All about leotards

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LEOTARDS

A child ballet dancer wearing a modern design of leotard

A leotard is a unisex skin-tight one-piece garment that covers the torso but leaves the legs free. It was made famous by the French acrobatic performer Jules Léotard (1838–1870).

Leotards are worn by acrobats, gymnasts, dancers, figure skaters, athletes, actors, and circus performers both as practice garments and performance costumes. They are often worn together with ballet skirts on top and tights or sometimes bike shorts as underwear. There are sleeveless, short-sleeved and long-sleeved leotards. A variation is the unitard, which also covers the legs. As a casual garment, a leotard can be worn with a belt, it can also more commonly worn under overalls or short skirts.

Leotards are entered through the neck, in contrast to bodysuits which generally have snaps at the crotch, allowing the garment to be pulled on over the head. Scoop-necked leotards have wide neck openings and are held in place by the elasticity of the garment. Others are crew necked or polo necked and close at the back of the neck with a zipper or snaps.

USE

Leotards are used for a variety of purposes, including yoga, cardiovascular exercise, dance (particularly for ballet and/or modern), as pyjamas, for additional layered warmth under clothing, and for recreational and casual wear. They may form a part of children's dressing up and play outfits and can also be worn as a top.

Leotards are commonly worn in figure skating, postwar modern dance, traditional ballet and gymnastics, especially by young children. Practice leotards are usually sleeveless. Female competition garments for gymnastics and skating are almost always long-sleeved, while male competition leotards may be sleeved or sleeveless, the latter more common in gymnastics, the former in figure skating.

Many leotards are cut high enough above the legs that they expose underwear. For this reason, underwear is often omitted, or special underwear, cut high on the waist, is worn. Many dance studios forbid underwear. Gymnastics judges can deduct points for visible underwear. For example, in the movie Stick It, a competitor had their score deducted for a technicality of showing a bra strap.

HISTORY

Typical one-piece swimsuit

Typical aerobic exercise wear of the 1980s

The first known use of the name leotard came only in 1886, many years after Léotard's death. Léotard himself called the garment a maillot, which is a general French word for different types of tight-fitting shirts or sports shirts. In the early 20th century, leotards were mainly confined to circus and acrobatic shows, worn by the specialists who performed these acts.

The 1920s and 1930s saw leotards influencing the style of swimsuits, with women's one-piece swimsuits today still being similar in appearance to leotards.

Leotards were also worn by professional dancers such as the showgirls of Broadway. Stage use of the leotard typically coordinated the garment with stockings or tights.

In the 1950s, traditionally-styled leotards continued to be worn mainly by stage performers and circus actors, but leotards began to be used as simple and functional exercise garments, often in institutional settings like schools and in fitness training. These were almost always black and worn together with thick tights. Between 1950 and 1970, leotards remained as such in appearance until a style change in the 1970s, with more colourful leotards appearing on the scene, most often in ballet and exercise.

CROSSOVER TO ACTIVEWEAR (FASHION)

Singer Taylor Dayne wears a sparkly leotard-inspired costume during her 2011 Australian tour

By the late 1970s leotards had become common both as exercise and street wear, popularized by the disco craze, and aerobics fashion craze of the time. These leotards were produced in a variety of nylon and spandex materials, as well as the more traditional cotton previously used for uni-coloured leotards and tights. Exercise videos by celebrities such as Jane Fonda also did much to popularize the garment. The dancewear company Danskin flourished during this period, producing a wide variety of leotards for both dance and street wear. Other companies, such as Gilda Marx, produced leotards during this time period then ceased production when they were no longer in fashion. By the late 1980s leotards for exercise wear had become little more than bikini bottoms with straps over the shoulders, generally worn with cropped shirts. From the mid 80's through the mid 90's leotards were popularly worn as tops with jeans especially skinny jeans. By the mid 1990s leotards had been almost completely replaced for exercise wear by the sports bra and shorts.

Leotards are a versatile garment that can either be dressed up or dressed down. The illustration of Taylor Dayne shows a stage costume that has been heavily embellished with sequins and sparkles; it is matched with striped tights and a cropped cardigan to create an extremely eye-catching costume.

Among exercise garments, leotards may be seen along with other types of garments, such as T-shirts, crop tops and tights.

GYMNASTICS ATTIRE

Women

A sleeveless competition leotard made of metallic fabric

Gymnastics leotards are really designed to resolve the problems with uncomfortable movements due to wearing loose clothes while performing. This gymnastics leotard is a piece of apparel that can be worn during sports and athletic performances. The design of the garment is as simple as one-piece apparel usually covering the chest and the abdomen but exposing the legs.

For females, the standard competition uniform is a leotard. Traditionally, competition leotards have always had long sleeves; however, half-length sleeved and sleeveless garments are now permitted under the Code of Points and have been worn by teams at the World Gymnastics Championships and other major events. Practice leotards and those worn in podium training sessions are generally sleeveless.

Leotards may not ride too high on the hip or be cut too low; in rare instances, gymnasts and teams have been penalized with score deductions for their attire.

In the 1970s leotards were typically made from polyester and related fabrics. Since the 1980s, however, they have been made from lycra or spandex. Since the 1990s, leotards have become more elaborate and have employed a variety of textiles, including velvet, velour, mesh, metallic fabrics, foils and iridescent "hologram" fabric. They can also be decorated with rhinestones, and metallic jewels that are heat-set onto the garments and will not fall or wash off.

Leotards can not be cut above hip height, or, at the top, be cut past the shoulder blades, back or front. Any leotard that is somewhat see-through, is also against the rules. Usage of white stocking is not standard.

For regular training and practice sessions, gymnasts generally wear whatever they choose. Some gymnastics schools have specific regulation attire; however, this is not usually the case. Sleeveless workout leotards are greatly preferred, and are frequently paired with shorts, leggings, T-shirts, tank tops or bicycle shorts. As in competition, gymnasts must tie their hair back. Attire usually must fit close to the body in order to reduce risk of injury.

Men

A male gymnastics uniform

For competitions, male gymnasts wear two layers of clothing. The first, a singlet (or Comp Shirt - Short for Competition Shirt) is a sleeveless leotard. For floor and vault, gymnasts wear a pair of very short shorts over the singlet. For their other events, they wear a pair of long pants, attached to the bottom of the feet with stirrups.

Men's uniforms are usually less ornate than those of their female counterparts, and are usually matt-coloured while women's uniforms generally employ metallic or iridescent fabrics. Singlets usually employ one or more of the national team colours, but there are no restrictions on design. Shorts and pants are generally a solid colour, usually white, blue, red or black.

For regular training and practice sessions, a majority of male gymnasts choose casual workout attire, such as shorts and tank tops, or they train shirtless.

History
Olympic gymnastics team leotards have dramatically changed from their first memorable designs. Over time, the emphasis on what leotards are intended to do has changed. Originally, the intent was to cover as much of a woman’s body as possible, while today, leotards must breathe, improve aerodynamics and seamlessly re-shape as female athletes bend, twist and contort their way through increasingly difficult routines.

MEN'S LEOTARDS

An image of Jules Léotard in the garment that bears his name

When Jules Léotard created the Maillot it was initially intended for men. This style of leotard can be seen in early 20th century photos of the circus "strong man". Men's leotards evolved along with the women's style, eventually resembling it, except that the men's version had a slightly lower cut leg opening and a lower cut front.

Leotards are commonly worn by male dancers (particularly for ballet) and gymnasts. Leotard-like garments (often of the "biketard" type) are also often worn by men in sports such as rowing, wrestling, cycling and running

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