Iconic Fashion Tips Inspired By Dancer Style

This post is all about how to have dancer style so you can live out your fashion and lifestyle dreams of being an off-duty dancer. 

I feel like everyone at one point in their lives has wanted to be a talented dancer. I mean, if you go onto TikTok and watch dancers with their swag- the baggy sweats, the confidence, the fun they’re having, and it’s hard not to. Now, I have always been fascinated with both dance and dancer style. I have always loved hip hop and can get down with the baggy sweats, the eclecticism and the swag. But, I also love watching the Nutcracker and am completely obsessed with off duty ballet dancer style. Think Natalie Portman in Black Swan with her blush pink sweaters and sheer pieces and Nora Clark in the iconic movie Step Up with her fairy-like costumes and amazingly layered outfits. This was the exact aesthetic that I’ve always dreamed of rocking, whether I was actually on my way to a dance class or not. 

Before TikTok, we all thought being a dancer meant you had to grow up living and breathing dance at a prestigious school for the arts. It was assumed that, unless you’re some sort of late bloomer protégé, you have to be like the little girls on Dance Moms, literally dancing your life away from the womb in order to call yourself a dancer.

With Instagram and TikTok, we’re finding that more and more people with raw talent but without the credentials are popping up out of the woodworks and gaining some serious traction. Now, you can take classes online from professionals and really learn the craft without having to be 9 years old with all of your leisure time going towards the studio. I think it’s really cool we’re living in an age where this is possible. 

Whether or not you like to dance, I think we can all appreciate dancer style. I mean, it’s kind of iconic. The colors, the shapes and layers all contribute to this dream-like fairy tale that makes you feel spirited and inspired. Let’s think about how we can take inspo from the professionals and make practical but fun fashion from dancers. 

The Hip Hop Dancer 

Hip hop style is so fun. It’s loose, trendy, masculine yet sexy. It has an attitude with a sex appeal. Hip hop has left a huge, lasting influence on both street style and high fashion. Rappers have influenced fashion designers for decades and even collaborated with some of the most iconic fashion houses. To quote Tom Banham, who wrote an article on FashionBeans,

“Rap is arguably music’s most entrepreneurial genre, obsessed with graft and hustle, status and the path up from the streets. No other sound has focused so much on starting from the bottom, perhaps because no other music has been so dominated by artists who started life at the bottom. The uniform of rock was stuff that would frighten fans’ mothers; for rap, it was clothes that backed up your bars.”

Tom Banham of FashionBeans

I absolutely love listening and dancing to rap. I’ve grown up listening to it, and I support and appreciate the many artists that came from nothing, rose above their situations and became something great. If that’s not inspiring, I don’t know what is. That’s why pulling inspiration from the genre makes people feel empowered and confident. 

One of my favorite hip hop style tips is the footwear – it’s all about the sneakers. I’ve been wearing nike air max 90 sneakers in white for years now & they quickly became my go-to shoe for a casual or athletic outfit. They’re easy to style since white sneakers go with everything and the profile of the shoe isn’t too bulky or unflattering (cough cough Balenciaga). LOL.

You can never go wrong with the classics, but there’s also so many fun Jordans that make a statement. Whatever your vibe, you have to have at least one pair of sneakers if you want to embrace a hip hop dancer style. Go on TikTok for inspiration, there’s not shortage of originality on that app in the dance genre. Throw on some sweats, a cropped hoodie and a hat of choice to finish the look. 

Hip hop dancer style is personal and expressive. You can mix & match different styles from your favorite rappers, basketball players and fashion icons. The silhouettes can range from tight & sexy to loose and comfortable. I think it looks best to do one silhouette on top, one on the bottom. So, for me, I like wearing my baggy sweats with a form fitting, cropped hoodie or crop top and my compression shorts with a crew neck or oversized sweater. 

I also love pulling inspo from music videos of the Y2K era. I mean, the style back then was just iconic. It was so individualistic and expressive. For the most part, hip hop dancer style is more casual and laid-back, but it really can be anything you want it to be. At its roots, hip hop is all about expressing yourself and being creative, empowered and confident. There’s nothing hotter than that. 

The Ballerina Off Duty Style

Ballerina aesthetic is one of my favorite vibes. It gives feminine energy, yin energy and creative energy. I love wearing whimsical skirts, dresses and blouses so this dancer style is really fun for me. I also love embracing my feminine energy and expressing that through clothing- it really is an art. 

Ballerina dancer style stays true to its roots with lots of muted pastel tones, delicate fabrics and elegant lines. This is where you can be girly but without being flamboyant, comfortable without being slobbish and classy without being stuffy. Recently featured in Vogue, New York–based stylist Madeleine Jones weighs in that

“I see the ballet-all-day movement as the natural evolution from athleisure. Now with the ballet movement, there’s a way to give purpose and elevate from athleisure to something almost theatrical. So even when you’re putting on leggings, a wrap cardigan, or a corset, it still feels like you’re dressing up—but not overdressed.” 

New York–based stylist Madeleine Jones in article written by Vogue Beauty Associate ARDEN FANNING ANDREWS

Embracing this theatrical dancer style makes sense for the times we live in, where people prioritize comfort but want to still celebrate their ideas through clothing. Whether you create content online or just want to get out of those pandemic sweats, this style is perfect for feeling synchronously put together and comfortable. 

I’ve always loved wearing skirts and dresses because I find them more comfortable than jeans, even in the winter when worn with tights. This is the perfect style to incorporate these looks. I recently found Swedish Stockings, a hosiery company that’s on a mission to change the entire industry towards sustainable production. Not only are all their products made from completely recycled sustainable materials through a responsible production process, but their tights are some of the best I’ve bought. They have options made from cashmere and wool fibers for extra warmth in cold months as well as so many fun, trendy designs. You know I love a good quality purchase so I’m obsessed and will be wearing my cashmere pair all winter. This way, I can wear all the skirts, dresses and layered looks I love while staying warm and feeling good about my purchase. 

Mix and match your choice of skirts, dresses, leotards, ballet flats, and leg warmers. There’s so many ways to both modernize and differentiate your ballet inspired style. Check out fashion designers like Jacquemus, Miu Miu, Dior, and Chloé for inspiration since I know they’ve designed collections that have pulled inspiration from the wonderful art form of ballet. 

The Contemporary Dancer Style

Now, The Contemporary dancer style is going to have some overlaps of both the ballerina and the hip hop dancer style, but it’s going to be a nice balance of both the feminine and masculine. This is the style I most identify with Nora Clark. It’s very layered, unique and multi dimensional. At its core, contemporary dance is expressive and pulls elements from many different forms of dance. So of course, the same will go for expressing the dance style through clothing. We’re getting super meta here & I love it. Art expressing art.

For contemporary dance practice, I see a lot of dancers wearing compression tops and bottoms. There’s a lot of leggings, tank tops, even sports bras and t-shirts with bare legs and feet. For the stage costumes, it’s very flowy, easy and beautiful. I’ve noticed a lot of jewel and earthy tones. They need to be able to move freely and their clothes can even work for them by exaggerating some of their movement, so it makes sense the outfits are fluent.

Just like in our ballerina style, our foundation is going to be compression-type clothing. We’re going to embrace wearing tights, leotards, wrap sweaters and leg warmers. With this specific dancer style, though, we can lean towards more natural tones and shapes. Again, add your own flavor and lean into your creativity to let your inner dancer come to light. 

Get Creative & Have Fun

Being a dancer is all about letting your soul move through your body to express something your language cannot. We want to honor that by allowing ourselves to get out of our head and create looks by trusting whatever we feel attracted to. This is a fun little subcategory to fashion that I genuinely enjoy because I love both art forms of dance and fashion. Channel your inner Nora Clark and let yourself indulge in all your Barbie ballet fantasies.