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Dressing Modestly for Ballet

Dressing modestly in the ballet world- and not spending a fortune while at it- is definitely a real struggle.

It was easy as a young dancer to dress modestly. Leotards were high in the front and back and skirts were appropriate length. Everything was cheap and easy to find. They even have a section at Walmart with little girl's ballet clothes.

Once you start wearing women's sizes, though, everything changes. Dancewear stores aren't very common, so looking online is what most older dancers do. And then to find inexpensive, pretty, and appropriate leotards that match the dress code can take a long time. In this post I'm going to share what dressing modestly in ballet looks like, as well as some online dancewear stores you can try.

Dress code is the biggest problem for a lot of dancers. Unless you can find a school who's dress code lines up with your beliefs, you've got a decision to make. If the dress code, whether for class or performances is inappropriate, don't let go of your beliefs. Either talk to the staff about exceptions, or find another studio. Do what you need to in order to honor God and your standards. 

With that out of the way, I'm going to address the elephant in the room. What does modesty in ballet look like? 

Modesty looks different for each person. For one person, just tights and a leotard are perfectly acceptable, while someone else might need to add a skirt or shorts to feel comfortable. Personally, I believe leotards should come high enough in the front, that if you bend over, everything is still covered. I think the back of the leotard should stay mid to high back, and undergarments should be as basic as possible. As for shorts and skirts, I think shorts should be no less than 2" inseam, with skirts being about the same length or longer. If you only wear tights and a leotard, I believe the leg line of the leotard should be fairly low. For guys, I think the usual ballet dress code (tights and a shirt) are acceptable, but if possible, looser fitting things are preferred. 

Here's some common difficulties with possible solutions:

Lots of ballet schools require just shoes, tights, and a leotard. If this is a problem for you, consider leotards with a low cut leg line, black tights, tights over leotard, or leggings instead of tights if possible.

If you can wear a skirt or shorts, and feel better doing it, then go for it! Skirts come many different ways: mesh, solid, wrap, pull on, layered, etc. You can even purchase a pair of tight gymnastic shorts to wear under, or find a skirt with built in shorts if that helps. 

If you feel like leotards in general are uncomfortable, ask your studio owners if a tight tank top over your leotard or some sort of crop top is acceptable.


Modest dancewear is hard to find, but it is made. Click here to see a list I've made on Discount Dance of modest and cute dancewear. You can also look at the bottom of this post to see a list of online dancewear stores. I haven't tried any besides Discount Dance, but from what I've read, they all seem like good businesses. 


List of online dancewear stores: Discount Dance, Eleve Dancewear, Dancewear Central, Bloch, Luckyleo Dancewear, Capezio, Wear Moi, Jule Dancewear, Cloud and Victory, Noelle Dancewear, Class In Dancewear, Gaynor Minden, Claudia Dean World, and Aurelia Dancewear.


Dancing4Jesus

Psalm 149:3~ Let them praise his name with dancing. (NIV)


Contact me here: dancing4jesus20@gmail.com


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