What to Wear to Beginners' Ballet

What to Wear to Beginners' Ballet

Is your little dancer ready to take their first ballet steps, or maybe you’re finally taking the plunge and learning ballet as an adult? Then you’re going to need to know what ballet clothes, shoes and accessories are essential must-haves for the first ballet lesson. The beginner’s ballet kit is similar whether you’re an adult, teen or child beginning ballet, so find out the top essentials that you’ll need in this guide.

Get Amaris' look! Black leotard, pink split sole canvas ballet shoes, pink convertible tights and mesh ballet wrap skirt by Move Dance and dance bag by Bloch. This look totals at £65.50.

Beginners’ Ballet Essential Number 1 - Ballet leotard

To look like a proper ballet dancer, you’ll need a leotard. A specific leotard style or colour may be set by your dance teacher, but if you’re unsure we recommend that you choose something simple until you know you school’s guidelines. It’s important that you’re comfortable the first time you attend class as an adult beginner, so some teachers may be happy for you to wear your usual activewear as you get to grips. For little dancers, light colours like pink and baby blue are well-suited. For teen and adult dancers, more mature colours like black and navy are popular. Click on the links below to buy your first ballet leotard.

Children’s leotards

Teen leotards

Women's leotards

Beginners’ Ballet Essential Number 2 - Ballet shoes

Next you’ll need a pair of ballet shoes. Children and beginners tend to start out on full sole ballet shoes to offer more support whilst they’re learning, you can browse the selection by clicking here. Choose a shoe that fits like a sock to ensure that the back of the shoe doesn’t slip down as you dance. Some of the ballet shoes - like Move Dance’s - come with pre-sewn elastics but some will require minimal crafting on your part to sew on the elastics. Click here to buy your first set of ballet shoe elastic.

Beginners’ Ballet Essential Number 3 - Ballet Tights/Socks

To look professional, adult ballerinas should wear convertible pink ballet tights or black ballet tights if allowed. The type of dance tight is very specific to ballet, you should never wear shimmer or fishnet dance tights! Younger ballerinas can wear light pink ballet socks or ballet tights, but please check with your dance teacher before purchasing! Click here to browse our collection of dance tights.

Beginners’ Ballet Essential Number 4 Ballet Underwear

To wear or not wear underwear for ballet is a little bit of a mystery to non-dancers. Younger dancers should aim to not have underwear on show (not poking out of their leotard) if wearing it at all. Teen to adult ballerinas will choose to wear nude thongs if they’re comfortable, seamless underwear or even a nude leotard underneath. Some teen and women’s leotards come with built-in shelf bra linings so you don’t need to be restricted by a sports bra, but others don’t. Make sure you carefully check out our product descriptions so you’ll know exactly what underwear you’ll need for ballet class. Click here to browse our underwear collection.

Beginners’ Ballet Essential Number 5 - Ballet Skirt

A ballet wrap skirt may be worn during class sporadically as your teacher will want to assess your posture. Skirts for both girls and women come in wrap-tie or button fastenings, but we personally prefer tie fastenings as they’re quick to undo during class. A ballet skirt will offer you some lightweight coverage - usually in chiffon, mesh or Georgette - and can come in a variety of styles, colours and patterns. Have a look at our ballet wrap skirt collection and choose something that takes your fancy.

Bag this beginners' ballet look for £81.45. Black leotard, pink split sole canvas ballet shoes and pink convertible tights by Move Dance, legwarmers by Intermezzo, dance bag by Bloch and mesh top by Ballet Rosa.

Beginners’ Ballet Essential Number 6 - Dance Warmups

Dance warm ups are an essential part of a ballerinas kit whether novice or professional. Your teacher will instruct you on the importance of ensuring your body is properly warmed up before class to avoid injury. We’ve got loads of styles of warm ups for you to choose from to construct a warm ups outfit head-toe. Ballet wrap tops are more classical, whereas a chunky knitted all-in-one romper or some trendy sweatpants are more modern. Check out the full collection here to find something in your style.

Beginners’ Ballet Essential Number 7 - Ballet Bag

So now you need a place to store your warm ups, ballet shoes, snacks, water, towel, spare tights and change of clothes, and that’s precisely what your ballet bag is for! We’ve got petite bags for little ballerinas to be independent and carry their own kit and larger bags for adults to chuck in all of their essentials. Browse the dance bags collection by clicking here.