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teachingmyown
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| Posted: Jan 27 2010 at 7:07pm | IP Logged
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Please don't throw tomatoes, but I am getting kind of tired of Lands' End dresses.  My girls, 10, 8, 6 and 3, are pretty much dress-only girls. This certainly makes dressing easier and I don't have to worry about fashion and matching and modesty. Just a dress and leggings and they are set.
So, it's not the dress thing. It is the Lands' End dress thing. I am looking for a little variety. However, we are strict below-the-knee people with a limited budget. And don't suggest I sew them dresses. (You can suggest, but I will ignore!  )
So what brands are comparable? How do you modestly, easily and frugally dress a bunch of girls?
Thanks in advance!
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In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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LisaR
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| Posted: Jan 27 2010 at 7:11pm | IP Logged
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what about Hanna Andersson?
If you are willing to buy off season, I get NWT on ebay for a song.
also their twice-a-year sale, watch online, wait a few days, and their prices will drop again!
lastly, the Hanna outlets have some great deals- 5.00 leggings, 10.00 dresses-5.00 3 pack unders,1.00 socks join their email list to get updates, call, say what you're looking for , and they will pack and ship for you from the store!
(the only thing I dislike about HA is the shipping costs!!)
now I gave away my secrets!! 
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Lisa
dh Tim '92
Joseph 17
Paul 14
Thomas 11
Dominic 8
Maria Gianna 5
Isaac Vincent 9/21/10! and...
many little saints in heaven!
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Waverley
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| Posted: Jan 27 2010 at 10:15pm | IP Logged
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This year I bought quite a few dresses/leggings sets made by Osh Kosh. The dresses were all below the knee and the leggings and dresses could all be mixed and matched. I found them at Herbergers and Kohls. I don't know if they have these stores near you but you could check their websites to see if you could order on-line or if they had a sister-store near you.
Good luck!
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Waverley
wife to Dh for 19 years, dd (16), dd (11), dd (8), ds (6), dd (4), dd (9-13-1996)
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Maddie
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| Posted: Jan 27 2010 at 10:37pm | IP Logged
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Be glad to relieve you of any burdensome Land's End dresses....
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~Maddie~
Wife to my dh and Momma of 9 dear ones
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MicheleQ
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| Posted: Jan 27 2010 at 10:41pm | IP Logged
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Molly,
Believe it or not I saw some really cute knit dresses at K-Mart a few weeks ago. Definitely affordable.
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Michele Quigley
wife to my prince charming and mom of 10 in Lancaster County, PA USA
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teamommy
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| Posted: Jan 28 2010 at 12:05am | IP Logged
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I am a huge Lands End fan. My girls wear these dresses almost every day, and I always snatch them up at Goodwill. The only other dresses I have found (I haven't looked too hard, mind you!) that I like half as well are Hanna Andersen. I find them at Goodwill fairly often, and at a resale shop close to my house. I did find some dresses at G'will last summer, and the brand name was George, which my sister tells me is a Wal-mart brand! The dresses were cute and modest.
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Bookswithtea
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| Posted: Jan 28 2010 at 7:53am | IP Logged
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Another option for quality and modesty is Gymboree. I think they are comparable to HA and LE. They are similarly priced, but like the others, can be found on sale.
Fwiw, some of my girls were also getting sick of the knit dress style, too. LE has recently started selling knit skorts. They are *long*. I have tall girls and these are all below the knee on them (although not calf length), have shorts underneath, and look different enough that my girls were happy. I called them first to find out what the length was for the sizes I needed. They are holding up very well and look really cute with both tights and leggings under them in the winter.
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~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and  due 9/10
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Mimip
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| Posted: Jan 28 2010 at 8:12am | IP Logged
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Molly,
I have no idea where in Virginia you are located but I highly recommend trying the outlet malls. this one has a location in Williamsburg. They have Osh'Kosh and Gymboree and Hanna Andersson.
We go in the middle of a season (right now) and get tremendous deals!!!
Oh here is another one in Leesburg that has Carters, Gymboree and OshKosh.
Maybe you could find some stuff in one of these?
Good Luck!
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In Christ,
Mimi
Wife of 16 years to Tom, Mom of DD'00, DD'02, '04(in heaven) DS'05, DS'08 and DS '12
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teachingmyown
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| Posted: Jan 28 2010 at 9:51am | IP Logged
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Maddie wrote:
| Be glad to relieve you of any burdensome Land's End dresses.... |
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Well, I tell you, Maddie, you wouldn't want them by the time we have finished with them! Most of them come to us used and go through two to four girls in our house.
My girls wear them every single day. Dd10 actually has a couple of pants and sweater outfits from Lands' End that I got from Ebay last year, so she isn't in a dress everyday. I keep thinking how nice she looks when she is wearing the other outfits. 
It is probably just part of the winter blahs. Wanting to see something fresh and new!
Thanks for the suggestions. I am scouring ebay for some of the alternatives you suggested. I guess there is other stuff out there. It is just so much easier to search on Lands' End rather than sorting through pages of really strange clothes and not being sure of how they will fit if I do buy them.
One funny thing, as I was searching Lands' End on ebay last night, I would come across dresses I recognize. I know my Lands' End so well I can say, "No, we don't want that one, the dresses fell apart that year" or "that year they were shorter and didn't have pockets." I am a Lands' End expert! Who knew?!
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In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Jan 28 2010 at 11:15am | IP Logged
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Well, this might be one step away from sewing your own, so feel free to ignore me if you wish, but Dharma Trading carries blanks for dresses and leggings--and dye. You could easily vat dye the blanks a color to make them all "match" if you wanted. An easy way to jazz it up a bit might be to get iron on t-shirt paper to add a cute image to the front. Or you could get a little craftier and sew cute buttons or bows on--or have the girls do this themselves. Maybe even simple applique?
This might actually be a fun way to "make your own" without the stress of actually sewing them.
Dharma Dyeable Dresses (which go down in price the more you buy--they don't have to be the same item to count towards the discount! This could also include tees and blouses including those for boys).
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
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[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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MicheleQ
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| Posted: Jan 28 2010 at 11:48am | IP Logged
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teachingmyown wrote:
| It is probably just part of the winter blahs. Wanting to see something fresh and new! |
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Oh yes --I can relate!
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Michele Quigley
wife to my prince charming and mom of 10 in Lancaster County, PA USA
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JodieLyn
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How about Vessels of Mercy Dress Shoppe
Made for you but not custom dresses. Consider the options she lists and how the dresses would look in different fabrics. I don't think she has a lot of fabric choices right now but you can send her fabric you've chosen and the cost of the sewing will be less.
Even though I can sew I find her to be very reasonable and she does nice work, and it's so hard to find time for myself to sew that the cost is definately worth it.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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teachingmyown
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CrunchyMom wrote:
Well, this might be one step away from sewing your own, so feel free to ignore me if you wish, but Dharma Trading carries blanks for dresses and leggings--and dye. You could easily vat dye the blanks a color to make them all "match" if you wanted. An easy way to jazz it up a bit might be to get iron on t-shirt paper to add a cute image to the front. Or you could get a little craftier and sew cute buttons or bows on--or have the girls do this themselves. Maybe even simple applique?
This might actually be a fun way to "make your own" without the stress of actually sewing them.
Dharma Dyeable Dresses (which go down in price the more you buy--they don't have to be the same item to count towards the discount! This could also include tees and blouses including those for boys). |
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Thanks for the link! I think I might just try this!
__________________
In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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Aggie gal
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| Posted: Jan 29 2010 at 11:08am | IP Logged
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Speaking of Hanna Andersson, I just picked up a few summer dresses at our Costco for 13.99 each. I think they had about 8 different ones to choose from.
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Amy
Married to Rob, Momma to Patrick (17), Braden (14), Nathan (11), Benjamin (10), Aurea (8), Peter (6), Rosie (3) and Baby Blaise
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teachingmyown
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Hanna at Costco?! Might need to check out ours to see if they have them, too!
Good to see you here, Miss Amy! Been busy snuggling that baby girl, I bet! 
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In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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dakotamidnight
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I find all our dresses at thrift shops, so as far as finding new I'm not much help.
Brands we like are:
Hanna Anderson {especially those made for the German market - we find them often here due to the nearby military bases}
Children's Place {Hit or miss but we have some nice ones}
Gap Kids
Lands End of course
and Vintage dresses from the 50's - 70's. We LOVE the vintage items here!
We are also lucky enough to live in an area where there are several protestant churches that practice strict modest dress, so we all encounter one another shopping and pass on where we are finding good items.
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pmeilaen
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Here's a list of websites from catalogues I've collected over the years. Most of them offer sales throughout the year or you can look for them at consignment stores -- that's what we normally do  :
c w d kids
The Wooden Soldier
Company Kids
Orient Expressed
Laura Ashley
L.L. Bean
Also Target has some good ones sometimes.
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Eva
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LisaD
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| Posted: Jan 30 2010 at 8:43pm | IP Logged
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Oh, oh, oh!!! I know!! We just discovered Crazy 8 this year. It is a Gymboree company, but the prices are better and the styles are a little more...fashion forward, I guess is how I would put it. My dd, 10, is very conscious of style, yet so much of what is considered stylish today is SO immodest. We have found such cute dresses and leggings, with really great sale prices at Crazy 8.
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~Lisa
Mama to dd(99), ds(01), ds(03) and ds(06)
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Alternative to Lands End?
