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Leotard sizing questions


taxi4ballet

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Loubylou, I'm not sure how they'd fit someone shorter, it's kind of hard to say when they fit me nicely, but they do come in smaller sizes too so it might work to go down a size if your usual size turned out to be too long.  Dance Direct accept returns on leotards if they don't fit though, unlike some stores!

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As for swimming costumes, I got a couple of nice Mantaray ones in the Debenham's sale a couple of years ago, they have a decent range every year though so it's worth keeping an eye out towards the end of summer when they start selling them all off half price!

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I just found a load of leotards I want on discountdance.com, they have heaps of styles in size XL, unfortunately many of them are only available to US customers.  Still, I found a few that were available for international orders, added them to my cart and then saw the shipping price of £25 (for 2 leotards and a pair of legwarmers!!!) and abandoned the website!  £25 shipping is just ridiculous!

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  • 8 months later...

Hi, I know this is an old thread, but I thought I'd keep things all together...

 

Does anyone know how Roch Valley leotard sizes measure up against other makes - are they similar, or do they come up bigger/smaller? I need to order one, and would like to try and judge the right size first.

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Any dancewear manufacturers out there? Get your act together, please!

I have been manufacturing cover-ups and screen printed items for dancers for many years now (we never made leotards or costumes in my shop because it has always been too competitive).  You are quite justified in being frustrated that sizing is so different from manufacturer to manufacturer.  For years we tried to find standardized measurements that were uniformly observed by the garment manufacturing industry, but no such standards have ever been agreed to.  So we are where we are, and I don't think the situation will ever change.  But I have one suggestion for dance moms that can save them some frustration (or maybe replace one frustration with another).  Sewing isn't for everyone - especially these days, but for dance moms who might be interested in doing their own alterations, this might help point you in the right direction:

 

Sewing really isn't that difficult - especially if all you need to do is make alterations on knit fabrics.  Sewing knits is pretty easy if you have the right machines.  You will need two different machines:  a standard single-needle machine (use round or ballpoint needles), and an overlock machine.  The term "overlock" is one that is used in industry.   The home sewing version of the overlock is called the "serger".  You will use the single-needle machine for things like shortening straps (cut and splice together).  The serger is used for taking in seams.  You can almost never "let out" or enlarge a knit garment because they aren't sewn with any seam allowance - the seams are sewn with a three-thread overlock (serger) which trims off the excess seam allowance as the seam is stitched.  The merit of the overlocked stitch is that it stretches, so you don't need to do that "stretch and sew" stuff.  You will only need a three-thread serger, but, to my knowledge they are only manufactured as 4 or 5 thread machines.  You buy the 4 or 5 thread machine but only use 3 threads.  In the olden days, overlock machines were only available in the big industrial size.  But these days, they are commonly available as home sewing machines (sergers).

 

There is one other machine that may be useful - but not necessary for leotards.  You know that stitch that you see on the hem at the bottom of a t-shirt or tank top?  That's called a coverstitch.  Coverstitch machines are also now available as home versions.  Like the overlock stitch, the coverstitch will stretch.  Coverstitch machines are tricky to use and are prone to skipping, but for those of you who may be interested in going further, a coverstitch machine is very useful.

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  • 3 months later...

Really frustrating. DD has a lovely Freed leotard, it suits her and fits perfectly. She's only had it a few months, and wears it a lot so a couple of months ago I bought her a different colour in the same style and size for a surprise Christmas present.

 

It doesn't fit - it's quite a lot smaller than the other one, and the material is different and not as good quality. Really cheesed off, especially as the packet is all torn from when she opened it on Christmas day. She didn't try it on for size because it was the same as the current one, and we only found out this morning when she put it on. 

 

I'm going to take it back to the shop, but I don't think they'll exchange it now because I bought it too long ago and the packaging is damaged. Grrrr...

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I had exactly the same. Had the navy regulation leotard RAD (freed) and my daughter needed a new one in the same size, it arrived and it was a totally different material, far to big and had the built in bra bit. I spoke to the shop and they said they would exchange it and when we tried a different one which was much better. Seems they had tried a new 'style' but you can still get the older style x

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That really is annoying Taxi. These leotards are not cheap for what they are.

 

This does happen a lot with clothing though. You just find a nice item and then the material or colour are subtly changed in some way.

 

I found this with American Apparel. They used to have some nice thick cotton jumpers but this year although they look similar the cotton they are made of is definitely inferior.......ladders easily and doesn't keep it's shape. They are not cheap so won't be buying another!!

 

You can only give it a try I suppose. Perhaps take the other leotard in with you to show them the size difference you never know!!

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You mentioned height as an issue when buying leotards. A number of lady professionals (especially in Europe and the USA) are taller than 5'4", albeit slim. Would they have similar problems with getting leotards that fit? I ask as a non-dancer.

 

Yes! I'm over 5'8" and had problems getting leotards to fit. Size Medium was the best fit for me but was always a bit too short on the body. Not loads but enough that they would ride up uncomfortably on certain movements and I always wanted to be pulling them down!

 

I resorted to making my own in the end!

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  • 10 months later...

For what it's worth, I was told by a dancer who also does a lot of sewing (makes tutus, etc) that Mirella generally comes up an inch shorter or so in the body, and that mostly Bloch leotards now work better than Mirella if you're a little longer in the body or, uh, pack a little more mass in there :)  According to her, that was a recent-ish change observed in Bloch sizing from the last year or two.

 

That said, I don't know if that's true across the spectrum of sizing. Bear in mind that we were talking about size L. It might be that small Mirellas are larger than small Bloch while large Mirellas are smaller than large Bloch! :P

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I have Mirella and Bloch leotards and at the 4-6 end of the spectrum Bloch is definitely more roomy. Bloch tends to have a larger waist and a bigger bottom which can look a bit trunk-y on a 5ft3 petite shape!

 

On the subject of leotards the regulation BBO uniform required for my students is the worst, I have no idea what style body they have based it on but it is the squarest leotard cut I've ever seen. On some girls the only place they touch the body is the shoulders and bottom with no contact at all around the waist. We've tried going down on size but then they end up too short in the body. All my students wear the little belts to improve the fit though that makes the fabric pucker together and some have to boil wash and tumble dry, stretch repeatedly to achieve a nicer fit. Though I had one very dedicated nanny who hand tailored the leotard to taper it around the waist and give it a snug fit.

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I recently managed to get my hands on a pretty Bloch leotard (not one of the boring basic ones) in a size XL! It fits! It's comfortable! It makes me happy!

 

Turns out that Dance Direct can actually pre-order styles from Bloch in an XL, despite the fact that Bloch usually only go up to an L. The more of us that buy them and request them, the more likely they are to get more styles in, so if you want pretty things in an XL I'd suggest emailing Dance Direct, if enough of us show interest they might start ordering more things to fit us!

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My DD (just 12) is just outgrowing the age 10-12 leotards, and I am getting her Adult XS as they seem to be narrower than the kids' age 12-14. She is 5 ft tall and slender. But I have bought her three WearMoi XS skirted leos. One (from Hong Kong) fits her now, but the other two (bought second-hand on our equivalent of eBay) are too big. In Bloch she fits their age 12 beautifully.

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  • 8 months later...

I‘ll revive this thread to keep everything on the topic in one place, is that okay?

I wanted to ask if you have any advice for me on the sizing on Wear Moi leotards; I‘ve read many dancers aren‘t over the moon with how they fit. I‘ve found a site that has a great reduced price for their Flora model and before I make the payment for it I really wanted to know which size would be right for me.

Usually I‘m right between M and L so it depends on the brand which size I have to wear because I‘m relatively tall at 1,72m so the first problem is my girth. And then I‘m very pear shaped - pretty flat bust but in comparison my butt and thighs are bigger, which often results in a size M pinching in the crotch and at the leg line. In most Capezios I wear L because of my legs, but one from their Vintage Whisper line fits me in M, too (it‘s the tiniest bit short but not so much that anything digs in), in SiDans I have M and Mirella saved me with the ML.

Our local dance shop had two leotards (Titania and Columbine) by Wear Moi when I popped in to tryand work out the sizing  but I left really confused:
Columbine fits me well in a size M but I couldn‘t pull Titania over my hips in the same size. It also flapped open over my chest in L (the getting-it-over-the-hips was still tricky, as well), to add onto things. Does Wera Moi have sizing differences between their individual models, even?? I am now left utterly confused and without an idea to work this out on my own that doesn‘t involve just ordering one or both sizes and sending one back again...

(PS: After this entire post screamed Wear Moi whereever you looked, does someone have experiences wether Plume‘s leotards run big or small? Also, sorry this got so long, sometimes it's a little hard for me to get to the point in English!)

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It's really confusing

 

Dd is generally a size ladies small in leotards & her wear moi Titania fits perfectly.

 

However she finds the Elipse in a small tight around he shoulders & prefers the fit of the child's age 10-12.

 

Neither sizes of the Elipse flatter her figure at all but unfortunately it's her school uniform leotard.

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Hi Peccopa and welcome! If you want to phone our shop in Southend tomorrow, our manage Fran can try and help you with fit! We too find that the WM styles vary in size. I've not found them vary between clours though!

 

Leotard sizing is frustrating, though, we are forever comparing sizes for customers and debating the relative stretch between styles, to try and achieve a good fit! 

 

Shame your daughter's not in an 8-10y Elipse Pictures - that's the only size left in our £10 leotard sale!

Best of luck Peccopa!

Sx

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My dd has some lovely Wear Moi leotards but every size 'Small' has a different fit. Even if you buy the same leotard in 2 different colours they do not have the same fit. It's a case of try each one and see unfortunately.

I agree. This is especially annoying when you order Wear Moi from Planet dance who have them made to order and won't take them back! I ordered one for my DD and it fitted well so ordered the same again in a different colour, only to find the second one a different fit and although DD wore it, she was never as happy with it as the first one.

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That's strange Loulabelle as we also can have any WM style made to order for customers, but if they change their mind or send them back, we just add them to our stock. I guess not all shops would want to do that - but if the sizing is incorrect surely they should?

 

Ah glad it arrived safely Pictures - if it's what I think it is, she will love it!

Sx

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You would have thought so Sheila but they wouldn't. Said it would have been made to the same pattern as the earlier one so size should be the same, it was definitely much tighter round the chest though. Was a couple of years back.

It lounged in the bottom of DD's drawer, only came out occasionally until she gave it away in the end.

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Thank you all for the insight, I really wouldn‘t have expected the WM ‘situation‘ to be quite this complicated! I‘ve never heard of differences of the sizing by the same brand like this (but after navigating the world of dancewear for a bit I‘m not too surprised, either).

As chance would have it, size M already sold out today so if do I decide to dare and buy the leo, the decision on the sizing will have already been made for me. Quick and easy ;)

Pictures - I can definitely see how Elipse could be tricky to wear. What a shame.

Hello Sheila, that‘s a great idea! Thanks for the offer, I really would have loved to call and dissect all things leotards. But I don‘t live in the UK and even just thinking about that phone bill makes me want to run far, far away...
 

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