wants her little girl to stay a little girl, so she picks out very little girl type clothes. Very frilly dresses, floral leggings, turtlenecks, and pants with elastic waists. She will NOT admit that Retro-niece is getting hips, so she buys her children's plus sized pants instead of going up to the juniors sizes. Retro-niece HATES the stuff.
IMO, you can get contemporary tweener clothes without going too adult, it just takes some effort.