What to wear under your dance gear and costumes (2024)

If you’re a first time dancer or dance parent, occasionally there’s a question you might feel has a very obvious answer – but in the world of dance sometimes “obvious” things might be a bit more complicated! One of those such things is what to wear under your dance gear and especially under costumes. Read on for our suggestions.

In class, for young dancers generally regular undies is fine. As dancers get older they may want to minimise the visibility of lines under their leotards and tights.

The following are our suggestions for class:

• plain coloured seam-free briefs (so patterns don’t show through)
• sports or dance bras that match the line of your leotard

For concerts and performances, ensuring that you can’t see undies and bras under your costumes is really important. With extra lighting, dark colours are more visible and we don’t want extra straps disrupting the line of your costume.

For concerts, we recommend:

• skin coloured, seam-free briefs
• skin coloured bra/crop top with clear straps (you can buy special dance ones at Stretch Out, Sue’s Shop or online at Bloch/Energetiks/Step by Step Dancewear)
• If your dancer has a bigger bust, they might prefer the support of a skin-coloured strapless bra
• If your dancer wants some coverage over their tummy, we recommend a body suit (you can buy special dance ones at Stretch Out, Sue’s Shop or online at Bloch/Energetiks/Step by Step Dancewear). These are often really helpful if your dancer has quick changes as they are like an “under-leotard” enabling dancers to feel more covered and less self conscious
• New advances in technology mean that period undies have now been adapted for dancers! Check out Knicked and ModiBodi for their special dancers undies

PS: For boys and young men, generally match their underwear to the colour of their costume. As they get older, they need extra support too – check out dance belts.