Ballet Clothes
What Ballet Dancers Wear

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For a ballet class a dancer would need to wear the following:

Male ballet dancer - Unitard or a leotard, dance belt and tights

These are just the base of what you need. You can add your own accessories to make it more exciting.

© Erik Tomasson

Leotards

There are plenty of different styles with striking patterns, colours and materials. You can find them from the internet, shops and catalogues.

Traditionally, the leotard leg cut is fairly low on the hip. However, the modern versions are growing to be more high cut which presumably makes the legs look longer.

The most common sleeve length for female ballet dancers to wear is thin straps. This style is called a camisole leotard.

The traditional neckline for a ballet leotard is round and wide. There are many other styles such a V-necks and halter top necklines.

The great thing about most modern leotards is that they are fully lined. That makes it not essential to feel the need to wear a bra of any sort underneath.

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Ballet Tights

You can't stop your ballet tights from laddering, but if they do it helps to put some clear nail varnish on the end of the ladder to stop it from laddering any further.

Accessories

There are lots of extra accessories to wear before and after class to keep the muscles warm.

You can get knitted shorts and crop tops, cardigans, leggings and ankle warmers.

Photo: © Erik Tomasson

Extra accessories are not always completely vital. However, when rehearsing it's not always required to wear just your leotard.

Therefore, to keep warm most dancers have a pair of leg warmers or knitted shorts.

There's so much variety on ballet clothes nowadays, you'll never find yourself stuck with what to get.

The choice with ballet clothes is very large and it can only get bigger!

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