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

Click Here To Buy

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.

So, this looks like it will be the final post of this year. I know I missed posting last month, but things have been busy (as we all know life tends to be). Overall, 2010 has been a good year for the sport of gymnastics, and I hope I have provided you with lots of new information on various leotard makers and resellers. My goal for 2011 is to continue to bring you useful information about all of the various leotards that are out there. Up to this point I have focused mostly on gymnastics leotards (the name of the site IS Girls Gymnastics Leotards after all), but in 2011 I think I am going to begin to branch out more into finding good deals on dance and cheer leotards and outfits also. Being the parent of a young teenager that loves this stuff I know it gets expensive quickly, and anytime I can help someone else find a way to save a couple of bucks it helps me to sleep better at night. So, if you have any lines you would like for me to profile or anything you would like me to track down just leave a comment in the comment section and we will see what we can dig up.

In keeping with this new direction, I went out and did a little digging around and came up with Yumiko leotards. Yumiko is one of those companies that makes leotards primarily for dance (some of the styles that they sell could work equally well for gymnastics if paired with a nice pair of bike shorts though). Now let me be clear that if you are looking for a cheap gymnastics leotard, it is not Yumiko leotards. These dancewear pieces are handmade and carry a very specialized feel to them. As a matter of fact this company has a very unique marketing approach as well. They encourage the dancers that use them to act as personal models. Basically, the dancers can become authorized salespeople for the line and earn points when they help facilitate a sale. I think that is brilliant.

Snow Flake Leotards is another one of those sites on the Internet that has an excellent variety and assortment of gymnastics leotards and accessories. They carry everything from hair scrunchies to competition leotards. So, they have created a type of one stop gymnastics accessories shop. The other thing that is nice about the Snowflake leotards site is that the leos are very reasonably priced. These are not the “break the bank” type of leotards that some gymnastics companies sell. One of the other things I liked about their product line was that it is very colorful. They have a wide array of leotard styles that match multiple colors together. Red and black leotards, blue and black leotards, pink tie die leotards, and the list goes on. They are worth checking out if you need to purchase some gymnastics leotard apparel.

To finish out the year, here is a nice montage that the folks over at USAG put together to recap of some 2010 highlights – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGsm_Ru4tq4. Check out the extremely colorful leotards many of the gymnasts are wearing. This clip also includes highlights from the 2010 rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline seasons. Enjoy and Happy New Year!

Welcome back to Girls Gymnastics Leotards! In the past I have spoken extensively about the various manufacturers of girl’s gymnastics leotards – GK Leotards, Addidas, Danskin, Alpha Factor, etc. On top of these major manufacturers, there are a whole host of other gymnastics leotards makers. Just Google the term “girls gymnastics leotards” and you will be greeted with pages of leotard resellers.

Those of you that have children that participate in gymnastics know that this piece of equipment is every bit as vital as the bars or floor equipment. Young gymnasts have to have the ability to move freely in their outfits without their movements being inhibited by their clothing. This is the primary reason that young ladies participating in the sport of gymnastics need to have reliable leotards designed specifically for gymnastics. One of the primary problems with gymnastics leotards however, is that they can be very expensive.

Again, I’ve written many articles on different places to find bargains on either new or used gymnastics leotards. Be it eBay or Amazon, there are deals to be had. Additionally, I have written a little bit on finding discount gymnastics leotards at secondhand stores as well.

Yet, there are still other alternatives to buying a high priced designer leotard. This leads me to the next alternative — make your own. One must understand that this solution will not be viable for everyone that reads this article. Sewing is an acquired skill that takes a great deal of time and practice. Furthermore, there is a degree of complexity that is inherent when sewing leotards. Therefore, if you’re not an experienced seamstress this might not be the best solution. However, if you do have a fair degree of skill when it comes to using a sewing machine you may be able to save yourself considerable money when it comes to leotards.

In the course of my research online I found a couple of sites that provide a fairly diverse selection of patterns for gymnastics leotards. The first of these sites is specialtysportswear.com. From the looks of the site it appears they have basic and advanced leotard patterns that will provide you with several different styles of leotards. If you visit the site you will find they have nice graphics that provide visual representations of patterns that they offer.

The other site I found was jalie.com. The site actually provides photographs of the products and additionally they have patterns for boys unitards. Both of these sites do not specialize solely in gymnastics leotard, but actually provide sewing patterns for many different articles of clothing.

If you’re looking for an inexpensive gymnastics leotard for your young gymnast, and you’re decent with a needle and thread, you may want to look into these two sites and see what they can provide you with. Good luck finding the right leotard for your daughter.

Gymnastics Leotards

As the title for today’s article alludes to, I plan on looking at the different styles of leos used for young ladies that participate in rhythmic gymnastics as opposed to artistic gymnastics. If you have no clue what I am talking about, never fear…I will explain the difference between the two later on in the article.

Before I launch into my diatribe about the differences of the rhythmic leotard, I wanted to take a moment and say congratulations to the US Trampoline and Tumbling Teams for their excellent finish in the recent World Championships. The teams brought home a silver medal (Team Women’s Tumbling) and two bronze medals (Men’s and Women’s Team Double Mini-Trampoline). Way to go Team USA, looking forward to another spectacular season next year!

Since the article today discusses the different style of leotard that the rhythmic gymnast uses, I thought it was fitting to also tell the USA Women’s Rhythmic Gymnastics Team congratulations for their exceptional performance at the Junior Pan American Championships that were held in Havana, Cuba. Way to go team. They walked away with all four event gold medals and they walked away with the Team gold medal. Keep up the good work.

Ok, so on to the topic at hand. By profession, I instruct artistic gymnastics. If you are not familiar with this term, it simply refers to the gymnastics where the young ladies work on the floor, bars, vault and beam. Rhythmic gymnastics differs from this in that the events those young ladies compete in are hoop, rope, clubs, and ball. One thing is for certain, this genre of gymnastics focuses on different elements than its sister sport. These young ladies are typically incredibly flexible, as their events require a high degree of flexibility.

Artistic gymnastics leotards are typically very tight, and cling to the body of the gymnast. This is necessary to ensure that while the gymnast is performing difficult tumbling and dance skills their clothing remains safely out of the way. Additionally, during practice sessions, the gymnasts frequently wear bike shorts that are made out of spandex, and cling tightly to the gymnast to provide them with some additional privacy. As the pictures on this page show, the shape and cut of a rhythmic gymnastics leotard is different than that of their artistic sisters. The design of the rhythmic gymnastics leotard is designed more to compliment the gymnast as she performs her routines. While the under part of the leo is still clingy, it has an almost skirt like frill that is attached to the bottom. This adds to the graceful feeling of the sport. Whereas artistic gymnastics is typically about power, the rhythmic side of the house focuses more on grace and elegance.

As always, you can check out GK Leotards and shop their rhythmic gymnastics line of leotards. They have a full line of rhythmic and artistic leotards, and probably have something to fit your style. If you are looking for leotards that are specifically for Rhythmic gymnastics check out Olystone leotards and look at their full line of rhythmic gymnastics leotards. They specialize in providing leotards to rhythmic gymnasts, and they seem like they have a pretty good selection.

Gymnastics Leotards