Leotard
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A ballet dancer wearing a modern design of leotard. |
A
leotard is a
skin-tight one-piece garment that covers the torso and body but leaves the legs free. It was made famous by the French acrobatic performer
Jules Léotard (
1839â€"
1870), about whom the song "
The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze" was written.
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 in French has now come to mean a
swimsuit.
Leotards are worn by
acrobats,
gymnasts,
dancers and
circus performers both as practice garments and performance
costumes. They are often worn together with
tights.
Leotards are entered through the neck. (Constrast with
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
turtle-necked and close at the back of the neck with a
zipper or snaps.
There are sleeveless, short-sleeved and long-sleeved leotards. A variation is the
unitard, which also covers the legs.
Leotards can also be worn as
lingerie and are eroticised by some people, often as part of a wider
spandex fetishism.
*
Bodystocking*
Catsuit*
Pictures of Leotards*
Basic Leotard*
Camisole Leotard*
Madonna brings back the Leotard
