The above image is from Weisman.com who sell dancewear to teachers and retailers – they recommend Dancewear Solutions which I link to below for general public sales.
The thing with the way they make dance and ballet tights today I have found in my personal experience with my girls dancing compared to when I danced years ago is that whether you buy the more expensive brands or even the well-reviewed cheaper ones they always end up having the same problems – holes, tears, piling and pulls.
Unfortunately with some of the cheaper brands I have found, you may find a pull in the tights when you open them immediately leading to a hole in them that wear. Then on other occasions, we are lucky and they have actually lasted the whole season. Better brands which I refer to in my recommendations have in my experience generally produced longer-lasting tights and are easier to deal with when there are faults.
A FEW TIPS TO BUYING TIGHTS
- Ballet pink is generally preferred over pink tights.
- Going up a size is always better if you are in doubt.
- Decide on the foot feature of your tight for example full foot, adaptatoe also known as convertible tights, footless, and stirrup are just some to choose from. I like the convertible type as my daughters can roll their tights up over their feet to dance barefoot when needed.
- Ballet pink or pink tights are generally used for ballet class – sometimes white if your school prefers this (black for boys) and sometimes modern or contemporary and even lyrical style dances and lessons. Tan or closer to skin color tights, as well as black are used for all other styles of dance.
- Buy more than one pair so you always have spares on hand. To begin with at least three pairs! One for class, one good pair to put away for recitals and exams and another for if either of those get a hole or tear in them!
Just remember tights are not as invincible as you would like them to be and on that note the ones I recommend are:
Bloch Tights
Bloch is a well-known brand that has been around for a long time, with a great reputation. They can be a little more expensive, but you are paying for quality and customer service. They offer a large variety of different tights full foot, footless, stirrup, adaptatoe, and others. You can take a look at their range in the Amazon store here on Amazon.com or if you prefer from Dance Wear Solutions.
Capezio Tights
Capezio is another well-known dancewear brand that also offers great quality dancewear and dance shoes. They offer a good selection of tights at similar prices to Bloch. To have a look at tights by Capezio from DanceWear Solutions you can click here or if you prefer Amazon, the link to the Capezio Amazon Store and their children’s tights is here or their adult selection here.
Balera
The Balera brand of dancewear from what I can tell is more of a wholesale style brand without their own storefront unlike Bloch and Capezio who have their own physical as well as online stores. Meaning that their sales occur only through dance retailers who buy their product in bulk orders for their stores. As a bulk supplier their tights can be less expensive and I have seen various merchants like Dancewear Supplies offer sales and discounts on their stock. Balera also have a larger range of colors for their tights than Bloch or Capezio which might be a selling point on top of their price for you as well. You can check out the Balera range of tights on Dancewear Solutions here where you can also usually get free shipping in the US when you spend over $45! or on Amazon.com where they do have an online store set up!