Why the Ballet Uniform?

Beyond uniformity, traditional classroom ballet attire serves a deeper purpose. We want nothing getting in the way of pure form and clean lines, and so we do away with distracting colors, jewelry, loose clothing, stray hairs. We wear tights that are footed in order to perpetuate the illusion already created by our pointed toes, of a single unbroken line all the way down to the toes.We wear shoes that match the color of the tights in order to give the illusion of wearing no shoes. In brief, traditional ballet attire serves to both reveal the human form, and simultaneously hide its imperfections.