We’ve got one full weekend of NCAA gymnastics under our belts, which means lots of leotards were worn that need to be judged. And we’re here to do just that with some simple criteria: up to three points for design; two points for fabric, sparkle, etc.; and two points for school spirit; three points for overall appearance.
We’ll be looking at leotards we saw that caught our eye — in either a good way or a bad one. Then we’ll tally up the scores and average them with the previous week’s. So by the end of the season, we’ll know for sure which team has the best leotards (according to us) and which teams not to much. We want to know what you thought too (or if we forgot one of your favorites from this weekend)! Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter.
Score: 8.4
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Emily
Design: 2.7/3 Fabric/Sparkle: 1.6/2 School Spirit: 1.2/2 Overall Appearance: 2.9/3 Total: 8.4/10I love this. I love the ombre. The neckline is different, but nice. I even like the electric looking design. This is just great. I have no major complaints. Elizabeth I love ombre. So when I first saw this leo I might have drooled a bit. UNC could have done so many ugly things, but they didn’t and I’m proud. This leo is so, so nice. The design on the side within the ombre I could do without or would prefer something different, but it’s not terrible. |
Score: 8.4
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Emily
Design: 1.9/3 Fabric/Sparkle: 1.6/2 School Spirit: 1.7/2 Overall Appearance: 2.1/3 Total: 7.3/10This is good, but not great. It’s nice, but I don’t like the logo on the arm. I know, I ask for more school spirit and when I get it, I complain. Some schools are cursed with bad logos, but this isn’t about fairness. I like the black and white. And I even like the weird rhinestones coming out of the side. Elizabeth I LOVE THIS LEOTARD. The classic black and white, the sweetheart neckline, the white mesh sleeves, the subtle sparkles on the top, the white on the sides making the gymnast look super slim, the sparkle beaver on the arm — I love everything about this leotard and wouldn’t even mind the Beavers wearing it every meet this season. If I were an emoji, I’d be making the heart eyes expression. |
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Score: 7.8
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Emily
Design: 2.5/3 Fabric/Sparkle: 1.6/2 School Spirit: 1.1/2 Overall Appearance: 2.6/3 Total: 7.8/10I really like the rhinestones on this leo. Sometimes silver can go poorly, but it’s great here. My biggest complaint is the lack of school spirit (apart from the G on the back). We could change the neckline color and essentially use this leo for any team. Still a great leo though. Elizabeth I really love the silvery-gold sleeve and the sweetheart front with the neckline that kind of mimics that is nice. The colors overall are a bit boring since there’s not a whole lot of red, but I don’t really hate that? |
Note: This picture was not taken at this weekend’s competition but does show the same leotard worn by Georgia there.
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Score: 7.65
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Emily
Design: 2.8/3 Fabric/Sparkle: 1.7/2 School Spirit: 1.9/2 Overall Appearance: 2.7/3 Total: 9.1/10 OK, I really love this leo. It reminds me of the U.S. leo from 2011 worlds, and I loved that one too. I like the big A, and I like the swirls on the sleeves. My only complaint is the giant glob of silver on the side. If that section had been blue, it would have been an A+ for me. Elizabeth There was too much going on here. I could have done the sleeves but not all the sunburst-style sparkles on the body. The A was fine on the side but maybe a little big? I did like the use of silver with the other Arizona colors. |
Note: This picture was not taken at this weekend’s competition but does show the same leotard worn by Arizona there.
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Score: 7.45
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Emily
Design: 2.4/3 Fabric/Sparkle: 1.7/2 School Spirit: 1.2/2 Overall Appearance: 2.0/3 Total: 7.3/10 I like this one. It’s nothing super crazy or revolutionary, but it’s nice, simple and elegant. I like the nude color and lack of yellow. Elizabeth This might not be a popular opinion, but I really like this leo. Using the nude in place of Iowa’s gold/yellow school color is clever and gets you away from bumblebee and more towards sophisticated. |
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Score: 7.4
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Emily
Design: 2.1/3 Fabric/Sparkle: 1.6/2 School Spirit: 1.5/2 Overall Appearance: 2.1/3 Total: 7.3/10 This feels like a classic Oklahoma leo, but not quite as great as some of the others. I think the mesh works well. I can’t even figure out what I don’t like about this leo, but maybe the problem is more that there is nothing I really like about this leotard. Elizabeth I love Oklahoma leotards in general, so most of the time I’m comparing one to others that exist. I like this one but not as much as other Sooner styles or ones in this week’s rankings. The shiny fabric and color is great and the sparkles aren’t overdone, though, so it’s a win overall. |
Score: 7.35
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Emily
Design: 2.1/3 Fabric/Sparkle: 1.2/2 School Spirit: 1.6/2 Overall Appearance: 2.5/3 Total: 7.4/10 I actually kind of like this leo. There are some odd parts, but as a whole I think it looks good. It feels like one of the ones that looks better when you’re just watching someone do gymnastics as opposed to sitting here analyzing a picture. The design of the mesh seems a little funky, but I like the back. It’s unique, but not completely over the top. Elizabeth I have to stare at this leo for a while to really like it, but I do really like it. I always love a fun back and I’m typically a fan of weird mesh even though most people aren’t. The blue color is lovely, too. The only thing I could do without is theamountof sparkle and design of the sparkles on the front. |
Note: This picture was not taken at this weekend’s competition but does show the same leotard worn by Kentucky there.
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Score: 7.2
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Emily
Design: 2.1/3 Fabric/Sparkle: 1.2/2 School Spirit: 1.7/2 Overall Appearance: 1.9/3 Total: 6.9/10 I’m having a hard time really liking this leo, but I’m not quite sure why. Maybe due to the lack of sparkle. Still, I think the simple design worked fine here. This doesn’t relate to my ranking, but I can’t stop thinking that this leo feels like something you’d see at an international meet from a random country that has a few mediocre elites. Elizabeth This is one of my more-favorite Utah leotards in the bunch. The side neckline is different and the three colors work well together. The leo also pretty much looked good on everyone, which is a harder thing to do than you think. |
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Score: 6.75
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Emily
Design: 1.2/3 Fabric/Sparkle: 1.3/2 School Spirit: 1.7/2 Overall Appearance: 1.7/3 Total: 5.9/10 The M works fine for me. The whole front is pretty decent. I don’t think I like color of the sleeves or the weird cuffs. The back looks like a spiderweb. That’s a lot of complaints, but I don’t think this leo was a total disaster. I can’t stop thinking about spiderwebs, though. Elizabeth I remember liking this leo from last season. However, it doesn’t look great on everyone. The nude on the back has the Goldilocks Effect — you have to have just the right skin color for it to not look weird. Sorry Briley Casanova and Brianna Brown. |
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Score: 6.5
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Emily
Design: 1.9/3 Fabric/Sparkle: 1.5/2 School Spirit: 1.5/2 Overall Appearance: 1.8/3 Total: 6.7/10 This feels like the basic UCLA leo. I almost feel like every UCLA leo derives from this design. Or maybe I’ve just seen this one enough times to make it seem familiar. It’s not too wild, which is nice. The back is cool, but there isn’t any component that makes me love it. Elizabeth Ok, so, this is one of my favorite UCLA leos. However, Miss Val is slipping in the bra department because I could see the straps of at least three or four girls’ bras during the competition and all I could think of was Stick It. The blue color is so nice and goes well with the darker body. The neckline is only OK, though. Maybe a sweetheart instead? |
Score: 6.4
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Emily
Design: 1.7/3 Fabric/Sparkle: 1.1/2 School Spirit: 1.5/2 Overall Appearance: 1.4/3 Total: 5.7/10 This leo isn’t bad, but to me it’s boring. I feel like schools like Arizona State are at a disadvantage because of their colors, but I think they made this one work well. It’s still just a simple leo, but that’s better than trying something crazy and failing. Elizabeth I almost always love leotards with white mesh arms, so this was a nice one for me. The three colors on the body go well together and the overall appearance is elegant for a team that normally has very, very weird leotard designs. |
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Score: 6.3
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Emily
Design: 1.5/3 Fabric/Sparkle: 1.5/2 School Spirit: 1.8/2 Overall Appearance: 2.0/3 Total: 6.8/10 I don’t mind this one. It’s a nice, simple, Stanford-looking leo. I like the colors, I like the mesh and I like the Stanford on the back. I don’t love anything, though. Elizabeth I want to like this leo, I really do. It’s classic and not boring like some Stanford leos out there. However, the dark black on the shoulders right next to the lighter mesh looks like someone wearing a tank top with a long-sleeve T-shirt underneath. I did that in elementary school. These ladies are in college. I do like the red color and the Stanford across the back, though. |
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Score: 6.15
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Emily
Design: 1.2/3 Fabric/Sparkle: 1.4/2 School Spirit: 1.6/2 Overall Appearance: 1.0/3 Total: 5.2/10 What is happening on the back? I can’t figure it out. It looks like a silhouette of someone wearing a wedding dress. Purple is my favorite color, so I guess that’s a positive here. Not sure how I feel about only purple and black. Maybe adding some white would have helped? The front is OK, but boring. Elizabeth This leo is definitely more athletic-looking than elegant, and I don’t hate it. The black and purple kind of blend together so you can’t exactly tell where one ends and the other begins, though. I also think the weird sparkle diamond on the back is weird, but the front is nice. |
Note: This picture was not taken at this weekend’s competition but does show the same leotard worn by Washington there.
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Score: 5.65
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Emily
Design: 1.6/3 Fabric/Sparkle: 1.4/2 School Spirit: 1.8/2 Overall Appearance: 1.4/3 Total: 6.2/10 I don’t like the design that’s going on around the A. The color and fabric work well. There’s nothing else to even talk about because it’s so simple. Elizabeth Bo-ring. The color’s nice. The script-A is too big, though and the sparkle design with the A is weird. But there’s nothing really exciting or different about this leotard. Alabama has plenty of others that are much better. It’s got school spirit going for it, I guess? |
Note: This picture was not taken at this weekend’s competition but does show the same leotard worn by Alabama there.
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Score: 5.1
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Emily
Design: 1.2/3 Fabric/Sparkle: 1.1/2 School Spirit: 1.2/2 Overall Appearance: 1.2/3 Total: 4.7/10 I don’t like the back, and the front just looks like a lot of blue with a white stripe. There’s nothing super great, but nothing overwhelmingly bad either. Elizabeth This is the same as a leo Cal has in white. And I think I prefer the white, which is weird because white most of the time is weird. That’s a thorough explanation, isn’t it? I like the back. It’s different but not too overboard. I don’t like the random white sash on the front. We’re doing gymnastics here not competing in Miss NCAA. |
Note: The leotard worn by Cal in the NorCal Classic is navy with white accents but is the same design as the video above.
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Score: 4.85
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Emily
Design: 1.1/3 Fabric/Sparkle: 1.1/2 School Spirit: 0.9/2 Overall Appearance: 1.5/3 Total: 4.6/10 Apart from the color, this feels like a GAGE leo to me. So maybe a tribute to Sarah FInnegan? I think I like the front, but not the collar. But when you add design on the back, it just feels like we are trying to do too many things at once. And the clip makes me think of 2000, not 2016. Elizabeth So I saw the warm up version and was like love. But then I saw the whole thing and was like eh. The neckline and clip in the back isn’t doing it for me despite the color being really nice. I do like the deep V and the sparkle design on the front and back, though. |
