You can easily go through your first classes wearing your running pants and a sports t-shirt. If after 4–5 classes and a good hundred of battements your desire to do ballet didn't go away, it's time to think about your first leotard.

Choosing a ballet leotard — what can be easier than that, right? Well, not exactly.

Evgenia Budrina¹: "When I bought my first ballet leotard I made so many mistakes that I ended up wearing it only 3 times. And each time was a torture!"

We prepared a special check-list for those who choose their first leotard. This check-list will help you buy a proper leotard without spending unnecessary time, money and effort.

Below are just a few tips from the check-list.

Focus on comfort
Comfort and performance are more important qualities in your first leotard than its beauty. Your goal is to choose something that helps you at your classes, not something that makes you feel awkward or irritates with bold colours. 

In the photo - T-leotard | grey Zidans. Model: Polina Zayarnaya.

When ordering online, choose options with a try on delivery and return possibilities.
Not all brands offer these options, but we do recommend to use them when choosing your first leotard, to avoid unnecessary spendings. Do add more than 1 item /size to your cart, when ordering online. This way you can try all of them and understand more about what suits you best.

In the photo - 2 Sleeves leotard | black. Model: Viktoria Baghramyan.

Trying on a leotard: tips and tricks.
Try it on exactly as you will wear it. If you plan to wear tights underneath at your classes, wear tights when trying on. If you want to wear panties underneath at your classes, don't remove them when trying on. This rule will help you get closer to the real class feel, so you won't choose the wrong size and type.
Move while trying on. You need to see the leotard in action: do a couple of ports des bras, jetées, pliées. This will help avoid bad surprises during your classes.

In the photo - Strap leotard | scarlet. Model: Anastasia Limenko.

Choose the right fabric
A ballet class is very intense. They say, if you do just a couple of pliés according to all the rules, you already start sweating. That's why it's very important to choose a leotard made from high-tech performance fabrics, not natural ones. We recommend choosing biflex (80% Polyamide / 20% Elastane).

In the photo - set of leotards Zidans "Set: 3 leotards 2 Sleeves | №3"

1 - Evgenia Budrina - Adult ballerina, founder of A.Dancer - a project for adult amateur dancers.