Is this just a Southern thing?

southernbelle82 · March 2009

One of my friends is moving to LA this summer b/c her husband is going to USC for Dental school. They are about to have a little girl and that little baby already has a TON of smocked dresses. We joke that she'll be the only baby in LA with smocked dresses.

So it got me wondering...is smocking just a Southern thing? Just in case it is, and you don't know what I'm talking about, here's a pic of a smocked dress:

jen_k2 · March 2009

I had some when my DD was little and I'm from OH. They are so cute!

redstars93 · March 2009

OMG, this makes me want to have a little girl SO BAD.

I used to live in FL and these dresses were pretty popular. I live in Boston now and not so much, but I think it has to do with the weather etc.

hudsaunt1 · March 2009

It is a very cute dress, but not something that a little girl would wear up here ( I live in ND). Yup here it seems to be more causal outfits. But it is cute!!!

EuroChick · March 2009

Bigger in the South but prevelant all over the place. I love smoking! Alas, DD has none.

iris427 · March 2009

I thought smocking was just a little girl thing--I don't associate it with the South, but I could be wrong.

KNS_61805 · March 2009

I'm from Cali, and didn't see them until I moved to Alabama. I'm sure some little girls could have been wearing them, but not enough for me to really notice. The little girls don't wear huge bows either.

BambinoV · March 2009

Yeah, I don't really see a lot of these dresses on little girls here in MI. They are super cute though!

abrtpk1 · March 2009

I think it used to be more common everywhere BUT it seems like the tradition has really stuck to the southern states. I'm originally from northern IL and live in NC now...and I would say that it is definitely more common here.

The photographer that we use is dying to get Emmerson's picture in a smocked dress (She's from South Carolina) Where do you purchase them? (Especially for a good price!)

southernbelle82 · March 2009

iris427:
I thought smocking was just a little girl thing--I don't associate it with the South, but I could be wrong.

Oh it's for little boys too Wink

nextmrsfrey · March 2009

I'm from Southern CA and I have friends with plenty of girls and none of them have smock dresses .... but they are cute

mabst196 · March 2009

Never seen one here in PA.

southernbelle82 · March 2009

abrtpk1:
The photographer that we use is dying to get Emmerson's picture in a smocked dress (She's from South Carolina) Where do you purchase them? (Especially for a good price!)

THis is a REALLY cute line that is actually in SC and their prices are very good for smocked clothes

shrimpandgritskids.com

*Bre* · March 2009

I see little girls here in Kansas wearing them, not so much when I lived in Wyoming....snowsuits were popular there....

IckyThump · March 2009

My aunt is in Ohio and she does a lot of smocking. She made DS a really cute outfit when he was born. I don't think it's just a southern thing.

102503Natalie · March 2009

I'm in Louisiana and have a DD and don't have any smocked dresses for her. I can't recall ever seeing one of these on a child, but prior to having DD, I never really paid attention to children (I know that sounds awful, doesn't it).

KNS_61805 · March 2009

The little boys definitely don't wear smocked outfits!

nbjenni · March 2009

Totally a southern thing. The girls have about 20 smocked dresses right now, it is insane. I'm begining to learn to smock because they can get pricey. They have dresses to wear tailgaiting (Clemson and Michigan), dresses to wear to the beach with seahorses and turtles, dresses with watermelons to wear to a picnic, the list goes on.

Ditto Southern on shrimpandgrits and this is my other fav site: https://www.dbjcharleston.com/index.jsp

LynnInLove1007 · March 2009

I see those in the baby section all the time (in season of course) and I live in Massachusetts. I wanted to get one for my new niece who will be born in July!

southernbelle82 · March 2009

nbjenni:
Totally a southern thing. The girls have about 20 smocked dresses right now, it is insane. I'm begining to learn to smock because they can get pricey. They have dresses to wear tailgaiting (Clemson and Michigan), dresses to wear to the beach with seahorses and turtles, dresses with watermelons to wear to a picnik, the list goes on.

I'm so bad...I need more. I LOVE them!! I'm going today to a smocking store to get supplies and attempt to teach myself. Hopefully Kenley will have a closet full at some point! I'm a sucker for smocking! Smile

caro77 · March 2009

southernbelle82:
abrtpk1:

The photographer that we use is dying to get Emmerson's picture in a smocked dress (She's from South Carolina) Where do you purchase them? (Especially for a good price!)

THis is a REALLY cute line that is actually in SC and their prices are very good for smocked clothes

shrimpandgritskids.com

Ditto ShrimpandGrits, they have the cutest stuff for a great price

Also, MarjoriesDaughter.com has some great stuff, she does more trunk shows than web sales but she just got her summer dresses in, they are mostly white bishop style.

nbjenni · March 2009

southernbelle82:

nbjenni:
Totally a southern thing. The girls have about 20 smocked dresses right now, it is insane. I'm begining to learn to smock because they can get pricey. They have dresses to wear tailgaiting (Clemson and Michigan), dresses to wear to the beach with seahorses and turtles, dresses with watermelons to wear to a picnik, the list goes on.

I'm so bad...I need more. I LOVE them!! I'm going today to a smocking store to get supplies and attempt to teach myself. Hopefully Kenley will have a closet full at some point! I'm a sucker for smocking!

My coworker can gather dresses and she is teaching me to hand smock the designs. But you can also buy the pre gathered dresses from the Rosalina line in the website I gave you!

Erin Mary Ackerman · March 2009

When I was a kid I lived in "Polly Flinders" smocked dresses, and Boston isn't too far south

Lucky_Dragonfly · March 2009

I've lived in MA my whole life and they sell smocked dresses up here plus my mom said she put me in them all the time when I was a baby.

kmgourley · March 2009

caro77:
southernbelle82:
abrtpk1:

The photographer that we use is dying to get Emmerson's picture in a smocked dress (She's from South Carolina) Where do you purchase them? (Especially for a good price!)

THis is a REALLY cute line that is actually in SC and their prices are very good for smocked clothes

shrimpandgritskids.com

Ditto ShrimpandGrits, they have the cutest stuff for a great price

Also, MajoriesDaughter.com has some great stuff, she does more trunk shows than web sales but she just got her summer dresses in, they are mostly white bishop style.

Those are good prices? Good crap. $46 for a shortall? ONE outfit? I don't pay that much for my own clothes. Maybe I'm cheap.

I think smocking is adorable and I'd love for Seth to have a little outfit, but I need to learn to do it myself. It's way too expensive.

southernbelle82 · March 2009

kmgourley:
Those are good prices? Good crap. $46 for a shortall? ONE outfit? I don't pay that much for my own clothes. Maybe I'm cheap.

I think smocking is adorable and I'd love for Seth to have a little outfit, but I need to learn to do it myself. It's way too expensive.

I know...sadly those are pretty good prices...that's why I'm going to try and learn to do this myself. I don't even like paying $47 for an outfit for me! Wink

Amymarie13 · March 2009

If you love smocked stuff you have to check out www.orientexpressed.com I want everything on there!

I kind of thought it was more of an old-fashioned look, rather than region-specific.

caro77 · March 2009

Sadly they are good prices, they're so expensive. I've seen them in stores here for $75 with less detail. I keep telling myself that they will last two years, if you take the hem down and move the buttons over...that may not work for boys though.

mrswalker22 · March 2009

I have lived in the South all my life, so I am not sure.... but I must say it's absolutely adorable and I have always loved it! Just another one of the sweet things about having a little girl!

May524 · March 2009

I'm from New Orleans and kids here totally wear smocked outfits. DS has a good amount, I just adore them!

divakat · March 2009

I think people in the South tend to get dressed up more often in general. I tend to dress dd in dresses (smocked ones too) but I am one of very very few. Most people around here are VERY casual. I hardly ever see little girls wearing any kind of dresses.

Ali212 · March 2009

It's totally not a southern thing only...I'm from the Northeast (born & raised in NYC) and I dress my daughter in a ton of smocked things. Most of my friends dress their kids (boys and girls) and they live in NYC, Boston, DC, Philadelphia (outside on Main Line) and even in California (LA and SF)....I think it's more a style than a regional thing.

noelc25 · May 2014

Natalie...what part of Louisiana do you live in?! I've lived in 4 different cities in Louisiana and have friends who have lived in every region of the state and smocked clothes on boys and girls are huge! It's been that way for years. My grandmother who is in her 80s wore smocked clothes. And this is definitely a southern thing. There may be a few people who do it in other parts of the country but they are the minority. We have to move to the Midwest for a couple of years. Ugh. The way they dress those kids...onsies with "daddy's little gurl" and screen print galore with baby leggings and those huge flower headbands. Saw a lot of zebra print with hot pink and black. No smocked outfits or tasteful bows or bonnets or seersucker except for my family!

kwalk1 · May 2014

Not only that...what's wrong with baby leggings and zebra print? Smocked dresses and bonnets do not make you more "tasteful" as you put it. My girl has screen printed onesies and big flower headbands...so what? That doesn't make me tasteless...

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