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Dance tights are sized by height and weight, not by shoe size, and the style matters more than most parents expect. Convertible tights are the ones worth having if your dancer takes more than one class in an evening.
What are convertible tights?
Convertible tights have a small hole in the sole, usually under the arch, so the foot can be pulled out and the tight worn as a footless legging. That lets a dancer go footed for ballet and bare for acro or lyrical without changing tights between classes.
They are also the practical choice for recital, when a dancer may need bare feet for one number and covered feet for the next with ten minutes between them.
Multiple classes in one nightVarious
Convertible and Transition Ballet Tights
- Meets BORN dress code
- $
Erin says Convertible tights are the ones worth having. Your dancer can go footed for ballet and bare for acro without changing tights between classes, which saves a scramble on a busy evening.
Sizing Sized by height and weight, not by shoe size. If your child sits between two sizes, take the larger. Tights that are too short pull down and get tugged at all class.
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Footed, convertible, or stirrup?
Footed tights are the standard for ballet and for most recitals, and they are the cheapest. Convertible tights cost slightly more and cover more situations. Stirrup tights, which loop under the arch and leave the heel and toe bare, turn up mainly in jazz and contemporary.
If you are buying one pair, buy convertible. If you are buying for a ballet-only dancer, footed is fine and cheaper.
Ballet and recitalVarious
Footed Ballet Dance Tights
- Meets BORN dress code
- $
Erin says Footed tights are the standard for ballet and for most recitals. Buy two pairs. One will ladder the week of the show, and that is a promise.
Sizing Sized by height and weight, not shoe size. If your child sits between two sizes, take the larger. Tights that are too short pull the crotch down and get tugged at all class.
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What colour tights for dance class?
Pink is the traditional ballet colour and is what most studios ask for. Black is common for tap, jazz and hip hop. Skin-tone tights appear in lyrical and contemporary, and increasingly for recital, where the aim is for the leg to read as bare from the audience.
Always check the dress code before buying a colour. This is the single most common thing parents get wrong, and unlike a leotard, nobody can see the mistake until the dancer is in the room.
How do I stop tights laddering?
Take rings off before pulling them on, keep toenails short, and never pull tights up by pinching the fabric. Gather the leg in both hands and roll them up instead.
Buy two pairs regardless. One will ladder the week of the recital, and there is no shop open at nine on a Saturday night.
How should tights be washed?
Cold water, inside a mesh bag if you have one, and hung to dry. A tumble dryer will cook the elastic and leave you with tights that sag at the knee by the third wear.