Hello Mamas,
A very sweet friend of ours gave my DD about 8 pairs of leggings (the type with the lace at the bottom) that belonged to one of her relatives. Some of the leggings are longer than others. It appears that some are full length pants while others are the length of capris. Also included were two pairs of shorts that look like leggings but without the lace at the bottom, I don’t think they go past the knee or if they do just barely past the knee then (I haven’t tried them on her yet). She also gave her a couple of dresses, some jean shorts, two pairs of shoes – one flats & one boots, & some misc. items.
I have never put leggings on my daughter & so now I have all these questions running through my mind, LOL. I’m hoping you fashion savvy mamas can help me. My daughter will be starting Kindergarten in six weeks & so I LOVE the idea of the leggings since they’ll be easy for her to pull on/off for restroom breaks.
Are leggings still considered to be in style?
Where should these leggings hit lengthwise on her legs?
Can the leggings be worn by themselves or would that be a fashion no-no? I don’t know if these are only meant to be layered under other clothing or what. If they can be worn by themselves, what type of top would you put on your DD? A long top vs. a short top?
If I put something over the leggings such as a skirt or dress which length leggings should she be layering with what or does it matter? Like I said there are three lengths of leggings here! So I’m assuming that the long leggings probably go with the boots & then the capri style leggings with the flats, does that sound about right?
Can jean shorts be worn over leggings? It seems like I’ve seen this style before. If they can, what length should the shorts be? Would this be a summer look or a winter look?
My other concern is that I want whatever I put over the leggings to be easy enough for my DD to pull on/off as needed.
I was also thinking that this would be a good way of stretching out clothing that has gotten too short such as skirts, shorts & dresses provided they still fit around the waist. Is this what other moms are doing too? Keeping the too short clothes and just sticking leggings underneath?
My final question has to do with the tops, she didn’t really give us any tops and so I’m not sure what tops I would put on my DD to coordinate with this type of look. Can you offer some suggestions on that, please?
Any advice, guidance, and/or education on leggings that you could provide to me would be very much appreciated =D
Thank you!!!!!
Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the responses....I don't feel so lost now. I didn't realize leggings were so popular.
I love my girls in leggings!! Put them under a denim skirt, match with any t-shirt, DONE! Very versatile outfits... I'd keep them ;) I'm notorious for wearing black leggings under short, summery dresses just to be a little more modest as a mom!!
the new Justice catalog has a whole page of shorter leggings under shorts - so I would do that.
My only rule is that my daughter's shirt has to come below her b*tt cheeks for her to wear it with leggings. I see lots of girls who don't adhere to that rule, but I think it isn't appropriate for leaving the house.
You'll also find that soon your daughter will outgrow the skirts that have shorts built in.... seems to me that by 1st grade I could rarely find those anymore, so leggings are good for under those skirts.
Leggings are still in style, especially for young children. They look cute under skirts and dresses. Most leggings I see fall around the calf or the ankle, though sometimes they go a little below the knee. I love the colorful stripe and polka dot ones, they always look so cute. I wouldn't wear them alone, unless the shirt is a longer, tunic type top or the leggings are a thicker material.
Just scroll down here, and you will see tons of cute ways to wear leggings:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=childrens+leggin...
My daughter (4 years old) loves leggins and tights. She wears them under skirts, under dresses and with longer shirts. As for the shorts she always wears them under dresses and skirts. Especially in summer when she's playing on the playground. She has never had a problem pulling them down with whatever we put on top of them. I think leggins looks really cute on kids.
All I have to say is, my kindergartner's fashion is whatever I can get her to wear. The other day she wore a pumpkin hat with her outfit. The day before, rubber boots, shorts and a tutu. She's been trying to live in her swimming suit this summer as well. Have fun!
As others have said, they are great for modesty for shorts, skirts, dresses. They can be used in place of tights too for a more casual look and for warmth. I mainly responded because I REALLY appreciated Katie L.'s comment about dresses becoming Tunics overnight LOL
Leggings are awesome - you can wear them with anything!! My girls wear them with their now too short dresses (you know, the dresses that suddenly turned into tunics over night) Don't worry about what shoes to wear with what leggings. I've seen little girls with short leggings, a short dress and BOOTS! It was adorable. I personally don't like leggings with just a short t-shirt. A tunic, longer shirt, dress or skirt looks best. Love the jean shorts/skirt idea. One of my daughters is wearing all of her skorts from last summer (they're pretty short) with short little leggings (come to a few inches above her knees) It looks really cute and I love that she's getting another summer out of these skorts!
Don't worry about what's in style. Really, at her age it doesn't matter. She'll look cute mixing and matching stuff.
So, I wrote this a few hours ago and just feel compelled to add on. Just after I finished typing my response my daughter comes downstairs ready to go visit the new American Girl store. What was she wearing? Leggings, and a white tank top undershirt that I have only seen her wear to bed. I mean, it had wife beater written all over it! I wasn't in the mood to have her change but I mentioned that there might be some girls in their pretty dresses at AG. She didn't care. I couldn't stop thinking about my earlier post, and laughing :)
You can put them under shorts. For my younger daughter I use them a lot under dresses that I feel are just a bit too short. The longer ones you can wear with an oversized shirt.
Leggings are great for elementary girls because it allows them to wear dresses and skirts to school. Due to PE, they can't wear dresses or skirts without some sort of legging or spandex underneath.
You can stretch the use of some dresses/skirts that are now too short.
I would not put them under shorts. I would pair them with dresses, skirts and longer tops.
Around here (Dallas area) we see a lot of them in schools for the PE rule. My daughter is 16 and she no longer wears leggings. She does wear spandex (the tight shorts that go under the cheer skirt) with all her dresses and skirts.
My daughter wears them a lot - I love them with too short shirts as other posters have said, over gymnastics leotards for the AC in the car, under dresses, etc.
I like the under the shorts idea, too!
Congrats on getting so many great used clothes!
Leggings are so in style it's not funny lol. Leggings by themselves is a no no. Not only is it a fashion no no but leggings are tight so putting a normal shirt with leggings does not look "classy" and with little kids obviously you don't frown at them. You frown at the parents lol.
Leggings under shorts would be really cute. My rule is the shirt has to a bit below her butt when they go under tunics. I love getting bike shorts and having them go under skirts and dresses. My daughter is 2 1/2 in 3T but I notice some of them don't have built in shorts and I want her to have something so her diaper doesn't look saggy even if it's empty lol If she was older I'd do it too so she didn't show her underwear when playing.
You are right on target with the shoe match up. Capri leggings look better with flat. Depending on the boots, it may look good but I don't know. If you pair shorts obviously they can't be capri length or it would defeat the purpose but if it's too short you'll get some looks. So I would say mid thigh, kinda like the shorter version of bermuda shorts.
I am ocd about colors, but the leggings have to match in some way to the shirt or shoes. If they are striped then the shirt can't be striped or anything, but if yellow is the color that strands out in the striped leggings she will wear a yellow shirt, see what I mean :)
I would check out sales if you can, I don't think you can stretch out clothes that are too short :P
The little girl I take care of uses leggings all the time. She wears them under jean skirts and little cotton skirts, she wears then with big over sized hoodies, she wears them with loose t-shirts and sometimes just with little cotton t shirts. she wears them under her soccer shorts. she wears them all the time. both full length and capri length
ilove having leggings under my daughters dresses and skirts because we all know little girls hang upside down on the monkey bars at school. i think any legth and shoe are fine and fashionable for little kids.
