Essential Items for the Dance Wardrobe

Dancing has been an evolving art form throughout the centuries, with variations to the older elementary forms of dance and completely new modern forms emerging. For the dancer today, the amount and range of equipment is incredible, as the different forms of dance all seem to require a slightly different wardrobe. However, shopping as a dancer does not have to be so difficult if you carefully select your wardrobe with these comfortable and cute accessories.

1) Warm ups: Although leg warmers made their brief comeback in the world of everyday fashion, they have always been a staple for the serious dancer. While there are certainly plenty of fun styles of leg warmers on the market today, I would suggest investing in a quality pair of solid black legwarmers. These will be practical and won't clash with any of your leotards. Additionally, black is both slimming and sophisticated, showing your dedication to dancing. Legwarmers come in varying lengths, depending upon your own personal preference; just remember that you can always roll down the longer versions, but you can't pull up the shorter ones to make them as long as the longer legwarmers.

2) Cover ups: On the same note as legwarmers, basic cover-ups are a great way to keep your muscles warm in the beginning minutes of dance class. Again, while the range of colors and styles of cover ups is huge, I would suggest sticking with solid tones-either blues, deep reds, grays, or classic black. Cute short, wrap around sweater tops and short booty shorts (or classical skirts for ballet) are great options for cover ups; they'll keep you comfortably warm in the dance classroom, and make you feel comfortable stretching before class as well.

3) Foot Undies: With the rise of modern, lyrical, and contemporary forms of dance, "barefoot" dancing has risen in popularity. These handy and comfortable "foot undies" slide onto your feet to give them the appearance of being bare, while providing you the dancer with protection and ease during turning movements. At an affordable price, this is certainly footwear that you'll want to invest in, as you are sure to use them for many years.

4) Convertible tights: A staple for any dancer, convertible tights really are the only way to wear tights in the dancer's world today. These tights are perfect for almost any form of dance, as they allow you to roll them up to comfortable lengths for modern dance or wear them in the traditional form for ballet. They also make dancing on pointe much easier, as inserting pain easers (such as gel pads and toe separators) into tights is much more convenient with these tights. Since any form of tights will wear down with regular use, you'll want to have several pairs of these within your dance bag.

5) Bobby Pins: These are considered a staple to any dancer's purse, dance bag, or even coat pocket. You'll most likely need them in every dance class; don't be without them. They're cheap, and can be the difference between a clean pirouette and hair whipping unwontedly into your eyes.