[name]Do[/name] you prefer [name]Tess[/name] or [name]Tessa[/name]? I’d love to know why, also. Thanks!
[name]Tess[/name]! I used to prefer [name]Tessa[/name] because [name]Teresa[/name]/[name]Theresa[/name] was too old-fashioned for me and [name]Tess[/name] reminded me of this girl I didn’t like, haha, but I know a totally different [name]Tess[/name] now who creates a totally different image for me. It’s short and sweet, and while it is technically a diminutive, I like [name]Tess[/name] a lot more than [name]Tessa[/name] or [name]Theresa[/name]/[name]Teresa[/name], both of which feel like they’re too much name to me. [name]Tess[/name] feels just perfect. 
I love [name]Tess[/name]! [name]Tessa[/name] is nice too but [name]Tess[/name] has that something extra! Which sounds better with your last name? Our next baby might be a [name]Theresa[/name] nn [name]Tess[/name]. They are both a little iffy with our last name but [name]Tessa[/name] sounds truly awful with our last name.
My sister is hoping to name her baby [name]Theresa[/name] nickname [name]Tessa[/name]. She likes gently old-fashioned names though.
At the moment her girls list is:
[name]Raphaela[/name]
[name]Theresa[/name]
[name]Lucinda[/name]
So you can see she’s not afraid of fairly girly and faintly Victorian-era names.
I think [name]Tessa[/name] sounds femme without sounding weak. [name]Tess[/name] sounds too nickname-ish to me to stand alone.
I like [name]Tessa[/name] because it can always be shortened to [name]Tess[/name]! 
I like both, but prefer [name]Tessa[/name]. It seems more feminine while [name]Tess[/name] seems more cute.
I prefer [name]Tess[/name]. [name]Just[/name] sounds so spunky and fun, simple but solid. I also think of [name]Tess[/name] [name]Harding[/name], [name]Katharine[/name] Hepburn’s character in “Woman of the Year.”
I’m biased though because a girl named [name]Tessa[/name] was my first grade nemesis. 
Funny how you can never shake those name associations!
My dd is [name]Tess[/name]. I thought of using [name]Tessa[/name]. [name]Glad[/name] I didnt! [name]Tessa[/name] seems frilly ballerina to me, whereas [name]Tess[/name] seems straight to the point and sophisticated. Im sure my 4yr old has the same understanding because she will tell people she is Not [name]Tessa[/name], shes just [name]Tess[/name]! It fits her perfectly, I cant imagine her any other name Its still my favorite
I like [name]Tessa[/name] more than [name]Tess[/name]. [name]Tessa[/name] sounds like a full name and [name]Tess[/name] is more nicknamish to me.