A leotard is a special piece of dancewear that is used by ballet dancers. This item is skintight and covers the torso while leaving your legs and arms bare. Thanks to its form fitting quality and lightness, a leotard makes dancing effortless.  This guide will help you to choose the best leotard for yourself.

Choose Your Style

There are different leotard designs from which you can choose, but the most common ones are:

Camisole – this style has skinny shoulder straps that allow for intricate designs such as lattice back, double-strap, and criss-cross back.

Tank – this is the most common type of leotard and it consists of a simple tank-style top. Many dancers wear this because of its simplicity.

Frilled or skirted – the skirt or frill is usually attached to the waist of the leotard. However, in some leotard styles, the skirt might originate from higher up – it can start below the bust line.

Long sleeved – if you want to wear long sleeved leotards to cover your arms, you should opt for full-length sleeves.

Short sleeved – this leotard has short sleeves and comes in several variations, including polo neck and open back.

Choose the Right Fabric

When choosing a ballet leotard, the most common fabrics are nylon Lycra and cotton Lycra in colors such as pink and black. However, you will find that they also look great in other colors and fabrics.

Here are the most common fabrics:

Nylon Lycra – this material has a bit of shine and comes in a wide variety of colors. This means that you can use even the most basic leotards to harmonize or contrast the theme that your specific dance is exploring.

Metallic – these fabrics usually have a reflective aspect that creates a sparkly and glittery quality.

Cotton Lycra – this material has a matte finish and comes in a wide variety of colors.

Printed fabrics – you will find printed fabrics that range from rainbow and harlequin to zebra and tiger prints.

What is Your Size?

If you want to know whether you have bought the right size, you should try on the leotard and walk around in it. Make sure that you bend backwards and forwards to see whether it moves too much. If it pulls under your arms or between the legs as you move, choose a larger size. After all, you do not want to dance in something that is too tight or loose.

Choosing Children’s Leotards

If you want to find the right fit for your child, make sure that you opt for quality leotards. Nowadays, more teachers are allowing their students to choose the right leotards for their bodies.

Therefore, you should follow these tips:

Follow the school rules – before buying a leotard for your child, ask the dance instructor at the school whether there are any regulations that you need to follow. Different exams have different uniform requirements, so your child might start with a long-sleeved leotard, but end up with a sleeveless one as she moves through grades.

Get the right size – when your child tries on clothes such as dance leotards from Just for Kix, you should ask her to move around to see whether there is any irritation. If you buy one that is too large, it might fall off her shoulders during dance routines. On the other hand, if the leotard is too tiny, it will cause discomfort under the arms.

Choose the right style – intricate leotard straps are mostly for adults. However, you can find leotards with stylish designs nowadays. Thanks to the increasing variety in designs, which include low backs, criss-cross straps and spaghetti straps, you have more choices.