Leotard Time

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Ausi_poppet

Proud Parent
Ok folks, our club is working out a new leotard for our Level 7-10 girls. We got a new leotard 2 years ago and it has been an absolute disaster...

The head coach held a design competition and lots of consultations, with the key theme being "not white", she then at the latest possible moment ordered a predominantly white GK leotard, which is worn by all our Level 4 to 10 gymnasts. They have to wear a body suit underneath it, which is cruel when our 7-10's start competing in February in unair-conditioned spaces. We have a green mystique under the arms which has lost all it's foil and for most of them has a yellow tinge from their sweat or deodorant. And the white really shows off their bum crack.

The older girls hate it and have since the first day. Those who are menstruating feel particularly vulnerable as the white highlights everything. Having said that, everyone who sees it for the first time, says "wow that's so awesome!"

So, some parent and gymnast pester power has won the day and we are getting a new leotard for next year, with a darker colour on the body. Our gym has always gone with GK, and many of the girls and parents are resistant to changing to Sylvia P, mainly because of the leg cut. A number of our girls wear Sylvia P for their school competition and have expressed a definite preference for GK.

But, with the Aussie dollar where it is, most of the designs we are looking at come in at around $400, up to %525 +. One of our solutions to manage the cost is that the juniors (level 1-3) are moving to our training leo (GK off the rack that costs about $55) and the Level 4-6 will stay in the white monstrosity for at least another year. Our current level 1-3 is a Christian Moreau that has blown out to $180 with the exchange rate.

So my questions are:
  1. When did you last get a new leo?
  2. How much do you pay?
  3. If you had to pay $400 for a new leo, how long would you expect to be able to wear it?
 
We got new Leo's this year for our 3-6's. The parents and coaches designed them and they ended up being $160 each. They're from Sylvia P. I do admit that I really hate the leg cut. It's really awkward to look at on my 10 year old, but she loves it and says it's really comfy. And they are beautiful.

I truly wouldn't pay $400 for a Leo. I don't have that kind of money for a start, and my kid grows like a weed. For that kind of money I'd expect it to last forever, though I know that's not realistic, and it's going t end up looking ratty at some point.

FWIW though, I don't like the Christian Moreau cuts either. DD tried a few on at states and found them really uncomfortable.
 
I love Cristian Moreau. You need to get the side right though- they're quite long in the body so often need a size down.

Take good care of them and they last ages.
 
I do think this leo stuff has gotten out of hand.

Are your designed mad with Bling ?

I think a nice classic, wearable design and let the gymnastics do the talking. I have never paid more than £60 for a leo ( 92 USD, 125 AUD, 119 CAD, 137 NZD) and felt that was sufficient.

By the way, can you lot sort your currencies out ! Dollar is getting overused !
 
The CM is definitely gone as it was an off the rack that jumped from $105 to $180 over 18 months. Remember 2 years ago the Aussie dollar was getting $1.10US now we are down to about $0.72. That makes abig difference to all the imported brands.

Yes that's what a few of us are saying about Sylvia P gymnastruby as I bought a school Leo for that price this year. Mind you it is very plain with no bling. Dimontes are pretty big where we are with most of the big clubs shining bright. But two or three sprays really add to the price.
 
As you know we went Sylvia P. No regrets at all.
Great customer service, great value.
Lots of comments in how good they look.

Lol those white based ones can look great but yes can imagine a pain.

Isn't Sylvia p based up your way - surely another reason to support!
 
We've had several at several gyms that were Sylvia P. Almost universally hated for their puffy crotch. They were sent back to be fixed, but SP refuses to believe there is anything wrong with them. If a leotard has a puffy crotch on more than 90% of the different girls who are wearing it (all different shapes and sizes of girls), I see that as a fault with the design, not a fault with the bodies it is on. Would NOT go with SP again if we had any say in it.
 
We got New leos designed a few years ago. We went with a local Melbourne person and for the life of me I can't remember what she is called! The leos are really nice (in my opinion) and not overly expensive. I think they are still coming in under $150.

The little symbol looks like maybe a CE from my blurry photos..... I'll try and remember.

The other option in Victoria is Chalk gymnastics wear. Lots of clubs use them.
 
My girls don't like the fit of Chalk leotards and say they are uncomfortable, I tend to agree that they don't appear to fit well. Our boys team has leos from Chalk and most of them hate them.
Ours girls switched from gk to sylvia p last year, primarily based on price ( damm that Aussie dollar) Everyone seems happy, the leg cut looks ok to us parents, none of the girls have complained. Most of them do have a puffy crutch though ;)
I think GK are the best fit on the market, it is just their custom designs work out so expensive
 
3 years ago our old club used Silvia P -brilliant fit with the individual sizing so with our new club ordered an individuallly fitted one for Dd for Nat clubs...was an absolute disaster -seems they use the same size sleeve pattern when down cutting a leo....so ended up with baggy sleeves on a body that fitted -maybe a new cutter -anyway was NOT happy!

A lot of girls in our club use Chalk and are all really happy with them.

Team leo is GK and have had no issues with fit...but had to order an especially made size 9 as the size 8 had her in a grip like that of a boa constrictor and the 10 was a slightly smaller version of the saggy baggy elephant☺

The individually cut 9 was excellent ☺
 
Our club had supposedly individually sized SylviaP leotards. They Were Not.
My child ended up with a standard size 4, no adjustment for girth or sleeve length. Yes, it would stretch on to her, but it was ridiculous. It should not have had a "custom size" tag in it.
As we have both GK and SylviaP branded competitions leotards of the same design I ended up making one for her myself, that actually fit.
I don't mind paying more for individual sizes, but I do expect them to be individually sized. I'm quite unimpressed by the whole thing.
 
Rs gym wear is a Tasmanian brand super cheap! And high quality leotards. Not really a fan of there competition designs but I'm sure they would do custom designs. 10/10 would recommend
 
Thanks for all the advice folks. The order for the sample GK has been made so I think we are going down that road now. Sylvia P are still 3 weeks away from releasing their 2016 competition leo catalogue and everyone feels that is just cutting it too fine when our senior girls will start competing late February.

All the big clubs around us have a lot of bling on their leotards, so as the only thing our girls wear on the floor, all the parents feel that the girls should have a design that they all like, particularly after having to wear the white disaster for 2 years. The negotiations have started to get the best price though!

We have about 25 girls in our senior squads next year, so everyone is looking forward to making a big splash next year with our new leo and much bigger team. In the meantime, it's back to work...
 
Have you considered Snowflake Designs?

We are in Australia raenndrops. We used to have a Snowflake distributor in our city, but they are no longer doing it. The back and forthing with America on design and supply would be a nightmare, and the only club that went with Snowflake had the distributor as a parent at their gym. They ditched it this year in favour of Sylvia P, but their leos were costing about the same as ours.
 
We are in Australia raenndrops. We used to have a Snowflake distributor in our city, but they are no longer doing it. The back and forthing with America on design and supply would be a nightmare, and the only club that went with Snowflake had the distributor as a parent at their gym. They ditched it this year in favour of Sylvia P, but their leos were costing about the same as ours.
I thought they still had a distributor over there...
And I knew the website had Aussie dollar pricing - but i hadn't checked out shipping rates. In the US, above a certain amount spent and shipping is free.
 
Thanks. It's for our long sleeve competition leotard rather than training wear. We will have about 30 girls competing in them from early next year so they have to be high quality and uniform. The club has decided to go with GK despite the price increase. The sample should arrive in the next 2 weeks. Sticking with GK means our girls going to nationals can wear their club Leo on the optional day if they want to, as our state has a contract with GK.

Can't wait to see them all decked out in it!
 

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