How a Favorite Dress Got a Luxe Makeover: The New Velour Ballerina Collection

Ever since our original cotton knit ballerina dresses first launched in 2017 in three beautiful shades (Amethyst, Fog, Ballet Slipper Pink), they’ve been a hit every Fall and holiday season. And I totally get why—they’re a favorite of mine too ha! Over the years, we've added more gorgeous shades - Peacock, Raspberry, Marshmallow, Winterberry, and Spruce, just to name a few...

Ballerina girls lineup in 2018 (@jodipaquinphoto)

Then, one fateful day, my littlest one broke into my old ballerina samples stash and wore our Winterberry and Spruce cotton knit samples almost every day. I’d swap the colors daily, wishing I had kept more of these from previous years, hand-washing and drying them overnight just to keep up. She loved them so much that she wore them until they were practically too short!

 Caris wearing her ballerina dress (two sizes too small!) in Japan (2023)

Last Fall, I knew it was time to give these beloved dresses a new twist. I wanted to create something that felt extra special and festive for the holidays, and velour seemed perfect. It’s so soft and warm—just right for the colder weather.

Caris' new favorite dresses! 2023

I’ll never forget when the new velour ballerina dresses finally arrived. Caris was just over the moon! She felt these new dresses were just the thing to replace her old favorites. Her excitement was contagious as she picked out the dusty lilac velour dress and said, “My favorite color is purple!” From then on, she insisted on wearing that dress to school every day. I ended up grabbing two more from inventory just to keep up with the constant hand-washing (though they held up beautifully)! We even took these dresses for a spin in our neighborhood when my friend Kortnee @tumblingsparrow came for a quick visit!

These updated velour ballerina dresses, while similar to their predecessors, had to be completely redesigned due to the different materials used and the new details that I wanted.

The redesign process started with the bodice. I wanted to up the luxury factor with velour, adding a bamboo viscose lining, and I also revamped the shoulder ruffles for a fuller look, and aimed for a fuller, more tutu-like skirt -- with two flounces of tulle. I decided to shorten the sleeves so they were 3/4 sleeve length and the skirt a bit to get a more classic ballerina look. The entire process, not surprisingly, took a lot longer than anticipated, and I was running out of time for samples. To spare you all the gory details, here's a quick rundown of the various stages of our new girls' velour ballerina dress...

1st sample above needed a lot of work: the sleeve ruffle detail was incorrect, wrong lining, poor fit, and overall felt heavy visually.2nd sample (above) was better: the sleeve ruffle material was right but too full; fit still needed work, and the 3-tier skirt was much too full.
3rd sample (above) was too tight and too short now! Over-correction. I used this sample and specs from previous ballerina dresses to figure out the final measurements for production. 

But the real challenge came when we tested the new design on Caris. I’d always thought of her as a bit chunky compared to her big sister at the same age, but it turns out she’s actually in the 50th percentile for her age group—way smaller than I realized! The velour, while gorgeous, stretches differently than cotton jersey and doesn’t have the same amount of give. The bamboo jersey lining, though incredibly soft, added thickness, which made the fit tighter than expected on an average child. 

Littles @jayphinaphotography wearing 12/18m + 4T of our first round velour ballerina dresses

For round two, I increased the widths and lengths for all sizes, which helped, but we still had requests for the next size up. Determined to get it right, I made more adjustments, and I’m so pleased with how the updated dresses have turned out this season.
New colors of velour ballerina dresses! (model is 7 wearing size 6)

This season, we're thrilled to introduce two new colors that have already become favorites around here: Cinnamon Spice and Nightfall (temporary color names for now). And for those of you who have been eagerly awaiting...yes, we are also bringing back last year's all-time favorites: Dusty Lilac, Sage, Red Velvet, and Mistletoe, and are adding women's matching styles in the traditional holiday colors (Red Velvet and Mistletoe), new this season!

I hope these new dresses bring as much joy and festive cheer to your little ones as they’ve brought to us!

Cheers!
Judy

Special thanks for my friend NikkiJamesPhotography for capturing these stunning photos of her girls in our velour ballerina collection.