What's with the large appeal of Hanna Andersson?

[August Mom]

I wonder this too because it seems like "everybody" here raves about Hanna but I look at the price and take a deep breath. Personally, I'm never particularly excited by the look of the clothes I see in the catalog. Maybe they are too bright for me. But I can't justify paying that kind of money for an outfit I'm not absolutely in love with, even if I can pass it down. Everyone has their own tastes and budgets, though.

[sntm]

I love the colors, designs, etc, but I like a lot of variety. My fave things about Hanna are the quality of the fabric (very soft and holds up well) and they just seem better engineered than other clothes. Like the wiggle pants -- I could never figure out why everyone raved over them as they looked a little funny, but I bought a pair and especially as Jack got older and moved around more, I realized how well they fit, how comfy they are for him, and how they don't interfere with his movements like trying to crawl. I'll always have a mix of clothes for him, but I started paying a lot more attention to how the clothes are designed.

shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03

[brubeck]

Yes I was at Valley Fair. I was interested in dresses but all they had were the velour ones (too pricey and too fancy for everyday) and the scratchy short-sleeved wool dress.

You may be right in that it is what you are interested in. They did seem to have other clearance stuff that I wasn't in the mood for.

[Imperia]

I haven't tried Hanna yet either, and probably won't buy much when I do. I am not a fan of horizontal stripes for one thing, and some bright colours are okay, but for me Hanna mixes some colours I really don't like together (purple and yellow play dress...). I do like the look of their mocassins, pilot caps and bloomers though. Call me weird, but I really prefer the look of Gymboree clothing. Maybe I am too much of a traditionalist. I showed my husband some pictures of Hanna and he didn't like it at all, this is the man who loves to go to Gymboree and drop way too much money, so it's not exactly a money issue. I think part of his problem with Hanna is he doesn't like colours like orange or bright clours mixed together. I understand that Hanna is great quality, but for me, Gymboree (which I am embarrassed to say makes up 80% of the clothes I buy) is definately good enough for us. I have almost bought Hanna on ebay before, but it generally goes for so much it just doesn't seem worth it to me.
Besides, if I really did LOVE Hanna then I would buy even more clothes, heh.

Imperia

[crl]

>Someone mentioned to me that Hanna Moms seem to all be on the
>East Coast. Certainly as someone on the West Coast I don't see
>a lot of it around. There are no outlet stores and only one
>B&M store out here.

Umm, actually I was checking the website earlier today for store locations and only saw one retail (NY) and one outlet (ME) on the East Coast. There were at least three retail (CA, OR and WA) on the West Coast, plus at least one outlet (I forget where). I was disappointed because I live on the East Coast, but not near either of the East Coast locations. Did I miss some? I'd love to see a B&M store, especially an outlet. (I'm in N. VA.)

[Melanie]

I'm on the West Coast and I rarely see any other kids in Hannas, but also where I live most probably wouldn't dress their children that way anyhow. There are a couple of people who know about it, but not many. I, for one, don't like dressing my son in footballs & race cars or sponge-bob. If I had a little girl, I'd also be all over Hanna b/c of the aforementioned lack of Club-wear for tots. I also try to steer away from dressing my son like a mini stock-broker. It seems, locally, all I can find for toddler boys is Character, Sports, Transportation or Adult-like clothing. What about just plain old Little Boy? It was much easier when he could still be in the infant sizes.

I can't wait until Fashion Island opens! It's kinda far from me, but worth it for those big sales, I hope.

Yes, their shipping is ASTRONOMICAL and I let them know every chance I get. If they'd ship by weight instead of price it'd be much better for me. Plus I already have to pay sales tax since there's a store like 10 hours away *eyeroll*. Hanna is the only brand I break my rule of No sales tax AND shipping, for.

IMO, Land's End is not the same or as good, but comes a close 2nd. I have the striped romper from LE and the one from Hanna. The LE one was huge on Ds, then I washed it. Now it's barely long-enough. The Hanna one is still plenty big.

Of course, ask me when my son is finger-painting or macaroni-glueing in preschool if I still dress him in a $35 outfit. LOL.

I WISH more people dressed their kids in Hanna, here, so I could find it at resale or thrift shops.

[Judegirl]

I haven't tried Hanna, either, because I haven't found a bargain good enough. I keep looking, though, since there are so manny HA fans on these boards.

You're not the only one who isn't impressed, though. I'm sure the quality is wonderful, but I don't think it'll be for me. I like gender-neutral clothing, and I've found very little gender-neutral stuff on the Hanna website. Also, it seems to me that many of the moms on this board who rave about Hanna are dressing daughters; I hear a lot of talk about dresses and tights. I don't even look at that stuff on the website, so maybe they're especially cute.

OshKosh and Gymboree have a better selection for my tastes, and when their stuff is on sale, I'll buy some of it. But so far, babystyle.com is my favorite - they have the most gorgeous dark colors!

Maybe one of these days there'll be a Hanna piece in an ebay lot and I'll be a convert too...but for now, I think it's a lot of money for clothes that I won't get enough use out of to justify it.

Best,
Jude

[trumansmom]

I bought a few pieces for DS when he was an infant, but then stopped. Trust me, it's a LOT easier to blow big bucks at Hanna when you're buying for a little girl! DD-to-be has qutie the Hanna wardrobe already!

Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/29/01 and EDD 4/23/04!

[neosr]

I'm actually in Studio City. Yeah I know, what a waste of long drive for the Yeah Baby Expo.

We used to live in Irvine and my wife is dying to go back to Fashion Island. Now she (or both of us I should say now based on the strong replies here re HA) has a reason to definitely head out there.

I've gotta say, y'all have really piqued my interest to see what all the hoopla is about IRL.

[neosr]

Jude,

We must've fallen from the same tree because so far, babystyle has been my favorite as well. With their sale prices, coupon codes and $2 shipping (since I've spent over $200), my wife and I can't help ourselves to their merchandise. It seems like we'll convert over to HA like everyone else here sooner or later, so I better get back to work now and consider brown bagging.