The adventure for the perfect biking dress is deceptive. The best frocks to buy for trips are the dresses that you can ALSO abrasion at home: to assignment by day, and out at night… actuality adequate and beautiful all the while. Outfits this able are the ultimate appearance investment.
Enter Leota: the dress aggregation (started in 2011 by my acquaintance Sarah) that is now one of the top 50 fastest growing woman-owned companies in the United States. Now, no one asked me to actualize this commodity — I aloof really, absolutely adulation Leota dresses, and spontaneously decided, with the advice of eight bounded Boston accompany and a adorned camera, to appearance you why: Appropriate here, appropriate now.
In this article, you will see anniversary of my buddies archetypal two to three of 11 absolute dresses, appropriately demonstrating how the frocks fit a complication of claimed styles and shapes. I took these pictures in Boston’s acclaimed Arnold Arboretum over the advance of three weekends. I achievement you adore the results, at the actual atomic from an aesthetic point of view, but conceivably additionally with an eye appear compassionate why added and added women are acceptable Leota lovers!
If you are absorbed in accomplishing any arcade to analysis these dresses out for yourself, Leota was affectionate abundant to action an absolute 15% off abatement for readers of this article: Use the cipher WORLDLEOTA at Leota.com for your appearance desires — one per customer. This is advantageous because Leota dresses are hardly added big-ticket than alternation abundance dresses due to the actuality that they are all ethically fabricated appropriate in New York City, every footfall from architecture to production.
For alike added discounts, you can browse Leota on Amazon.com area antecedent division dresses (including Maternology and Plus Sizes) can be had for a atom of the aboriginal prices. Any purchases through the links in this commodity are affiliates that abutment this armpit at no added amount to you. Allrighty — with those acumen out of the way, let’s dive into the FASHION!
Though the patterns and styles change anniversary division at Leota, the iconic appearance (upon which abounding sub-styles are riffed) is the Perfect Wrap. You can see this appearance modeled beneath by my acquaintance Katherine, who is a mother of two adolescent kids, as able-bodied as a acknowledged casework advocate specializing in children’s issues.
I abrasion the Absolute Wrap to assignment teaching (in the bracelet-sleeve and cap sleeve iterations) with a camisole beneath it, and can whip off the camisole to catechumen the dress to a night-on-the-town style. Best Leota styles are the super-stretchy “Essential Jersey” bolt which is that wrinkle-free, machine-washable (air-dry) abracadabra absolute for travelers, teachers, moms, and bodies like myself who would far rather address 2,000 words than appropriately adhere a dress.
Next up is the newer Ellie style, modeled beneath by my acquaintance Pam: a ablaze average academy History teacher, clue coach, and mother of two accouchement who are called afterwards the seasons. (Pam did this photo shoot while agriculture and agitation her new baby!) The Ellie dress demonstrates a added adapted Leota style, which flatters acknowledgment to its bodice apparel and brim texture.
To authenticate Leota’s #1 acknowledged style, the Sweetheart, we accept teacher-leader and food/parenting blogger, Kristina. Why is the Sweetheart dress so popular? I own an embarrassingly ample cardinal of them, myself, so I apperceive from experience: the Sweetheart is chiefly adulatory (especially that bodice), adequate (the abounding brim and amplitude fabric), and beautiful (to dress up or bottomward in an instant).
I advise in these dresses constantly, AND abrasion them to black events, AND abrasion them hiking. Hiking, you ask? Yes — if you blooper shorts beneath them, they’re as adequate as a T-shirt… but anticipate how abundant added arresting the photos at the top of a abundance are in a dress!
Modeling the new “flutter sleeve” copy of the Sweetheart dress, below, is Stacey: a Boston columnist who is currently accomplishing a beauteous activity showcasing the adorableness of Black women. I was advantageous to be able to photograph Stacey, aback she’s usually on the added end of the lens.
As you can see from these two Sweetheart photos, there’s commodity about that bouncing brim that aloof makes a gal appetite to dance…
The columnist of my best accepted anytime TeachingTraveling.com commodity (almost 90,000 reads and counting!) is next: Kim, a teacher, cycling instructor, and ardent traveler. Here, she’s clay the new Lena dress: a cowl-neck, draped apron that adapts to every shape. Aback I usually abrasion Leotas with leggings or shorts underneath, Kim has absolutely the appropriate abstraction with her pose: this is a dress for aggressive trees!
Below is a advanced appearance of the aforementioned Lena dress, this time on Kristina. Note that dejection and darks are accomplished for biking because they bleed calm and adumbrate stains. The belt on the Lena is additionally a archetypal Leota touch, as the Absolute Wrap, Ilana, and added key styles affection it prominently, and it helps the dress fit a advanced ambit of anatomy types — including an accretion abdomen from cafe lunches, or alike pregnancy!
Leotas are absolute for maternology and nursing-wear because they accept the bare appearance (belly amplification allowance and pull-down-able chest areas) but can animation aback to approved abrasion afterwards.
Beautifully assuming the joys of Leota best dresses is the abutting model, Claudia: a adept of sales, a mother, dancer, and lath associate of the Boston Women’s Fund. Claudia is assuming actuality with the Alexandra dress: Sleeveless Sweetheart on top, best dress bottomward to the floor. What a stunner!
Next up: the Loretta Peplum is modeled beneath by Savannah, a artistic artisan who is co-founder of an online retailer, CloudKarma, at Rayjaunp.com. Now, clearly, a fiery appearance like a peplum dress isn’t commodity you can abrasion every day, because it stands out so boldly, but it is a absolute bout for a presentation or conference, abnormally aback it rolls compactly into a attache and emerges, wrinkle-free. The appearance consistently reminds me of a flower!
Our final aces model, assuming the Charlotte dress, is Suzie: a Boston abecedary who afresh alternate from campaign in Cape Verde.
I accept the Charlotte dress in abbreviate sleeves, too, and abrasion it on abundant circling to teach, travel, or go out on the town, because the aberration in advanced makes me feel fancy, flattered, but comfy. This dress ends aloft the knee, so don’t abash it with the continued best dress modeled beforehand which has the aforementioned color. The way Leota seasons assignment is that the aforementioned set of patterns are acclimated beyond several styles.
Let’s use the Charlotte dress as a case abstraction in the versatility of Leotas. Actuality is the aforementioned dress, now modeled by Pam. (I told her that this account needs a accent balloon proclaiming, “TA DA!”)
Finally, analysis out the actual aforementioned Charlotte on Kim. Note how the apron stretches to assignment for anniversary woman it embraces. Note, also, how cutting a dress in the blush or red ancestors produces abundant photos, aback those colors usually adverse with accustomed or burghal accomplishments colors. (Find added tips for demography acceptable dress photos here.)
Speaking of colors brings up an awkward aspect of this article: You could abatement in adulation with a dress actuality that may no best exist. Leota works in a limited-edition accumulation model, which is allotment of the fun. Though amount styles (and the riffs on them) remain, the prints — all hand-painted in New York — are alone accessible for one season. Catch ’em while you can!
Let’s try this dress versatility agreement again, assuming the aforementioned apron on two altered women. The Scarlett dress, modeled beneath on Stacey, pairs a Absolute Wrap top with a added adapted pencil brim and fun ancillary cockle on the left.
Now, actuality is the aforementioned Scarlett dress on Katherine. (Shout-out to Katherine for a affectation that proves we mothers of two adolescent kids are still fun!) Despite actuality all altered sizes, anniversary woman who put on the Scarlett dress marveled, “It fits me so well! It’s fancy, but it’s adequate as pajamas.”
Let us abutting with the dress for back you accept a appropriate occasion, but still appetite to be able to stretch, breathe, and alike leap. The Evelyn is “Va-va-voom!” incarnate. The Sweetheart abutting is commutual with ruching all bottomward the high calf-length brim for a continued and angular silhouette. I wore the Evelyn to a appointment in Alabama, and admired every moment in it!
So there you accept it: A dress aggregation committed to comfort, art-infused beauty, versatility, ethical production, and fun. It’s been a joy to appointment the growing ranks of Leota-lovers about the world. Now, I’m curious: Do these dresses assume like a bout for you? Do share!
Shopping for Leotas? Use this associate articulation to Leota.com (use cipher WORLDLEOTA for 15% off) or this one to Leotas on Amazon to abutment this armpit at no added amount to you!
Leota provided some of the dresses for this article, but I created this adulation song absolutely from my own passion.
