Fashion

What Underwear Should You Wear Under Tights?

by Lindsey Rose Black

Sep. 25, 2015

The debate over whether or not tights count as pants rages on, but what about if tights qualify as underwear all by themselves? I turned to dancer blogs to learn what underwear you should wear under your tights, and the differing opinions were surprising to say the least. Similar to the tights as pants controversy, people stand strong on both sides of the fence over wearing underwear with tights.

One of team commando's members is dancer Jennifer Wright. She told The Gloss, "my earliest experience of this whole issue was ballet class when I was about 8. If you wore underwear under your tights there was a chance that it would peek out under your leotard as you were plie-ing, and then you’d be flashing your rainbow colored underwear to the entire class ... The whole point of underwear is to provide a barrier between your nether regions and your clothing. Tights do that." Fair point, Wright!

There's a pretty intense thread over at Dance.Net where dancers on the opposing side have chimed in. One dancer shared, "I've been wearing undies beneath my tights for years ... and if I wear panties then that means I don't have to wash my tights EVERY time I wear them (unless I work up a horrible sweat), which makes my tights last longer. But I also pick [undies] that don't show through either, the no-lines kind."

As for those of you that definitely don't want to go commando, look to the models of NYFW, who shared their preferred underwear with me. I think their undies of choice apply here, too!