Musing on dresses and leggings or tights

[parkersmama]

I am elated to see the more manufacturer's are doing fall/winter dresses with cool tights and leggings! Hanna has done this (with great success!) for years. So far I've already noticed Kelly's Kids and Chez Ami doing it, and of course Naartjie. Last winter, I really struggled with what to put under dresses. I ended up with eyelet bloomers from Hanna (will definitely get again!) and wore them under almost everything except the two Hanna playdresses we had that had matching leggings. Tights are actually pretty hard to do with a small baby and look kind of dumb without shoes over them. :)

So, I'm hoping that more clothing sources will start doing leggings and even neat tights to wear with their dresses. By neat tights, I mean the ones that are patterned and matching yet contrasting. If Gymbo doesn't come out with leggings that look good under their dresses this year (last year they had good leggings but they didn't go well with the dresses), we probably won't be getting any Gymbo dresses for winter and will look to other places.

Am I the only one who feels this way? What's your take on dresses and underpinnings? :)

[Marisa6826]

Last winter (when Sophie was finally no longer a newborn and forever in jammies) I put babystyle's "softest" cotton pants under her dresses.

They looked absolutely adorable. Kind of bohemian (think those two British women on "What Not To Wear" on BBC).

I wish I was thin and tall enough to pull off the ability to wear pants under dresses. It would look just idiotic on me.

-m

[khakismom]

I agree with you Denise about cute, fun tights. Kathleen loves to wear tights and leggings in the winter. Literally every day she would pull out the Hanna playdress and ask to wear it with the leggings or tights.

If I remember correctly, LE has patterned tights too for under their dresses.

And I just saw the Chez Ami stuff and am in love!! I will definitely be getting Kathleen a dress or 2 from there for the fall... with the coordinating tights of course! :)

[LucyG]

I think I'm going to do a combination of tights and leggings. My DD is really, really short, so sometimes leggings look kind of funny on her, especially if the dress is on the long side. They make her legs look almost nonexistant! For those dresses, I'll probably do tights. For her Hanna Happy Stripe dress, I will definitely be doing red leggings. I tend to lean toward tights for church, and leggings for more casual things. She was not walking last winter, so this year will be our first to really use dresses for everyday wear. Fun, fun!

[LucyG]

"I wish I was thin and tall enough to pull off the ability to wear pants under dresses. It would look just idiotic on me."

Me, too, Marisa. I would just look like I was trying to wear too many clothes at once!

[parkersmama]

"I tend to lean toward tights for church, and leggings for more casual things. She was not walking last winter, so this year will be our first to really use dresses for everyday wear. Fun, fun!"

Me, too! Ditto to all of that! I'm actually enjoying the walking fun today and put AG in a Naartjie dress and capris set. :)

[LoveMyBabyBeans]

"Am I the only one who feels this way? What's your take on dresses and underpinnings? "

Don't laugh at me, but I am overwhelmed after having two boys (who I LOVE to dress up and have fun doing so) with all of this girl stuff. Completely overwhelmed. Now I have something else to think about...leggings and tights. LOL! I'm anxious to see what's hot for fall and winter too.

[bcafe]

I loved putting DD in patterned tights under dresses. In fact, they are a great fun way of "livening" up a dress that may be plain in itself. Love stripes, patterns, etc. Where ever I find a pair, I snap it up. I have found cute fun tights at Talbots, Target, Old Navy, etc. Can't wait until our next fun Wisconsin winter to pair up tights with dresses. (The only fun thing about these winters!!) LOL
Betsy
Momma to Eva 12/16/02

[ginamlee]

Autumn's staple during the cooler months are Baby Lulu dresses with matching and/or coordinating leggings. Baby Lulu has dresses with leggings for ALL of their lines. Really, this is what Autumn wears more than anything else, hands down.

[friedmana1]

We do this too! Mind you, Leah was not walking last winter, but recently we have been doing the tights for "dress-up", and capris/leggings/pants for more casual things. I also love baby lulu, like gina. They have great dress/legging combos, but tend to be on the pricey side. I usually find them on ebay, or wait for a big sale.

Aimee
Mother to Leah 10/26/02

[riostoker]

I love both tights and leggings with dresses on Elise in the winter. I've noticed though that she is just about the only girl in her daycare class who wears dresses in the winter. The rest all wear pants all season. We got some great patterned tights at Lands End and Hanna. Most of the leggings were either Hanna (the daydress/playdress combos are my absolute favorites!) or Gymbo.

My favorite is getting tights and a shirt that match with a solid colored dress. Here are a couple pics. The first one is Gap. The second one is a Hanna shirt and tights with a dress my mom made that is obviously WAY too big!!!

She did go through a major phase last winter of screaming "too tight! too tight!" if we tried to put her in tights or fitted PJ's, so unfortunately, some of the really cute patterned tights didn't get worn much. She seems to have outgrown that phase, so I'm hoping we can go back to tights again this year!

:)
ann

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[parkersmama]

Ann, Elise is darling! The dress/tights combos are too cute! I'm so excited about having a walking baby to wear all her dresses. :)

[parkersmama]

Kerry, I'm not laughing! Why do you think I ask all these questions?! LOL! Having a girl after two boys is baffling! Girls have so many more options and accessories. With boys it's just shirt and pants, pants and shirt. :)

[ginamlee]

As I recall, LL Bean also has some cute shirt/tights combos.

[mattiew]

Me too, me too!!! One of my favorite outfits last winter was a Chez Ami jumper with a turtlelegging (turtle neck and leggings all in one) underneath. The Chez Ami outfit then lead to multiple Zutano dress/legging purchases for spring and the upcoming fall. I love this look - girly yet practical!!!!!

Carrie