By Lauren Bishop / Enquirer staff writer

Nefertiti Abu Bakr 14, of Springdale poses in the studio in a back to school outfit that she picked out. (Brandi Stafford/The Enquirer)

Take a high-schooler and a parent. Give them each $100 and a homework assignment: Pick an outfit for the first day of school.

What do you get? Two different looks? Maybe. Maybe not.

Here's what two girls and their mothers came back with after shopping trips at area malls.

Who: Nefertiti Abu Bakr of Springdale, 14, a freshman at Princeton High School, and her mother, Janice.

Where: Tri-County Mall.

Nefertiti's picks: DKNY shirt, $24; DKNY jeans, $58; both from Dillard's.

Why: "(The jeans) fit me nice, and I liked the way the shirt went with them. And it's comfortable, too."

Mom's take: "She's a young lady, and she should wear skirts instead of jeans all the time."

Mom's picks: Baby Phat shirt, $39; Polo Ralph Lauren skirt, $39; both from Dillard's.

Why: "I was really disappointed in what was available for back-to-school." Janice says she would have loved to buy Nefertiti a ruffled or pleated miniskirt, but they were all "way too short."

Nefertiti's take: "It's all right." She says she likes the skirt but not the seams on it.

Who: Lauren Thomas of Edgewood, a 16-year-old junior at Scott High School, and her mother, Carol.

Where: Florence Mall.

Lauren's picks: Gap skirt, $39.50; New York & Company shirt, $34.50; It's Our Time cardigan from Lazarus, $24.99.

Why: Lauren says she was happy with the way the skirt and shirt fit. She chose a green cardigan because "the pink (cardigan) was Pepto-Bismol pink."

Mom's take: "I like what she picked."

Mom's picks: American Eagle shirt, $39.50; Gap cords, $49.50.

Why: "I know what she likes, and she knows what she's allowed to wear."

Lauren's take: "I like it. The pants are different from what I usually wear, but I like them."