so tell me what is so great about Hanna Andersson...(update post #42 :)

[citymama]

I think people have mostly covered it but my top reasons are:
-- dressing kids like kids not mini grown ups
-comfort comfort comfort
-super soft cotton and softer with each wash
-minimal to no fading
-designed to last and last - not just as hand me downs but so one kid can wear them about twice as long as other brands at the same age
--the PJs!
--the playdress sets!
--the underwear, socks and floppy sunhats!
-best baby fleece jackets
--and finally...the outlet sales! I buying high quality clothing at Target prices. I *never* pay retail or close to it. Keep an eye on these boards for sale announcements. Next big big one is late Nov, IIRC.
What I don't like: shipping costs. They stink. Phooey. Esp with all the Boden free ship we're spoiled with.

Also note that if your kid is long and skinny, like my babies are, the
pants can sometimes be too big at the waist even though they fit length wise. In other words, some of their baby clothing is designed for chubby kids not stringbeans! Even so, my stringbeans have gotten tons of use out if their Hannas, and past the baby sizes it's less of an
issue.

Re style: some Hannas are really NMS and I'd never have expected
to own so many stripes. But the thing is those stripes are woven in such a way they are amazingly soft. No idea how they do it. Even though I ooh and aah over the Boden catalog much more, we own many many more Hannas because of how soft the clothing is and how much more cheaply I can buy it on sale. And even some of the things I thought were NMS but bought anyway coz it was $5 on sale or something have ended up looking adorable. So in short, I Hanna for my kids!

[WatchingThemGrow]

Also note that if your kid is long and skinny, like my babies are, the
pants can sometimes be too big at the waist even though they fit length wise. In other words, some of their baby clothing is designed for chubby kids not stringbeans! Even so, my stringbeans have gotten tons of use out if their Hannas, and past the baby sizes it's less of an issue.

True with the wiggle pants, but our long-waisted string bean boys have LIVED in HA one piece rompers. The crotch length of Hannas has fit them much longer than any other brand. Same goes with zippers. I love that there are multiple styles of rompers - dressy ones, play ones, striped ones, semi-solid ones, long sleeved ones, sweater ones, quilted ones, collared ones, non-collared ones, etc. It isn't like Gymboree where *one* romper comes out each season or *two* with Boden. There are a BUNCH.

And this fall, faced with dressing DS1, I had a stash of pants to try when the time came - LE, TCP, HA, Gymbo. Which ones could ALL be adjusted to work, stay up, and still look slightly normal? Hannas. The LE climbers look great, but they slide off. Gymbos look so baggy cinched up, TCP still slide off, but the Hannas gather differntly with the adj. waist. I need to look more carefully, but they work better on him for some reason. The drawstring Hannas we have (comfort jeans, comfort cords, beach pants) all work really well on him as well b/c the of the drawstring. Same is true for the stretchy cord in the Cruiser pants. All his shorts are drawstring.

I like that my kids can coordinate somewhat even though their clothes are not all bought at the same time/in the same year. I buy a lot used, so someone's dress from last year (that still fits) can coordinate with new vests from this year, etc.

[Melaine]

Well, we have just a few things. I love the look of a lot of HA, and love the comfortable-ness of the playdresses. I am definitely hooked on the unders.

[wencit]

I think someone touched on this earlier, but I like that Hanna's style is generally more "classic" than others. I refuse to put my kid in anything with a skull and crossbones (I'm looking at you, Gymboree!), and I don't really like the rocker/surfer looks of Boden. I also feel that I can get better deals at Hanna during their sales, whereas the best I can usually find at Boden is 20% off plus FS/FR, which is still too pricey for me to swallow. After 4 1/2 years, I'm tired of dressing my son in monkeys, trains, and trucks, which Gymboree just seems to recycle every season.

Now that I have DS2, I've loosened my wallet up at Hanna because I know that everything can be handed down to him. I've started putting him in DS1's old HA stuff, and some of it still looks brand new!

[lchang25000]

Yes, when buying their pjs, you must the the striped ones! They are incredible soft, stretchy, and wash well. I forgot the mention that I love their rompers for both summer and winter. They make the biggest size than any other brand which I love since DS has a long torso.

[alien_host]

I do like HA. I've really only bought Christmas dresses (LOVE the Little Red Dress) and Playdresses. I usually get 2 seasons out of the dresses. I have to admit that I won't pay hanna prices for PJs. I've bought more sine costco started offering dresses and leggings.

I also used to love gymbo but lately I've been blah about it, prob. B/c I've been buying it for 5 yrs.

[anamika]

Couldn't not respond to a HA thread!
We love HA! But only on sale
DD has severe eczema and it is so nice to be able to buy soft clothes that will not irritate her skin. The clothes have no annoying appliques, buttons, tags, frills etc that other clothes do.
Love the colors - we are Indian and all the pale pastel colors make DD look washed out. It is hard to find nice bright colors in other brands. This is one of the reasons I don't like Boden and Naartjie so much.
I give HA clothes as baby gifts all the time and all my friends are now singing HA praises to me!

[Melanie]

I think someone touched on this earlier, but I like that Hanna's style is generally more "classic" than others. I refuse to put my kid in anything with a skull and crossbones (I'm looking at you, Gymboree!),

Seriously! They recently had a cute shirt with a peace sign made out of surfboards. One of them had a skull & crossbones on it! It's probably for the best. Whenever I get sucked into the 'cuteness' of gymbo I'm usually not happy with how it wears anyhow, but ugh!

[kijip]

A couple of years back I would have been all of over this thread singing praises for boys basics and such like. My kids have had a lot of it, used or clearance or outlet. But holy smokes, I think the quality now is really, really bad especially where they used to shine, cotton basics. I might buy coats there again, and I did buy some jeans there recently but I am over the other stuff. Done unless it is used or uber cheap. Some cotton stuff from target has held up better for me as of late. I have holes in long johns and unders. Seriously?

[citymama]

A couple of years back I would have been all of over this thread singing praises for boys basics and such like. My kids have had a lot of it, used or clearance or outlet. But holy smokes, I think the quality now is really, really bad especially where they used to shine, cotton basics. I might buy coats there again, and I did buy some jeans there recently but I am over the other stuff. Done unless it is used or uber cheap. Some cotton stuff from target has held up better for me as of late. I have holes in long johns and unders. Seriously?

It's not what it used to be in the "Made in Sweden" days but still, I think the Made in Peru organic cotton stuff holds up way way better than almost any other brand. The only thing we've had a hole in (and we have a boatload of Hanna) is a snag in DD2's sz 50 Costco zipper. I mean, how tough can a 3 month old be on her PJs?