Best Ballet Tights!

[aspire.dream.dance]

Just wondering what everyone's favourite and least favourite ballet tights are (& why)

 

There's just so many brands, something has to differentiate them all!

[Guest coupe66]

Dd *loves* Gaynor Minden tights! She has tried just about every other kind out there, and GM are hands down her favorites. What she tells me she likes best about them is that the waistband is really soft and doesn't feel like it's squeezing her midsection. They are also very soft and seem to last a long time (and I do was them in the wash machine, btw, although hand washing would probably make any tights last even longer).

 

Least favorite tights are Capezio. She used to wear them and loved them, but just really began disliking the waistband, which she said "cut in" to her waist and was just really uncomfortable for long periods of wear. We tried other brands of tights (Bloch, Leo's, Body Wrappers, Gaynor Minden and Balera), and she likes GM the best, as mentioned already. BTW - Balera are nice tights, too. They do not seem to last quite as long as GM's, but they don't bind the waist and are just as soft and stretchy as GM's at about half the price.

[Reepan]

Intermezzo has a wide range of lengths and being a tall person it's too easy to buy too short pair or one that doesn't reach your waist. IM tights feel very nice and soft, the waistband is soft and the tights support my legs.

[gimpydancer]

Agree with coupe66 about the Capezios. I love Prima Soft right now. Softer waistband, they fit well (one size fits all), and the color matches Sansha canvas flats and Freed and Suffolk pointe shoes perfectly.

[tangerinetwist]

I LOVE Mondor's tights. After two babies, I know all about the waistband issue! They have vitamin E in the material(don't ask, have no idea how they do this). They are the softest and best fitting tights I own. In fact, I also buy them in black and tan and forget the whole issue with pantyhose

 

I used to like Body Wrappers, but it seems like there is a problem with them that the material around the crotch(not the gusset material but what is right around it), seems to get very stretched out and that is where the runs all seem to start. Capezio, um, they are ok as I do own several pair that I purchased before the Mondors, but hands down for me, Mondor all the way(and both my girls wear them too, though I wish there was a tag because I can rarely tell which ones are the XS and which ones are the Med Child).

[luceroblanco]

I have a pair of Mondor's tights. I really like them BUT from the first day they started to get holes around the crotch. I have only worn them for about 4 classes and I don't know how much longer they will last. It is not about fit because they are fine. It just seems that they are so soft that the material around there is not very strong. I hate Capezio. Sansha one size fit all are good.

[Serendipity]

Love the PrimaSoft tights - fit just about any size. And they're lovely and soft. I also like the Capezio tights, but Prima's my absolute favorite.

[Mazenderan]

Sansha tights are very comfortable and seemingly indestructible.

[dancepig]

Unfortunately for me, I love Danskin's NYC tights, style 603. As I understand, these are no longer made, and I cannot find them in black anywhere!

[missvjc420]

I also wear Danskin 32, 71, and the NYCB tights. I look for closeouts on them in small dance stores, online and locally. I have also found them at discount stores like Ross & TJmaxx. I really don't like Capezio tights, and I haven't tried anything else in a while, because the Danskin tights last for so long. I was looking to try the Bloch & body wrappers stirrup tights, as I am a member of the black tights over leotard club.

[TemptressToo]

I'm not sure of the brand, but I love my knit mesh seamed convertible tights. They are the type typically used by professionals in my region and they last forever. Plus, being knit mesh, they sew up easily if you get a hole.

[Skittl1321]

My absolute favorite are Body Wrappers Convertible Body tights (I think they have supplex in their name).

 

They have clear, moveable straps so I can wear them with any leotard.

 

They make it so I don't have to wear a bra, and so there are no lines on my waist. And the foot seam doesn't annoy my toes. I also like the convertible hole in the foot better than Capezios.

[Je Suis Aimee]

I love Gaynor Minden tights - I've had mine forever and though they have faded, they have yet to run or get any holes. They are also very soft. I didn't like the color they were to begin with, so next time I may go for their new light pink shade. I also have Wear Moi, which are super soft and luxurious and a very pretty shade of pink, but they already got a snag in them. And finally the Grishko Slimz, also a very pretty color.

 

I despise Prima Soft, with that crazy weird convertible foot thing! I have a pair with a back seam, I don't know what color it is but they are hideous. They make my legs look like a mannequin. I'm just waiting for them to get a hole so I can be rid of them.

[Merry]

Unless I buy online there isn't a lot of choice where I live in the UK. From the local ballet shop are Capezio - just awful: not enough stretch, uncomfortable waistband and turned grey after a couple of washes. The other choice was Freed and they are nice, they feel as if they are supportive whilst still having lots of stretch in them (yes, I know that seems unlikely, but that's how they feel!). So I'm sticking with Freed.

 

I did ask for seamed tights, but the lady in the shop looked horrified and said, 'no one wears them over the age of eight or nine any more' which I guess just meant she didn't have any in stock.

 

When I danced as a teen ballet tights were called 'fully fashioned' which meant they were fully shaped - you could see where the knitting machine made extra stitches between ankle and mid calf and up the thighs. *sigh* those were the days! Of course back then my mother was flexing her cheque book rather than me, so I guess I should be pleased we don't seem to have these tights any more as they cost the same 30+++ years ago as the regular tights I bought last week!

[Je Suis Aimee]

I did ask for seamed tights, but the lady in the shop looked horrified and said, 'no one wears them over the age of eight or nine any more' which I guess just meant she didn't have any in stock.

 

I love seamed tights!