Time for another installment of my gymnastics leotards run-down. For today’s article I have dug through the underbelly of the Internet and come up with a couple of new distributors that have very reasonably priced leotards in a wide variety of styles, but more on that in a minute. First, I wanted to recap the Cover Girl gymnastics classic that just occurred. As always, the young gymnasts amazed me. There were some excellent performances during the competition. Here is a clip of Shawn Johnson’s beam routine. Not one of her best, but not too bad for someone who is getting older either.

One of the things that immediately caught my attention in this clip is the fact that Shawn’s leo has lace sleeves. I have seen many styles of leos during my tenure as a gymnastics coach, but this is honestly the first time I have ever seen a black and purple leotard with lace sleeves. Another interesting development is that Alicia Sacrimone was wearing gymnastics leotards that were made by Under Armour. Apparently this was cause for discussion as the leos worn at classics and national competitions are typically provided by GK Leotards. I will keep my ears open and see if I can find out more information about this.

I also wanted to take just a minute and remind you all that the 2012 summer Olympics are about a year out. We are sure to see a whole host of new leotard styles during the international meets leading up to the summer games. If you find any pictures of leos that are particularly interesting, please share them with us.

I have written about Snowflake Leotards in the past, and I wanted to revisit the products they offer one more time today. If you have had to go out and purchase any gymnastics leotards for your little athlete, you know they can get very expensive very quickly. There are some manufacturers out there that can charge upwards of $50 per leotard. That just flat out hurts. Snowflake Leotards has a nice selection of leos that are reasonably priced. Now, remember that the Snowflake leotard will fit your gymnast differently than her favorite GK leo, so make sure you do a good job of measuring your daughter before you get her the leotard.

They have a wide selection of leotards to choose from. For example, here are two nice little blue leotards that have a nice, decorative feel to them.

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They also have some very cute red leotard fashions that your gymnast will love to sport while working out. These leos would be great for practice.

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Click Here To Buy

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Regardless of what type of colorful gymnastics leotard you are looking for, Snowflake leotards should be one of your stops.

One of the up and coming gymnastics leotard manufacturers that I found is Eel Skin Leotards. I found this company while out playing around on Facebook. As soon as I stumbled across them, I knew I had to ping Tamera, the owner, and find out what her story was. Here is the rundown she gave me:

“EEL Skins was designed when my daughter started gymnastics classes. I was shocked to see that a basic leotard was $50…wow. To top it all off, there was nothing cute to choose from! I was told that I could go to a big name store and get a leotard for $20, so I did and really was not happy with the quality or selection. The material that was used was cheap and when I dropped her off for class there were three other girls with the exact same thing on. I went home that night and teamed up with my partner and EeL Skins was born. A cute, quality, unique and most importantly affordable line of gymnastics, dance and ice skating wear that your little girl is going to LOVE!

We make Leotards, unitards, ice skating dresses and skirted leotards. All colors are available and many different textures from metallic and glitter to mattes and velvets.”

Here are a couple of images from their Facebook page that show the style and quality of their gymnastics apparel.

Eel Skin Blue Leotard

Eel Skin Polkadot Leotard

This is exactly what I like to find – an entrepreneur that has found a problem, identified a solution and then taken it to the people. You can find more information on their products at their Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/EEL-Skin-Leotards/210939715585045).

My other major leotard find has a similar story, read on. Tumbleos is another small start up that realized that the price of gymnastics can just be flat out outrageous sometimes. So instead of spending $50 a pop on leotards. Here is Tumbleos founder Amy telling the companies story in her own words.

“Tumbleos is new to the gymnastics leotard world, having just been established in January 2011. I started making leotards for my daughter after being frustrated by the high prices and lack of easy accessibility to affordable leotards. After all, we spend so much money on our tuition fees for gymnastics, spending $50 on a leotard to practice in seemed outrageous to me. I also began making leotards for my nieces involved in competition gymnastics. Their friends all loved their leotards and other parents started begging me to make leotards for their daughters. From there, I created a website, www.tumbleos.com and posted my leotards on Ebay. Since then, sales have increased about 25% each month.

Tumbleos leotards are unique, fit great, and hold up well. The most popular style, the Racerback Leotards, some of which are adorned with a rhinestone embellishment (are sold with extra rhinestones), are a great choice for girls who tend to outgrow the arm holes first. Tumbleos leotards can be custom-made to fit anyone’s style. On our website you can choose the style you want and then select any of our fabrics in that style or you can just order one of my predesigned leotards. The styles include the Racerback, Tango Top, Keyhole, Classic Tank, Heart Top, Arch Top, and any of those with a sleeve. I’ve also started selling grip bags, which can also be custom-made to match your style or leotard.
All Tumbleos leotards are made with great care by me and ship within 3 days of ordering. All fabrics are high quality and 4-way stretch, mostly a nylon/spandex mix with the exception of the velvet fabrics, which are a polyester/spandex mix. All leotards include a polyester/spandex crotch lining.

Sometimes I’m asked if my leotards are a good quality and if they last. The answer to that question is …absolutely. Something doesn’t have to be mass produced in China and then overpriced in the US in order for it to be good quality.”

Here are some photos of the leotards to give you an idea of their style and quality.

Hearts and Bones Tumbleos Leotard

Polkadot Tumbleos Leotard

White and Blue Tumbleos Leotard

There are many major names in the gymnastics leotard industry – GK, Alpha Factor, Danskin, etc. Each of these major leotard makers does an excellent job of creating a long lasting product, but honestly, they can be pretty expensive. I think it is great that there are smaller companies like Snowflake Leotards, Eel Skin Leotards, and Tumbleos that are out there in the gymnastics leotards market space to keep things competitive and keep the big guys on their toes.

If you have a little person that loves the sport of gymnastics or dance, you know how important the correct apparel is. It is not uncommon for first time gymnasts to come into class wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt; however they quickly realize that this is not the preferred workout attire for this sport; the primary reason being that loose clothing has a way of getting in the way when dancing or performing acrobatic skills. Too many times I have seen the loose t-shirt of a young female fall over her head while she was upside down leaving her mid-section exposed and her embarrassed. The correct clothing is essential and gymnastics leotards are always stressed as a necessity for new students. As a result I am always looking for new leotard manufacturers.

Two such new brands that I have stumbled across are Flip flop leos and Wear moi leotards. I have been in the industry for 20 years and this is the first time I have heard of these two manufacturers. Flip flop leos are a small outfit that operate primarily over the Internet. The store front is based on eBay, and I will tell you that their prices are extremely reasonable. I cannot speak specifically to their quality as I have never seen any of the products, but for the low prices they charge it may be worth it to buy one and see how it works. Keep your expectations realistic Gk Leotards are expensive and last forever, these cost considerably less and may not be as durable…I honestly do not know. If you do buy one of the Flip Flop leos, please come back and share your thoughts with us.

The other manufacturer I was looking at is Wear Moi Leotards. Right off the bat, I have to tell you that I like the catch brand name…very clever. The Wear Moi brand is directed more to the dance crowd and is designed to meet their specific needs. While you can use a dance leotard to do gymnastics in, I don’t recommend it. However, if your little gymnast has to do ballet classes as well (which is most often the case) one of each may just be what the doctor ordered.

A while back I wrote about the fact that the UC Berkley Gymnastics program had been cut from the list of supported programs next year (UC Berkley loses gymnastics program). I am happy to report that the UC Berkley program has been reinstated; however, it appears that the Rhode Island Gymnastics program is now at risk. Take a couple of minutes, read the article and then sign the petition to keep it around (Rhode Island Gymnastics Petition). On a side note, I have coached gymnastics for over 20 years. Gymnasts as a group are driven, successful individuals that push themselves to succeed academically and in the sport of their choice. In spite of long workouts, most of my gymnasts were honor roll students who were a real asset to their schools. It is a shame to cut these performers and instead keep other programs where the athletes are not nearly as exceptional but bring more revenue to the school.

Also wanted to take a minute and just provide a brief update on Bridget Sloan’s college choice. For those of you that have been following this at all, she has decided to attend (verbally at least) the University of Florida this fall. We wish her the best of luck in the pursuit of her education.

Buy This Leo Now

Now for some gymnastics leotard discussion. I have written about Motionwear Leotards before and spoken about their versatility. So, naturally I was interested in several comments I recently came across while out reading through some threads at the Chalk Bucket (which is a gymnastics discussion board). As I have stated before, Motionwear has your standard assortment of blue leotards, red leotards, green and purple leotards and the rest of the spectrum as well. They also have very nice color combinations and designs like flame leotards and flower leotards.

What I did find interesting while sifting through the discussion on their leotards is that apparently the polka dot leotards and the foil leotards are very difficult to care for, so keep that in mind if you are considering purchasing one of those. The other item of interest is that their sizing runs a little different. My understanding is that the Motionwear Leotards typically fit a little loose (depending on the shape of the gymnast). By and large, most of the readers liked the tight fit of GK leotards better, but still felt that the Motiowear leotards were a good buy. By and large, most folks were also very pleased with the durability of the products.

Next article, I am going to write a product review about a brand new line I stumbled across call Eel Skin Leotards (like the animal I believe). Should be fun…see you next time.

It has been a while since my last post. I have been swamped with my day job. I have seen several interesting things come across my Facebook USA Gymnastics page lately that I thought were worth discussing, but I really liked the article about the 1996 Gold Medal Olympic Team. I thought that would be an appropriate place to start this article out.

The USA Gymnastics Staff spent a little time with each of the 1996 Olympians asking them what they do these days, if they are married, if they are still involved with the sport and how and what opportunities they felt winning the Olympics provided them with. I am only going to provide a recap of the responses here (the ones I thought were interesting) however I would highly encourage you to hop over to the USA Gymnastics site and read the full article (http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/pages/features/110301_96team/).

I found it fascinating to see where these young ladies have landed after their time in the spotlight. It should come as no surprise that a couple of them are still into gymnastics. Amanda Borden and Jaycie Phelps both own gymnastics training centers and love being involved with the sport to this day. Amy Chow is now a physician, Dominique Moceanu works special events with her husband, Kerri Strug works as a lawyer for the Federal government in DC, and Dominique Dawes also works with the Federal government supporting special program and initiatives…in addition to working in broadcasting.

All of the 1996 Olympians have come a long way and continue to set an excellent example for young ladies.

You know I am a big fan of saving money, it’s one of the reasons I created this website. I believe it is important for folks to have alternatives when picking up leotards for their little gymnasts. This is just as true now as it was 3 years ago when I began writing here. One of the directions that I am moving towards is actually beginning to sell used gymnastics leotards here on the site. Many folks out there buy a $60 name brand leotard, use it twice and then have no reason to keep it. I am going to track some of those down and put them onto a Leotard Shop page I am going to build and add on. I will let you know as soon as it goes live.

Finally, have any of you ever used DreamLight Leotards? I just stumbled across them this week. The information I have been able to find indicates they are very similar in quality and price to the GK Leotards that are out there on the market. Some folks like the way they fit and feel; others are not so excited. I have seen a great deal of discussion regarding the fact that they provide competitive gymnastics leotards, but I haven’t really seen anything about them making toddler gymnastics leotards and such. Any experience with them?

Remember, keep your eyes open for our Girls Gymnastics Leotards Shop!