Why are T-front leotards used by dancers and ballerinas?

T-FRONT THONG LEOTARDS had been designed as a dancers' underwear to enable quick and easy backstage changes and provide a barely-there look and support under costumes, but they have now also found their use in yoga and especially in acro-yoga, acrobatic rock'n'roll, aerial hoop or pole dance. In the T-front design, the thong passes over the intimate parts and only widens above the clitoris.  

The T-front concept is used with underwear, bodysuits, leotards and swimsuits. Nowadays, a number of manufacturers are using this controversial design under various names (see other articles in this blog for more details). The T‑Front thong concept provides several advantages in dance apparel particularly for the following reasons:

• The T-front cut does not limit the blood and lymph circulation by pressing on the vessels in the groin, and therefore does not restrict the blood and lymph flow even if worn for an extended period of time - unlike the classic leotard.
• During rhythmical leg countermovement occurring during activities such as dancing, running or walking, there is no contact with moving skin areas so these are not strained or irritated.
• During dance figures with widely open legs, the T-front leotard does not wedge uncomfortably.
• If the T-front thong leotard is worn under outer dance/performance leotard or tight shorts (e.g. pole-dance), no pantylines are visible and the inner leotard never shows out.

Except for dance schools that prepare burlesque and cabaret dancers with no place for shame, T-front cut leotards are mostly worn under leggings, loose pants and shorts or under long skirts because of their quite revealing nature. Similarly to classic thong leotards, it takes some time to get used to wearing the T‑fronts. Once the wearer becomes familiar with the string passing between the labia, the T-front becomes less felt - contrary to common expectations. For most girls and women, wearing T-front leotards is neither unpleasant nor stimulating. Most women only speak about a feeling of absolute freedom which is not comparable with any other leotard type. Of course, to ensure the highest wearing comfort, a care must be taken about proper sizing and the leotard fabric must be of high quality (4-D elastic and lightweight).

In 2018, a crowd product testing company RPtesterka performed an independent 50+ participant study of our T-front thong leotards. The WEARING COMFORT achieved on the scale 1..5 (1..very uncomfortable, 5-very comfortable) the value of 3,77, with the following opinion distributions:

 VERY COMFORTABLE: 30.6%

COMFORTABLE: 25.0%

 AVERAGE: 16.7%

 RATHER UNCOMFORTABLE: 19.4%

VERY UNCOMFORTABLE: 8.3%

Obviously, users' opinions vary depending on physical constitution and preconceptions - some testers, judging the leotard as "very uncomfortable", had not even tried it, as they admit in other part of their feedback from. Selected positive comments are listed below:

"A very good fabric."

"Fits perfectly."

"The leotard is very pleasant and comfortable to wear. I would definitely recommend it to everyone."

"I did not expect to be so happy with this piece. It really surprised me."

"Very comfortable."

"I like the leotard very much, it fits under any clothing, very comfortable for everyday wear."

"A really good piece of clothing."

"Women should not be afraid of change .. and try new things. This cut is very comfortable and pleasant, I just recommend."

"Very satisfied with this leotard, good size, material very good, pleasant and elastic, beautiful cut."

"Sits nicely on the figure."

"The leotard looks great and shapes nicely."

"Ordinary cut, very nicely highlights my figure. My boyfriend liked it on me, too, and said he would buy me another one."

"The crossed shoulder straps are very interesting, the popular and traditional neckline is nice and the T-front is very daring ... It's something extraordinary."

"I tried to wear it over my thong but better is when worn on bare body. The leotard is very comfortable to wear, it is made of pleasant material."

"Worn directly on the body. The leotard is not pressing or scratching anywhere. Very comfortable."

"The size corresponds perfectly to my chosen size."

"The body beautifully shapes my figure and holds the breasts."

"The material is very pleasant on the body."

"Very nice to touch, does not scratch my skin."

(except of originally English, responses translated from French, Russian, Czech and Slovak).

T-front thong leotards for sports, dance, yoga and ballet can be ordered in out e-shop here.

Andrea (partly adopted from CACD Project Report)

pictures: Wikimedia, author's archieve

References

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thong_(clothing)

• https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/fashion/a26159760/boohoo-front-thong-bodysuit/