The week of February 22-28 I was highlighted as Mommy Auction’s mommy of the week. One of the fun questions I was asked was ‘If I could own any store what it would be’. My answer? Hanna Andersson. Clothing from Hanna Andersson is everything you wish that clothing could be. It is cute, comfortable, versatile, and most importantly-made of steel!

Hanna Andersson is a US based company started by the granddaughter of the Hanna Andersson in 1983. The clothes feature European sizing and until recently were made in the US. A quote from the Spring 2008 catalogue says this:

“In Sweden where I grew up, people buy the best quality they can and use things for a long, long time. For nearly 25 years, this old-world heritage has inspired us to create long-lasting and livable clothes that let kids be kids. We start with soft, washable fabrics and make sure they’re comfortable for playing day after day-because the clothes they wear most give you the best value of all.”

Hanna makes clothing for babies to adults, often offering family looks that allow Mom, Dad, boys and girls to coordinate for special holidays and events. Most of their clothing sets have line names to help clarify matching pieces. Their designs are a Swedish Euro mix with brightly colored flowers and stripes, paired with matching tights and adorable clogs.

What they are best known for are their ‘It’s a Play Dress Day Dress’ sets. Each season, Hanna Andersson offers striped dresses in a handful of colors. Coordinating leggings or capris in an opposite stripe are sold separately. The dresses are not form fitting in the bodice, so you can often get a couple years out of each dress and just change out the bottoms.

A couple years? I hear you laughing. You are thinking my kids destroy an outfit in one afternoon forget a couple years. This is why I love Hanna! I have owned a number of Hanna Andersson sets for Marissa and there was only one dress that isn’t still in great condition (it got hit with spaghetti and spumoni ice cream in the same afternoon). Hanna clothes are extremely stain resistant and well made. They are my personal favorite when it comes to quality clothing.

Those of you who love organic clothing will love Hanna’s pajama lines made for the whole family. Their sleepware is Oko-Tex (pronounced echo-tex)-a European ecological certification process that tests garments for over 100 harmful substances. They sound safer then my tap water.

Hanna Andersson was originally a catalogue company and has opened a handful of brick and mortar stores (none of which are near me). They are also online at www.hannaandersson.com . Check their website for sales, especially their twice yearly sales that come in December and some time in the Summer. Due to the quality it has high resale value so you may be able to recoup some of your investment, making it even more affordable. My favorite place to find Hannas, though, is at a thrift store. The older Hannas were made in the USA and are even better quality then today, so a vintage Hanna is always welcome in our closets!

Some may be a tad bit overwhelmed when ordering from Hanna Andersson due to the fact that they use European sizing. Don’t let this stop you! Their size chart says that height is the one and only measure that you need to order Hannas. How nice is that? No trying to hold your two year old still while you wrap a tape measure around her waist or trying to measure her inseam while the leg tries to kick you in a sort of strange game. Just the height and you are set!

If you have Hanna Andersson clothing and you want to sell it here on Mommy Auctions, you may want to use the print name. This will make it easier for buyers to find your product. There are two great Hanna Andersson related sites that I recommend,  one is www.hannafannas.com where you can look up old lines and the other is a site that sells matching hair bows - www.hannabanna.com.

I will leave you with a few pictures of my daughter in Hanna. The first is of Marissa when she was about 9 months old. She is wearing a vintage Hanna with no print name. The second is Marissa wearing the Storyteller dress last Christmas.

Please remember, I cannot be held responsible if you develop an addiction to Hanna Andersson. You have been warned!

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This entry was posted on Thursday, April 10th, 2008 at 5:19 am and is filed under Mommy Must Haves, Product Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.