While dancewear manufacturers often have excellent sense in forecasting what items will be most popular each season, speaking to young dancers can also give you some unexpected insights on what you should stock in your store. DRN spoke to three students to find out what their recital “must-haves” are for 2025, as well as what they wish their dance retailers would carry for performance prep. Spoiler alert: They want hair products and more sportswear options!
Quinn Stoebner
Age: 11
Cypress, TX
Quinn studies several styles of dance, “but my favorites are hip hop, jazz, lyrical, and contemporary,” she says. Her studio, Hintze Dance Center in Cypress, TX, is about 30 minutes from Houston. Quinn will perform in two ballet pieces and one jazz number in her June recital, but will have several other dances to perform during the competition season that starts up in late February.
When she needs to find dance shoes, Quinn heads to The Dance Bag, also located in Cypress. She knows she will need to stock up on tights for the recital. Her top pick: Body Wrappers Dancewear’s TotalSTRETCH Seamless Convertible Tights. “I like how the waistband doesn’t scrunch up, and they’re softer and not itchy,” she says. “They’re just comfortable.”
Quinn will also need undergarments for each costume, and would like a pair of Bloch’s Blochsox dance socks. She notes that she wishes The Dance Bag had more clothes “like sweatpants and shorts-and-top sets,” she says, adding that she sees a lot of Aerie, Nike Pro, and Lululemon at her studio. The first sporty dancewear brands that come to her mind? LA Dance Designs and Tiger Friday.
Laurel French
Age: 17
Vestal, NY
Laurel has been dancing for 13 years at The Dance Shoppe in Vestal, NY, a studio about 3.5 hours north of New York City. Her classwork has included ballet, jazz, lyrical, hip hop, contemporary, modern, and tap. She already knows what she needs for the June recital (and competition season): “Definitely a lot of hair ties and bobby pins and makeup essentials,” she says. “I also make sure I always have extra tights with me in case one of my team members forgets theirs or a pair rips.”
Laurel foresees ordering any items she needs online: Her in-town dance store closed a few years ago, and her closest dance retailer is an hour away. “In a lot of cases, we’ve had to search at places like Target for items that we would normally buy at a dance store, like adhesive bras,” she says, adding that she misses being able to try on footwear and selecting unique leotards and legwarmers in person. Even when the dance store was open, though, she wished that it had had more options for athletic wear, “like sports bras and tank tops and leggings,” she says. “And, it has always been a struggle to find leotards with built-in bras.”
Sadie Reid
Age: 13
Asheville, NC
Sadie competes as a soloist for WNC Dance Academy in Asheville, NC, as well as dancing in their repertory company. She’ll participate in eight group pieces during the annual June recital, so she’s got her necessities list prepped for her local dance store, The Sock Basket, which has locations in Asheville and Greenville, SC. “They’ve got tons of shoes, leotards, little accessories, and dance bags. It’s great if you need something last minute,” Sadie says.
She knows she’ll need a pair of Capezio’s Mia two-inch character shoes in caramel for her musical-theater piece; pink Capezio ballet slippers with matching seamed, convertible tights; tan Bloch jazz shoes; and skin-toned briefs. Black Bloch jazz shoes and a Capezio nude leotard to wear under her costumes are also on her shopping list. “I’ll also need bobby pins, hair nets, and hair ties—I run through them fast,” Sadie says.
WNC requires class leotard colors by level, but students have some freedom to add their own flair when it comes to warm-ups, sweaters, or scrunchies on their buns. Sadie says she enjoys getting to wear colorful “cute” leotards during off-site master classes at conventions. She often chooses Purple Pixies—for whom she is a brand ambassador—attire because she loves the colors and designs.
“I’m happy my local store carries the shoes that we’re required to have, and we can go and try them on and get them the same day,” Sadie says. “But I do wish dance stores had more hair products. I would like to see bobby pins, gel, or hair-wax sticks, which are really nice for smoothing back ponytails.”
Hannah Maria Hayes has an MA in dance education from New York University and has been writing for Dance Media publications since 2008.