6 Quirky Ballet T-Shirts You KNOW You Want to Wear

When you really love something, you buy the t-shirt, am I right? That's why I browsed Etsy and picked out a few of my favorite ballet t-shirts. Here are some quirky, creative shirts you KNOW you want to wear to the studio (and beyond)...


First up, we have three tees from Utopia Dancewear, a shop founded by Pia Meehan, adult ballet student extraordinaire.

By the way, Utopia Dancewear skirts are the official dance uniform at the Western Australian Academy of the Performing Arts.

How cool is that?

All of Pia's dance wear is on point — hello, Scottie dog leg warmers! — but her t-shirt designs speak to me on an emotional level, perhaps because I have always loved a good pun.

Pia’s punny Batman-inspired shirts come in two fabulous designs (I want both), and her Star Wars-inspired shirts come in short and long sleeves and multiple colors.

1. "Battement Returns" tee in yellow and black  — my personal favorite. 
2. "Battement Returns" tee in black and gray — a close second. 
3. "Barre Wars" short sleeve tee in gray or black  — this is probably the most clever ballet tee of ALL TIME, and it comes in long sleeves, too! 

You can shop all of Utopia Dancewear on Etsy. On Instagram, you can follow Pia as @broadwaytoballet and her shop as @utopiadancewear.

Next up is Stark Ambition, an Etsy shop with a retro-modern vibe that the owners like to call “future-retroism.”

Here’s how the creators of Stark Ambition describe their shop:

Art is our passion. We design T-shirts and apparel for people who really want to connect with their wardrobe.

I messaged owner Alexey to ask for the story behind the shop’s dance t-shirts, and this is what he said:

Personally, I used to take dance lessons as a child, so that is the primary reason for our dance-inspired line. I know how enthusiastic dancers are about their craft so it's quite heartwarming to see customers find that our apparel really resonates with their passion.

We are an enthusiastic bunch, aren't we? Here are a few of my favorite dance tees from Stark Ambition...

4. "Dancers Turn Out Better" tee — why yes, we do turn out better. 
5.  "Plié Chassé Jeté All Day" tee — why, yes, I do want to do ballet all day, every day, thank you very much, and I shall wear this t-shirt to prove it to you. 
6. "Oh Pliés" tee — this pun never gets old.