Ballet Supplies - Male dance wear

by Ian Turnbull
(London)

Ballet Supplies - Male dance wear

Odette,

As a male dancer in the Uk, I find it increasingly difficult to get good quality ballet clothes. For instance I like the traditional leotard and tights, it shows your body contours, feels comfortable and the instructor can see your moments better. But apart from Capezio and Sansha, trying to get M Stevens, Body Wrappers or Mirella, or Stone Dancewear mens dance wear in the Uk is near impossible. Don't get me wrong Capezio and Sansha are good quality and I wish to wear opaque tights but in Summer they can be quite heavy and hot. Even the Elastane /Lycra tights can be thick and hot. The ranges of men's ballet exercise gear is limited which I can not understand considering the number of males dancers. 1st position now do a range of men's ballet wear but mainly in black, why oh why do they think men want to wear just black, can we did add a bit of colour to our routines.
In the summer practising on a hot day I will wear ladies tights like debut tights which are more unisex and a lot cooler. Even the warm up gear is limited unless you go for something looking unisex but they still advertise them in female sizes. Which easy to get the wrong male size.
I have attached a picture and have tried to get these type of tights with no success.
Have you got other male members that find this also frustrating and getting hard work to find the right gear. There must be a market to explore and could manufacturers be more adventurous.

============================================

Reply by Odette
To:- Ballet Supplies - Male dance wear

Hi Ian,
Thank you for contacting me, it's great to hear from you. It's interesting to hear from a male dancer's point of view and also something different to what I'm usually used to!

Of course, I can understand what you are saying and tried myself searching through the UK dance sites to see what type of ballet wear they sell for the male dancers. I am mainly looking at 'Dance Direct' and 'Porselli', which are perhaps the most well known places to buy online from the UK. Have you tried Wear Moi? Or Bloch? These are also good brands.

However, it sounds like you are very on top of the brands and what you want, I can't say I've experienced the male dancers I've worked with not finding the right dance gear. However, most of the males I've worked with haven't been so elaborate with their gear and just stuck to the plain unitards or shorts. You must be putting more effort into the ballet gear you wear than the males I work with!!

It is an interesting point you make and I will keep my eye out for the tights you wish to find. In the meantime, please do keep in touch!

Best wishes,
Odette