Cotton Tank Dresses and Sweatshirt Dresses

These little numbers should practically be a uniform for all of humankind. The ultimate in ease, comfort and, let’s face it, style.
A tank dress is a sleeveless one-piece garment with a skirt that may be slim-fitted or A-line, ending above the knee, at the calf or full ankle length. Tank dresses are comfy enough for active movement and play, and cute enough to dress up for any event or special occasion. See what I mean, the future is tank dresses for all.

Tank dresses are best suited for wear during the day, primarily in warmer weather. And, honestly, depending on the length, they are wonderful outfits for daycare, the playground, bombing around the house or backyard, or even a trip to the grocery store.
Easy to put on and when it comes to diaper changes or even potty time, what could be simpler?

In the words of the Fresh Prince, summa summa summatime. Summer is absolutely the very best time for your wee one to wear a tank dress. And, to be fair, dresses are not just for your little girl. Our son wears tank dresses in the summer because they are easy-breezy, incredibly comfortable and the most ideal outfit for his trampoline, monkey bar and bike-riding adventures.
Seriously though, dresses, and any garment of clothing for that matter, should never be deemed appropriate for a gender and not for others. What we mean is, how silly?
Articles of clothing are human designed and developed pieces of stitched fabric that act as a way for the wearer to at once cover themself and to express their individuality, personal style and unique tastes and preferences. Why would anyone want to limit that kind of self-expression? Diversity is the beauty of life.
So, hopping off of our soapbox now(!), let us just end by repeating what we stated above, tank dresses are the uniform of the future and we stand behind that. You dig?

Good question. Since babies come in all shapes and sizes, it can be a challenge to size according to traditional measurements like chest, waist, hip and length. Typically, what you’ll find is sizing based on age and sometimes cross-referenced against weight, which is also how we do things around here.
Premature or “preemie” baby clothing is marked as PM and newborn clothing is marked as NB. Infant clothing is stated by month, like 0-3M; toddler clothing is stated by age, like 2T or 2Y for two-year-olds.
However, there are some hiccups with these conventions. Ask any seasoned parent and they’ll probably tell you that their baby’s clothing didn’t perfectly match his or her age. Maybe they wore newborn clothing well into their third month or maybe they were already in 3-6M at 9 weeks old.
For this reason, it’s important that you pay close attention to those other factors, like baby’s height and weight. When purchasing new baby clothes after baby is born, reference our size chart and buy the size that corresponds to baby’s weight, rather than their age. The fact is that babies grow at their own pace, so you’ll get a much more accurate fit when you go off your babe’s size.
A comfy, cozy baby is a happy baby, so we don’t need to tell how important the right fit is! Make sure that you pick baby clothes and bodysuits that are snug but not tight—especially around the neckline and leg openings—so, baby doesn’t get irritated throughout the day. When your bundle becomes more and more mobile, you’ll want clothes that don’t restrict their range of motion when they’re crawling, dancing and, eventually, running!
Here are some pretty solid guidelines to go by:
1. Eyeball it: If you’re in an actual brick-and-mortar store, sometimes it’s better to go by the look of the size than the actual size. Some brands do better than others at accuracy and some clothes shrink or stretch more as they are worn and washed.
2. Sort by length: sort by length and not by what the tag says, especially if you’re faced with multiple brands and hand-me-downs.
3. Get familiar with what sizes mean: anything labeled by a specific month, instead of a month range, will fit on the smaller side. For example, 3M versus 3-6M.
4. Some brands run small or large: this is something you’ll discover pretty quickly by talking to other mamas or checking out mama message boards online. We like to think we've hit that sweet spot at Inchworm Alley but, honestly, it all depends on what brands you’re used to and most familiar with.
As for tank dress sizing for kids, you can count on the standard 2T or 2-year sizing systems. Again, these will vary depending on the brand but, fortunately, for tank dresses you can’t really go wrong. It’s the type of style that can be worn large and loose and as your child grows, the skirt will get shorter but the outfit will still fit, especially if it has an A-line shape, like ours do.
Our son started wearing tank dresses when he was around three and, as he grew, that tank dress just got shorter and shorter. But, with the deep armholes, the dress grew with him in the sense that it went from ankle length, to knee length and then it reached his thighs.