Parents Competition leos

[MILgymFAM]

I was wondering if anyone has had to alter their DDs competition leo? DD was sized by her coach before ordering, but it is just oddly suited to her body shape. It fits beautifully around the torso, and the arms, but the shoulder area gapes pretty badly and half her butt hangs out.

She received it to bring home on Monday, and her first comp (an in house) is January 9th. I am afraid if a seamstress messes it up there will be no time to order a new one- these took over two months to arrive. Is there any reason to worry about having it tailored, ie is mystique material particularly difficult? Would I be better off using some butt glue on the shoulder area? Could I have a clear or flesh toned strap added across the back to pull in tighter? For the bottom hanging out her coach said to suck it up, basically, but I am hoping to fix the top somehow so she feels securely covered.

 

[leotardmakermum]

When my (at the time) tiny little daughter got her first competition leotard, it was way too big at the bottom. It was saggy and baggy, and not at all a good fit. As I have made many leotards myself, I undid the crotch seam and elasticised edges of the leg holes and cut it to the same pattern/fit as the leotards I'd made her, which I knew fitted well. I then remade it as I would have made her other leotards. It fit much better and no-one could see that it had been remodelled.

For the shoulder area, is it that the leotard appears to be made for someone with taller/broader shoulders? This could be fixed by a good seamstress. They would need to take the sleeves off, bring the shoulders down or narrow them and reinsert the sleeves. Or, if it is just that the whole back seems too loose at the top, the elastic edging at the neck could be redone to bring the edge in tighter for a closer fit. Definitely can be done.

A well-fitting leotard will likely mean that your daughter feels comfortable wearing it. If it is a comp leotard, then you want it to fit well. Not only does it look better, but she'll feel more confident wearing it. And that all adds to her sense of "I can do this!" as she goes into the comp.

In looking for the right person to do these alterations for you, you want someone who has experience with ultra-stretchy fabrics, and with fixing fit issues with stretch fabric. Good luck!

 

[MILgymFAM]

I will start looking for a good seamstress. The leo looks like it is made for someone broad shouldered. HC said it fits all the girls weird across the back. Not sure why she went with that leo/manufacturer considering, but we got what we got. DD has a workout leo of the same brand (alpha factor) and it is constantly wedgie inducing too, so the butt part is probably just the way those leos are cut. I will get the shoulders fixed over Christmas break.

ETA: it's not high necked in the front (it has a slight V to it) and it also dips down in the back (can partially see DDs shoulder blades). It looked perfect when I pulled the two sides all the way together in the back, making almost a keyhole back look- that's how loose it is, for reference.

 

[leotardmakermum]

That's ridiculously loose in the back! That's way too much fabric! Not sure how that will be able to be fixed - it may only be able to be improved. I hope there is no appliqué on the leo that will get mucked up with these alterations!

 

[sce]

Sorry to hear about the bad fit. What brand is the leo?

 

[MILgymFAM]

It's an alpha factor. No appliqués. It's one color on the body and one on the sleeves, with a crystal design on the bodice.

 

[Ali'sMom]

A well-fitting leotard will likely mean that your daughter feels comfortable wearing it. If it is a comp leotard, then you want it to fit well. Not only does it look better, but she'll feel more confident wearing it. And that all adds to her sense of "I can do this!" as she goes into the comp.

I will "second" that!
When my DD is unsure about how her leo looks ("Is it time for a bra, mommy??") her focus is off, and her scores reflect that. I think i bought 5 different bras until she found one that she liked under her comp leo. (Only to have the plastic clip holding the strap tight break as she vaulted. Ugh. New straps now!)

Get it fitted.
Have you asked if anyone else got one that is too small than they want, and maybe you could try to switch and see?

 

[MILgymFAM]

She has a AXS already. As she is 5'5, the coach said everything smaller would pull way too much on the bottom. Originally the coach wanted to order her an AM because of the torso, and I said to let the torso be tight and go with the smaller of the two choices that may have worked for her.

 

[sce]

She has a AXS already. As she is 5'5, the coach said everything smaller would pull way too much on the bottom. Originally the coach wanted to order her an AM because of the torso, and I said to let the torso be tight and go with the smaller of the two choices that may have worked for her.

So interesting how different they can fit. My dd's competition leo is Alpha Factor and she wears a child L (and it was not even tight on her), yet she wears their tank leos for practice too and wears an AXS.

Also height is not a good factor for choosing size. I'm just under 5'2" but wear a AS or Am as I have a long torso. The girth measurement is the most important measurement for ordering a leotard.

Any chance we can see a photo of her in the leotard?

 

[munchkin3]

Alpha factor should fix it quickly and send it back. I'd call them

 

[sce]

Alpha factor should fix it quickly and send it back. I'd call them

Good point, call Alpha Factor.

 

[MILgymFAM]

I will take a pic tonight after practice. How could Alpha Factor fix it? It is the size we ordered, and I don't think a new size would help, so I am not sure what the company could do?

 

[sce]

I will take a pic tonight after practice. How could Alpha Factor fix it? It is the size we ordered, and I don't think a new size would help, so I am not sure what the company could do?

Did anyone else have fit issues? It is possible there was some error in the construction of your dd's leotard.

 

[MILgymFAM]

I didn't see anyone else in theirs, but HC said that the fit was weird on everyone in the same place. She must have noticed the same thing on the fit samples, but maybe not I guess.

 

[raenndrops]

YG is under 5 feet tall and she wears an Alpha Factor AXS because of a long torso.

OG is 5'5" and has moved to an AL. Torso is the same as Girth... not waist. I would def get the top tailored!

 

[MILgymFAM]

She has a long torso, to go with the long everything else. Lol- I used to have to take their measurements for ballet, so I know the drill.

 

[GymMomof2Girls]

This year my daughter's competition Leo is alpha factor. She normally wears an adult extra small. However, Alpha factor seems to run huge and we ordered her a child large which fits perfectly.

 

[gymdog]

GK has a size that is called AXS (or whatever) long torso. So the shoulders, waist, etc are the same as regular AXS, but it is longer. I would assume AF has the same. Maybe she needs that, or even CL long torso.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

I agree that a good seamstress could at least make it better. It sounds as if it was poorly fitted to begin with though, and if lots of girls are having the same issues it sounds as if the person fitting them either didn't know what they were doing or simply made some wrong decisions....
Our comp leos are alpha factor too, but clearly a different cut. No wedgies and no weird shoulder fit....but ours are pretty traditionally cut so that probably factors in. Even so, we are pretty meticulous in fitting the girls before ordering. It reflects on us as a gym too if we have a bunch of girls in clearly I'll fitting leos, not to mention that it doesn't exactly make the girls feel good..!
I hope you can get it altered and fixed before the first meet!!

 

[Ex member]

We had a similar problem with youngest Dd's club leotard, my oldest is shorter than my youngest and has a 26" leotard so I ordered a 28" leotard for my youngest, when we got Dd's leotard it was a little to big around the bottom and shoulders so she had wear her sisters 26", the 28" fitted better on my shortest dd as her body shape is different and she could fill it out more and as my oldest can wear shorts to compete in she can hide any slight baggies around the bottom area in her shorts. For now my girls have swapped leotards until either dd has a growth spurt.