Ballet Leotards: How To Choose This Item Of Girls Dancewear

Little girls love to dance, and ballet classes for children get more and more popular in the UK, as well as around the world. Most ballet instructors require little ballerinas to wear specialised girls dancewear: leotards, tights and ballet slippers. Shopping for dancewear for the first time can be overwhelming for parents who have never danced themselves. This article explains how to choose ballet leotards for girls.

Why leotards?

If your child is going to attend classes supervised by the Royal academy of Arts or Imperial Society of Teachers for Dancing, her outfit will be strictly dictated by these examining bodies. So, before buying girls dancewear, you should consult her dance instructor on the items you need to purchase.
However, even if her dance classes are more liberal, most probably your little ballerina won’t be allowed to dance in her favourite baggy T-shirt and jeans. An instructor needs to observe the placement of a child’s body and the work of muscles constantly, it’s all about the attention to details, and a tight leotard allows seeing clearly how your child is moving. This is why ballet leotards are by far the most popular ballet girls dancewear.

Styles

The most common leotard preferred by the beginners is a sleeveless leotard, which looks like a swimsuit, and may have a gathered bustline known as ruche. Other styles of this type of girls dancewear include camisole, polo neck, long sleeved and cap sleeved leotards. Some items also have attached nylon lycra or cotton lycra skirts that look very nice on young girls. Chiffon skirts are also very beautiful, as they provide a very delicate and breezy look during the performance.

Fabric

The most common fabrics for ballet leotards are nylon lycra and cotton lycra. If not specified otherwise, you may choose any of the two. However, if you cannot decide on what girls dancewear to choose, you may start with a classic black nylon lycra leotard with pink tights and pink ballet slippers.

Colour

You may find this kind of girls dancewear in all possible colours – pink, black, lilac, or purple. However, traditional colours usually worn for practice are black or pink. More fashionable sparkly and glittery leotards are worn on stage for performance.

Size

When shopping for this item of girls dancewear it is very important to choose the right size. Leotards should be a snug fit, but not too tight. Look closely at the leotard, when your child has it on; ask her to move around freely, bending forwards and backwards for a little bit: if it’s pulling under arms, then you need to try a bigger size. However, if it is too large, you need a smaller size.

Shopping for girls dancewear can be confusing but nonetheless very exciting and joyful for you and your young ballerina. Numerous high street and online specialised dancewear stores have a vast array of dancewear outfits, and with a little patience you are sure to find the most suitable and beautiful dancewear for your little dancer.