Play dresses

[firsttimemommy]

Looking for play dresses for DD to wear to preschool - love the hannas, but these dresses WILL get stained, dirty, spotted and it kills me to do that to her hannas. I bought some Target ones but after one washing they looked horrible! anything that is not cr*p quality but not super expensive? Lands End maybe?

Thanks!
Ronda
Proud Mommy to 2 adorable munchkins - 1/03 and 4/04

"If you could eliminate all defensiveness from your personality, you would not only have the best relationships in town, but in fact, you'd become the most loving and adorable person on the planet

[C99]

IME, Hannas are the most likely candidates to recover from spills and stains.

[J_B Mommy]

I agree. DD wears hers nearly everywhere -- daycare, playground, zoo... I let her play and get dirty and they have always washed wonderfully. I'd estimate they get washed once a week and have normal preschool accidents (spills of food, juice, milk, paint, markers, dirt, mud...) We are on the second season from last summers dresses and they look no worse for the wear.

[firsttimemommy]

well that is wonderful to hear!!!! I may get a few more hannas and a few lands end, just to compare :)

thanks for your input!

Ronda
Proud Mommy to 2 adorable munchkins - 1/03 and 4/04

"If you could eliminate all defensiveness from your personality, you would not only have the best relationships in town, but in fact, you'd become the most loving and adorable person on the planet

[MayB]

We have quite a few hanna playdresses, which DD loves. I've found gymboree outlet dresses to be an inexpensive alternative. The outlets carry more knit dresses than a regular gymboree. You can find a dress and matching leggings (they do bike shorts in the summer) for around $12 total if you wait for the biggest markdown. The best I've ever done on a hanna set is $22.50 (plus shipping).

[chinadaughter]

There are some really cute Land's End ones this year. I have bought one and I think that they are about just as soft as the Hanna ones. Don't get me wrong, I have Hanna ones two, which I love, but the LE are another alternative. If you have a Sears with a LE department, they should have some in stock now.

Julie

[luv_my_girl]

We have both Lands End and Hanna, and also some department store dresses by Flapdoodles, etc. The hannas wash well but it does give me a touch of heartburn when DD wears her pale pink one to play in the dirt out back. Still, the dress looks pretty darn good! I fret a bit less over the Lands End dresses. They wear well too. :)

You can also score cheap knit dresses from Gymboree all the time on ebay. I've bought great ones for $5.

[needscaffeine]

I agree that Hannas hold up well. My dd wears them to preschool all the time and they haven't faded after countless washings like cheaper brands do.

[becca34]

I love Hanna playdresses and usually get at least a couple per season....BUT, I've never sent DD to school in them. Mostly because she's not great about lifting the dress out of the way when she sits on the potty. (She just turned 3.) Does no one else have this problem...?

Also, I worry about the dress getting caught while she's playing on the playground...

Anyhow, I love Land's End knit pants (both leggings and flared yoga pants), and coordinating T-shirts -- we use these almost exclusively for preschool. The quality isn't as good as Hanna, but it's still very good, and the clothes hold up really well if you wash them inside out, and hang to dry.

Also, the fit of the waists from LE are better than Hanna for my kid -- I have a tall, skinny string bean....

[chinadaughter]

I have to admit that my daughter who is almost 2.5 and just potty trained, has ened up coming home in different clothes from daycare because her HA play dress has ended up in the potty. I am hoping that she will eventually learn to hold the dress up more and we have practiced this at home. But, I just wanted you to know that you are not the only one with this problem. :)



Julie

[J_B Mommy]

My dd potty-trained last summer and she was wearing dresses nearly every day. I was worried about her dropping the back in the potty, but she would always gather up the dress and hold the skirt in front of her. It is kind of humerous b/c she still does this even when wearing a t-shirt.

Each kid is different. Some like pants, some dresses -- I think my dd may have been worried and make her start wearing pants if she couldn't hold up her dress. It nearly took an act of congress to get her in pants last year. She would have done anything to keep wearing her dresses.

[jtamm]

Another vote for LE play dresses... they hold up great through weekly washings. Check out their overstocks section and you may find a few on clearance but even at regular prices they are reasonable. My DD is still wearing some 3T sized dresses from last summer. They have cute patterned fabrics (vs. light solid colors) which are better at hiding the occaisonal spots.

-Julia

[Nooknookmom]

If you have a Nordstrom near you, their brand NKids lasted through DD's cousin (3 yrs older) and DD going to pre-school. They were passed down to my DD and the quality was superb.

DD lived in hers w/ bike shorts underneath. Also, when on sale, they are really inexpensive too. :)