WAG The michelin man effect....

[LucyTRA]

This is much more a question for women/girls post puberty I guess but when I wear a leotard the leg elastic is obviously tight around my legs to stop it from riding up but I have quite big hips and it kinda cuts them in half and makes me look really gross. It's not uncomfortable physically and it doesn't feel like it's too tight but often it looks like it is. I've tried bigger Leo's and they are just too big but the legs STILL look like that.

One of the other girls at my old club was bigger than me generally and she was the one who called it the Michelin man effect, and with shorts it's even worse, you have a bump above the shorts, then a line of the waistband, then a bump below, then the line of the Leo, then a bump below that where your thigh is. It looks horrible!

Has anyone else had this issue and what (if anything) did you do about it?

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

I'd suggest taking it to a seamstress, or if you can sew, have the elastic adjusted. If the rest of the Leo fits, it just needs a longer piece of elastic sewn into the leg opening so it isn't as tight.

 

[happychaos]

Have you tried spandex capris with a fitted tank-top instead of a leo and shorts?

 

[sfts]

And that is why the 16+ crowd on my team (& some younger teens as well) wish we could have "boy cut" leos like in this thread: http://chalkbucket.com/forums/threads/unitard-update.45288/
for competition. Even if you are relatively slender, leos weren't designed with hips in mind.

 

[Faith]

It's probably a matter of trying lots of different brands until you find the best cut for you. Moreau are quite long in the body so might help with the riding up issue..

If you can find someone to make you one- there are a lot of WAHM's out there, you can ask for the elastic to be adjusted, or the length, width, any proportion really.

 

[LucyTRA]

Most of the time I just deal with it and wear it anyway, but there are definitely times that I feel uncomfortable. I just got a new one from gk, a brand I've never had before that I LOVE but the MM effect is pretty apparent in it!

I've been planning to try and make one myself for AGES, maybe this is the time to get started...

 

[Iwannabemargo]

LOL am cutting out materiel as I type. Our team Leo is great on the little girls but two of the bigger girls had mahoosive wedgies this last comp, I really felt for them.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

I think if you looked at ladies in bikini's you would see the same effect - even on the models (if you catch them wearing a modest cut), the cut of all these things will sit slightly above the bottom of the buttocks. It even happens with the little kids in leos, they just tend to have less sticking out.

 

[LucyTRA]

I think if you looked at ladies in bikini's you would see the same effect - even on the models (if you catch them wearing a modest cut), the cut of all these things will sit slightly above the bottom of the buttocks. It even happens with the little kids in leos, they just tend to have less sticking out.

I don't have a problem with the bum bit, it's when you look at me from the front, my hips, at the sides look like the are bulging out. I'm not really gymnast shaped, but I'm not exactly huge either! I'm a size 8 in uk clothes and it just seems like an adult large sized Leo shouldn't do this to me! I'm not a large adult!

 

[raenndrops]

I don't have a problem with the bum bit, it's when you look at me from the front, my hips, at the sides look like the are bulging out. I'm not really gymnast shaped, but I'm not exactly huge either! I'm a size 8 in uk clothes and it just seems like an adult large sized Leo shouldn't do this to me! I'm not a large adult!

A GK Adult Large is the next size that OG (age 12-1/2) will be going to... and she is a size 0 (with a belt to hold her pants up). YG (age 9-1/2) wears an Adult X-Small... and she wears a girls size 8 Slim.
I think leotard sizes should be renamed. The hip bulging can be camouflaged with boycut leotards or possibly by wearing Spanx under the leo. Since this might look funny, you may want longer shorts or leggings over the leotard too.

 

[mommyof1]

Shorts with a low, wide waistband and legs that are close-fitting but not tight may help. Dance shorts are available in this style.