Class Fashions

[kellylynn]

After trying out many different schools in different areas I've discovered that each school (sometimes each class) has a different way of dressing. Even when adults get together and can wear whatever they want they tend to eventually dress alike too. Some classes are typical leotard and tights, in some classes I see that ALL the adults are wearing some form type of "dance skirt." The latest that I've seen is the gravatation towards black footless tights and crazy leg warmers. I thought it might be a fun little thread. What do you guys wear to class? Do you notice that different classes/schools have different fads?

[primasylph]

In the ballet class I'm usually in it seems that the level 2 students generally wear all black sometimes with pink tights whereas the level 3-4 students tend to wear more color. In both levels most of the students wear their tights cut below the calf, which I don't do cause I really don't feel like dealing with sweaty feet and blisters. Another thing that seems to be popular is the "Elastosplit" and "Pro-arch" shoes which I think look ugly and it's not like you can wear them for proformances. This semester nby default of the A.A. degree, I have to take a level 1 ballet and I've noticed that the students there like to get child-sized wrap skirts and wear them around their hips which to me looks sooooo wrong. I mean, it makes the torso look too long and the legs look stubby and wouldn't it restrict your hip movement? When I become a teacher, I'm going to have a rule that if your'e going to wear a skirt, wear it right or don't wear it at all!

[TemptressToo]

In my adult class. The more serious students (myself included) wear the standard black leo and pink tights. Flats vary according to preference (I happen to wear Elastosplits as I like them). The students that show up but don't seem to give a flip if they improve technically of not wear black tights (and this is so wrong)...underwear (which tends to show--especially when they are purple). The teens that really should be in a teen class, not adult...often show up trying to look sexy with their hair down. The teacher usually says something to them about getting their hair off their faces. The guys in the the class wear black unitards with a half white t-shirt to soak up the sweat.

 

Pretty much everyone wears black. The one girl that showed up in a baby blue leo kept it for a short amount of time and now she too is in black.

[lampwick]

I see just about any form of dress and undress one can imagine.

 

Those slippers without the middle part are indeed trendy rightnow. I don't think they look like ballet slippers though, and wouldn't wear them.

 

I wear pink tights under a leo, short skirt and my favorite pink striped legwarmers. I need to dump the skirt, I know it doesn't look professional and it hides my hips, but I like it and it makes me feel comfortable. It hangs nice and flat and I think it makes me look more turned out. Wierd, but I think it's true.

 

I used to weear black tights rolled to below my knees, but then I figured out that the tights made me more more knock-kneed than I am. The full pink ones make my leg line look better.

[Guest sally-mandy]

I take two classes at the university here, levels 1 and 2. A lot of the girls wear those gaucho-type clingy pant things, I guess they're called palazzo pants. And it seems popular to wear 3 or 4 tank tops or camisoles layered. Many of them don't wear any shoes, or just socks.

 

We were told that in the upper level classes, black leo and pink tights are mandatory, but just about anything goes at this level.

[lampwick]

Oh yeah, lots of the contemporary-minded dancers in NYC are wearing those palazzo pants. They're kinda pretty.

[jimpickles]

In adult classes I've been to, everything seems to be dedicated to one end: not looking too big around the middle plus, for the women, the thighs and behind. This means black, black and black.

 

Jim.

[koshka]

Mixed bag in my classes. I usually wear leotard (tank or camisole, sometimes black, sometimes any other color--I have quite a variety of them) with black footless tights and pink slippers. The slippers I have right now are Capezio Golds in leather, and the "pink" is actually a nice taupe-ish color that nearly disappears.

 

I feel like my feet slide around in my shoes when I wear footed tights, and I seem not to have the body chemistry that makes feet+slippers=stinky. Or maybe it's that my daily routine is to bike home, shower, & then go to ballet, so my feet are freshly washed when they go into the shoes.

 

If I'm cold or something is hurt, I have some fleece wrap sweaters (made for skating) and/or pants and socks. This winter it hasn't been cold enough for pants, though. Earlier this year I had a really sore/stiff back and I constructed a couple of fleece (!) skirts. They were a bit more bulky than regular skirts, so not great for looks, but they really kept my back warm & were very easy to make.

[Tiffany]

I usually wear pink tights and a leotard and that's it, or maybe I'll wear some little dance shorts, but I get too hot to wear pants all the way through class. I can only wear long sleeved leotards when its really cold because of the temperature issue too. My classmates will wear sweat pants rolled up to the knee, all the way through class, or big dangly earrings, but both of those get on my nerves so I don't wear them. We all wear canvas split sole ballet shoes, usually sansha because that's what my teacher prefers. Some girls wear black tights but not all the time. There is one girl who has a great figure and will only dance in sweatpants or a skirt and a tank top. She looks great, is ballet thin, but still feels the need to cover up.

 

I am dying to get a Class-In leotard or a Yumiko leotard. No one at my studio has one of either of those and probably hasn't heard of them.

[kellylynn]

I've noticed those rip-stop shorts alot (especially amoung the more advanced dancers). I still have no idea what these are for. I guess they are supposed to be some sort of warm up shorts. They have to serve SOME purpose because they are so ugly and look like a garbage bag is wrapped around your thighs. Everyone mostly wears black tights (footless of course), leotards and some type of tank top over it. The people that are new and less serious try to get away with the typical black strechy pants which annoys me to no end for some reason. I'm like...this is BALLET not the gym. lol. I do notice that after a couple of weeks the newer people come in "in uniform." Another interesting thing that is starting to pick up (again amoung the more advanced students) is the black tights OVER the leotard. Again...not getting this.

[missvjc420]

I usually wear pink tights, either danskin 32 mesh tights left over from my old days, or Capezio hold and stretch when i'm feeling pudgy, and either a camisole leo or long sleeve, and a cropped sweater or shrug. I also have lots of dance dresses. I wear the Elastosplits, because they are the only shoes that don't bag under the ball of the foot and show how nice my arches are. I also wear deshanked pointes, which fit me better than regular slippers. I'm very fond of blue, most of my leos are some shade of blue or black. I wear ancient KD Dids fold over acrylic warmers or my mom's old striped legwarmers when i'm cold.

[Guest Hattie]

I'm fairly easy about what I wear. I have black footless tights, pink normal ones, black long sleeve leo, blue long sleeve, red no sleeves, black leg warmers, red leg warmers (I quite like red- it matches my hair!)...

 

...but tonight, goodness knows what I'm going to wear as I have forgotten to bring any tights with me! Eeek!!

[Skittl1321]

I take class with kids so it's black leo and pink tights. A lot of the girls are getting halter leotards, which I've always really liked but think I will skip for now (because I'm cheap)

 

Last year, at the lower level, in the winter leg warmers were pretty basic. This year, now that we are higher up, they are getting crazier. I got Grishko O's and soon after a multitude of pattern legwarmers appeared.

 

As for the rip stop pants- when I was a teen, we wore them to prevent runs in our tights when wandering around the theatre. Trashbag pants were different- usually a thicker material and girls used them for "spot reducing" because they make your thighs sweat like crazy. None of the girls who wore them ever got any smaller, so they don't work. Some girls wear them to stay warm, because of the sweat like crazy thing, but most are mislead into thinking that they will help them get smaller thighs.

[Guest Hattie]

I forgot to say- I've always found that non-dance shops have cooler leg warmers than dance shops. Maybe cos there was a bit of an 80s revival. I got some fab red sparkly ones in TopShop for only a couple of quid, whereas plain black ones from bloch were probably three times the price.

[kellylynn]

Skittl- I know the O legwarmers you were talking about. I'm a fan of Grishko....although I never bought them. Thats funny how you said that crazy legwarmers started popping up after you wore them. I notice that kind of thing alot. Someone will wear something and then slowly everyone else starts to wear it too or a variation of it. Especially with the newer students. I hate sticking out so when i started taking a different class where everyone wore black tights I eventually gave in. It's a little weird when your the ONLY one out of 20 people with pink tights on. One time a new girl asked me where I bought my tights (they were pink convertibles with a backseam), and my bloch knit dance shorts. The following class there she was with almost my exact oufit on. I thought it was really flattering actually. It showed that she took the class seriously and wanted to fit in...and of course I was happy she chose me as inspiration for her new dance wardrobe.