Why do so many people hate unitards?

[je danse dans ma tete]

I love them and find them to be flattering (especially black ones), because they emphassize my small, flat waist and still somehow make my thigh muscles less noticeable. But everyone else I talk to seems to hate them... why?! I'm curious. No one can give me a good answer, they just seem to dislike them.

[CDR]

Lucky you! I look like a Telly Tubby in my catsuit! (Do you have Telly Tubbies over there? Probably not but they look how they sound...'tubby'!). They're probably flattering on a small build or slim physique but not on your average woman (especially post-childbirth!). I always have to wear trousers or a skirt over my catsuit.

[Myfairlady]

Because not everyone has a small, flat waist! I have a little ridge of fat around my hips that I can't get rid of since I've had babies, and a unitard would emphasize that so much, and the little bit of a pooch I still have at my lower tummy would be emphasized too. A unitard is a nightmare to me!

[WendyMichelle]

Yeah..........it's the whole women + mid-waist tummy roll issue. I've seen one person that a unitard looks good on. She's also 6'4" and stick straight. Most women just aren't built like that.

 

=)

WM

[insidesoloist]

Yes, and on top of the lack of a flat waist issue, there is the issue of what is lengthened when one wears all one color, or all one color underneath some contrasting colorblocking on the chest. I had to wear a unitard once for a neoclassical ballet. I hoped my unitard would make my legs look longer. What I found was that it actually made my torso look longer, and I have a long torso anyway.

[Spice4life]

I love unitards, but can't wear them anymore since I'm not taking jazz or tap this year. I am only eighteen so I don't have the whole previous baby thing going on, I also keep hearing I look like a fourteen year old so I guess that suggests what my figure may look like too.

[WendyMichelle]

I've never had a baby either (will be 30 in January) but I still have a tummy. Some days it looks smaller, then some days.............well, I just don't want to go there!

 

WM

[Toadette]

I once had a hot unitard that gave me nightmares. I was a pre-teen - about 8 or so - and I dreamed I went to dance class naked. So I won't be wearing one now, especially since I don't normally even have a waistline (not babies - food!)

[missvjc420]

Aunitard can look good on me if it's the right fabric. If it has no hold, then I look really thin around my legs and my torso looks round.

[jimpickles]

I agree with the above - the cut of leotards, and of many other clothes, is intended to make the legs look longer than they really are. A unitard destroys this illusion, and shows the body for what it really is. A slightly glossy one in a uniform colour shows it even more so...

 

Jim.

[Guest pink tights]

A slightly glossy one in a uniform colour shows it even more so...

 

Jim.

 

 

Oh, Jim--you nailed it!

[davidg]

the cut of leotards, and of many other clothes, is intended to make the legs look longer than they really are.

 

I disagree. I would say that leotards define the top of the leg where it really is --- if you look at where your femur inserts into your pelvis. The leotard generally comes down below the "knob" on the side of your pelvis.

[Laschwen]

Yeah..........it's the whole women + mid-waist tummy roll issue. I've seen one person that a unitard looks good on. She's also 6'4" and stick straight. Most women just aren't built like that.

 

=)

WM

 

 

I wear a cotton blend tank style unitard in the winter. It keeps my legs warm withlout overheating the rest of me. I do wish it were a camisole though because I do get hot.

I may not be 6"4" but I am close. I have no idea if others might find it flattering, leg lenghtening (which I don't need), tummy emphasizing or what, but I do have a tummy and I hide it a bit with a skirt over the uni and get on with class.

I don't think I could deal if the thing were shiny though. I like attention for some things, but not that.

The only thing that ever annoyed me was figuring out that I had to wear something in the way of underwear with it or risk serious lack of privacy at the crotch. I found something that is smooth and breaths so now I am over it.

 

Laschwen

[Striving for Grace]

*Gasp!*

 

I never even knew so many people disliked unitards. I absolutely adore them(!!!) I think they make me look more ruler-like than I am, which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what I'm going for... but we aren't really allowed to wear them to class I despise shorty unitards though- those ones with the boy-cut legs... those are my nightmare because they cut me off at my widest pointe!

 

I think you should all give unitards a second chance. You just have to find one that is cut the right way for you... look for v-necks, princess seams, and a lower half that is sewn on separately from the top half. I have seen many dancers (of various ages and sizes) with that mid tummy roll look absolutely stunning in unitards!

[CDR]

We call them catsuits too in the UK (I would say it's more common than the word unitard over here) - do you use that word for them elsewhere??