Part 5 of the Men’s Dance Wear Tutorial
Dance Shirt for Men
VIEW PART 1- INTRO HERE
VIEW PART 2 – TIGHTS HERE
VIEW PART 3 – DANCE BELTS HERE
View Part 4 – Shoes here
The most common tops for ballet apparel are leotards or shirts. Since you will be moving around so much, you’ll want a top that will stay in place and not come untucked or pull up. Leotards are like shirts that connect between the legs to hold it down. If you get the right shirt you should be able to make it so it won’t come untucked, I’ll tell you how. Unless you want to wear a leotard, you won’t ever need to unless it is required for a performance.
Shirts
Plain white t-shirts, such as Hanes or Fruit of the Loom are suitable for dance classes. You can buy packs of undershirts for pretty cheap, so these are useful, especially if you are dancing a few days a week or more. You’ll want to get a size that is tight fitting, but comfortable. Tighter shirts will show the position of your upper body better, and this is important for class. It is similar to the reason you wear tights. The dance teacher will be able to see if you are properly positioned. If a shirt is too baggy, the instructor will have a harder time giving you corrections.
Baggier shirts will also be harder to tuck in. Tucking a shirt in to the waistband of your dance belt should be enough to keep it from pulling out while you dance. If the shirt is fitted close enough, you will prevent having your shirt bunch up under your tights. This works well with the rolled down waist band that I talked about in the tights section. If you are wearing tights with suspenders, you ma want to wear the shirt on the outside, over your tights and suspenders.
Sleeveless shirts and tank tops are also great for practicing in. You will probably notice more freedom in your arms and shoulders when you wear a sleeveless top. There are also a nice variety of tank tops and sleeveless shirts for when you are sick of wearing a plain t-shirt. If you like more breathable fitness and sport oriented shirts, Under Armour and Lululemon make nice shirts, but they are much more expensive than plain t-shirts.
Leotards
Leotards are made for men and women. Women typically wear their tights under their leotard, but men’s leotards are made to be worn under the tights. This way it looks like it is just a shirt. Leotards for men are often made with a thong back, similar to dance belts, to prevent lines and provide adequate support. Some leotards may contain snaps beneath the crotch in order to put it on. But you’ll notice most leotards for men have a scoop neck. This is because the leotard is put on by stepping through the neck-hole and pulling it on.
There are also unitards, which are a combination of tights and top. Similar to this are biketards. Those are one-piece shorts and top. They look kind of like wrestling uniforms.
For ballet practice you will either choose what to wear based on the studio’s dress code, or if there is not a strict policy, you will wear what you feel most comfortable in. It is helpful to know of the different types of apparel, or the different ways it can be worn. Different performances may require you to wear new types of costumes.
Resources:
Ballet for Men Apparel Store
Discount Dance Supply
Lululemon Store
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Great Article on dance clothing! I am also a male that takes ballet and Jazz classes.
Kev
Hi,
I’m a 35 yr-old who has never once set foot in a dance studio unless it was to take my daughter to class. I’ve had back problems for years and decided that the erect posture and focus on core inherent in ballet might help me. I took the plunge only last week and took my very first class. I enjoyed it immensely and spent the last week getting all the stuff I needed to dress properly.
Thanks to this excellent tutorial I was able to purchase everything with confidence, prepare everything the right way the first time, and assemble the outfit correctly. I put on a fashion show for my wife, who has danced since she was a kid, and she was very impressed. She said, “Wow! You look like a ballet dude! You look great!”
I couldn’t have done it without this article. Thanks!
Kinda random but if there happen to be any other ballet-dancing, code-writing, engineers out there I post some code snippets on my blog at http://swarmapps.wordpress.com.
Mike