The criteria is a little different this season as we tweak some of our point totals to better analyze the designs. There will be up to three points for design, up to one point each for fabric and sparkle, school spirit and uniqueness and up to three points for overall appearance. This week Kalley, Katherine and Jenna are joining Editor-in-Chief Elizabeth to help judge.
Note: Air Force and SEMO debuted new leotards this week, but we’re waiting to judge them until closer to the USAG national championships!
Pittsburgh: 8.375
Elizabeth: 8.200
Design 2.5/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 0.8/1, School Spirit 0.9/1, Uniqueness 0.7/1, Overall Appearance 2.6/3
When the university changed its color scheme from navy, I was afraid I’d never see my favorite “lemonade” design from Pittsburgh ever again. But the team re-debuted the design in its new colors! While I prefer navy to this brighter blue, this is still an all-time fave design for me.
Kalley: 9.300
Design 2.8/3, Fabric 1/1, Sparkle 0.9/1, School Spirit 1/1, Uniqueness 0.8/1, Overall Appearance 2.8/3
This leo is fantastic. I love the use of the bright yellow and royal blue, especially that ombre situation happening on the sleeves.
Katherine: 9.000
Design 2.5/3, Fabric 1/1, Sparkle 1/1, School Spirit 1/1, Uniqueness 0.8/1, Overall Appearance 2.7/3
I’m actually the opposite of Elizabeth in that I like the lighter blue in this design better. The design itself is also a classic: I love the cascading sparkles around the school logo.
Jenna: 9.000
Design 2.8/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 1.0/1, School Spirit 1.0/1, Uniqueness 0.8/1, Overall Appearance 2.7/3
The colors in this leo are amazing, and I love the design and the ombre overall. The cascading sparkles and the logo are fantastic too.
Rutgers: 8.200
Elizabeth: 8.900
Design 2.6/3, Fabric 0.8/1, Sparkle 0.9/1, School Spirit 0.9/1, Uniqueness 0.8/1, Overall Appearance 2.9/3
I’m absolutely obsessed with this leo. Once I get past the initial “I’m wearing a short sleeve crop top over a leo,” it’s fantastic. I love the white paired with the red and black ombre, and the script Rutgers is classy, too. Plus, I love the sparkly shoulder “pads.”
Kalley: 8.900
Design 2.7/3, Fabric 1/1, Sparkle 0.8/1, School Spirit 1/1, Uniqueness 0.7/1, Overall Appearance 2.7/3
This is a beautiful leo, and it combines two of my favorite elements: matte white and ombre. The only thing I don’t love is the red piping/stripes and sparkly shoulder pads—but otherwise, this is gorgeous.
Katherine: 8.200
Design 2.5/3, Fabric 1/1, Sparkle 0.8/1, School Spirit 1/1, Uniqueness 0.6/1, Overall Appearance 2.3/3
This is super pretty! I really like the muted red against the white, and the straps are just right. I can’t help but wonder if Umme meant to tip her hat to this Temple leotard; the color scheme and font are just a little familiar!
Jenna: 6.800
Design 1.5/3, Fabric 1.0/1, Sparkle 0.5/1, School Spirit 1.0/1, Uniqueness 1.0/1, Overall Appearance 1.8/3
I love everything about this leo except for the weird sparkly area on the shoulders/arms. It’s really beautiful otherwise, but that one area is too distracting for me.
Minnesota: 8.200
Photos/@GopherWGym
Elizabeth: 7.900
Design 2.2/3, Fabric 1.0/1, Sparkle 0.6/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.9/1, Overall Appearance 2.5/3
The first time I saw this design, I felt lukewarm toward the ruching. However, seeing it on the live stream changed my mind. I love how the leo looks in action; the gold undertones to the red fabric are great, and the cut is flattering.
Kalley: 9.500
Design 2.9/3, Fabric 1/1, Sparkle 0.8/1, School Spirit 1/1, Uniqueness 1/1, Overall Appearance 2.8/3
I love the color, the fabric, the ruching, the back—everything. The gold undertone with the maroon is especially flattering and eye-catching. And black VELVET on the bottom? Amazing. I think it could use a little more oomph, but this is mostly a home run for me.
Katherine: 7.000
Design 1.8/3, Fabric 1/1, Sparkle 1/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.8/1, Overall Appearance 1.7/3
I’m not a fan of the ruching at all, but I don’t have a problem with the rest of this. The back is especially beautiful, and I love the way the sparkles dance across the sheer material. I also love Minnesota’s shade of red. That said, though, the ruching is kind of a major flaw for me; it just doesn’t look very functional.
Jenna: 8.400
Design 2.5/3, Fabric 0.8/1, Sparkle 1.0/1, School Spirit 0.8/1, Uniqueness 1.0/1, Overall Appearance 2.3/3
This has grown on me since it was first teased a while back. At first I didn’t like the ruching, but I really like it now. The back is gorgeous too! But I’m probably the only one at CGN who doesn’t understand why velvet is such a big deal…
Missouri: 7.050
Photos/@MizzouGym
Elizabeth: 7.100
Design 2.0/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 0.7/1, School Spirit 0.8/1, Uniqueness 0.7/1, Overall Appearance 2.2/3
I really like this. The yellow goes really well with the gunmetal silver and black. Plus, the upward design on the front is pretty flattering, and the larger mascot logo on the back doesn’t detract from the overall design.
Kalley: 6.400
Design1.5/3, Fabric 1/1, Sparkle 0.6/1, School Spirit 1/1, Uniqueness 0.5/1, Overall Appearance 1.8/3
I’m a little torn on this one. I actually really love the colors (especially the gray), but the design on the front just isn’t doing it for me.
Katherine: 6.600
Design 1.5/3, Fabric 0.6/1, Sparkle 0.9/1, School Spirit 1/1, Uniqueness 0.8/1, Overall Appearance 1.8/3
The back is super; any Mizzou logo with the gem-encrusted tiger like that is a successful one in my book. But I really don’t like the design on the front, both on its own and with its mismatched back counterpart. The whole thing isn’t terrible, but I’m not the biggest fan.
Jenna: 8.100
Design 2.3/3, Fabric 1.0/1, Sparkle 1.0/1, School Spirit 1.0/1, Uniqueness 0.8/1, Overall Appearance 2.0/3
This leo features two of my favorite things: gunmetal and obnoxious school spirit. I’m not in love with the gold design on the front, but I don’t hate it either.
West Virginia: 6.150
Elizabeth: 6.000
Design 1.4/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 0.6/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.8/1, Overall Appearance 1.8/3
I don’t not like this, but I don’t love it either. I like how the gold stands out on top of the navy and white design. However, I think overall it’s just a touch too busy for me.
Kalley: 6.300
Design 1.3/3, Fabric 1/1, Sparkle 0.5/1, School Spirit 1/1, Uniqueness 1/1, Overall Appearance 1.5/3
There is a lot happening here—I like the use of the school colors, but the design just isn’t my cup of tea.
Katherine: 5.400
Design 0.8/3, Fabric 0.6/1, Sparkle 0.4/1, School Spirit 0.5/1, Uniqueness 1/1, Overall Appearance 1.1/3
I’m honestly surprised this design didn’t immediately rank up there with some of the most iconically bad leotards. I like that they went for a more regal look with the flowers, but that alongside the stripe pattern on the bottom is so mismatched. And the color scheme just doesn’t seem super flattering. Sorry West Virginia, but this ain’t it.
Jenna: 6.900
Design 1.5/3, Fabric 0.8/1, Sparkle 1.0/1, School Spirit 0.8/1, Uniqueness 1.0/1, Overall Appearance 1.8/3
I actually like this a lot—it’s unique, and it grabs my attention. But the main flaw in my eyes is that the gold detail is on the lighter part of the leo, which makes it clash a bit. I almost wish the leo were darker on top and lighter on the bottom to prevent this.
Arizona State: 5.975
Elizabeth: 5.800
Design 1.7/3, Fabric 0.6/1, Sparkle 0.6/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.4/1, Overall Appearance 1.7/3
Every time a team hypes up a new leo for it to turn out to be a stock design, an angel loses its wings. This leo is fine, but there are other teams with this design that I prefer to Arizona State’s color combo.
Kalley: 5.700
Design 1.5/3, Fabric 0.8/1, Sparkle 0.5/1, School Spirit 0.8/1, Uniqueness 0.3/1, Overall Appearance 1.8/3
This leo is fine, but if I’m being honest, I didn’t realize it was new? I can’t tell if it’s because it is too close to the original stock design or if it is too similar to other leos ASU has worn, but this one just fell short for me.
Katherine: 5.700
Design 1.6/3, Fabric 0.3/1, Sparkle 0.3/1, School Spirit 0.4/1, Uniqueness 0.4/1, Overall Appearance 1.7/3
I’ll echo my co-editors; as a stock design, this is pretty boring and basic. I see the trident on the sleeve, but I feel like the school spirit just isn’t here, which is weird because ASU is normally great with that. And WHERE are the sparkles?
Jenna: 6.700
Design 2.2/3, Fabric 1.0/1, Sparkle 0.5/1, School Spirit 0.8/1, Uniqueness 0.2/1, Overall Appearance 2.0/3
I’m pretty sure I created this exact design (minus the trident) for Florida State over the summer when everyone was designing leos for schools that don’t have gym teams. That being said, it’s a bit boring, though I do love the gunmetal and the gold trim.
UCLA: 5.400
Elizabeth: 5.400
Design 1.5/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 0.5/1, School Spirit 0.6/1, Uniqueness 0.5/1, Overall Appearance 1.6/3
UCLA is starting to have a similar problem to Florida where all of its leos look basically the same (except I know that atrocious gold thing is coming up, and I’m not ready). I hate the faux necklace design on this one, but the sweetheart neckline is good.
Kalley: 6.500
Design 1.5/3, Fabric 1/1, Sparkle 0.7/1, School Spirit 0.5/1, Uniqueness 0.8/1, Overall Appearance 2/3
Like a lot of UCLA leos, this doesn’t really look that different from other designs they use (navy ones, specifically). The faux necklace is a bit much for me as well. Overall this is pretty, I just wish UCLA would utilize its actual school colors more.
Katherine: 5.100
Design 1.4/3, Fabric 0.4/1, Sparkle 0.8/1, School Spirit 0.4/1, Uniqueness 0.9/1, Overall Appearance 1.2/3
When I saw bits and pieces of this, I thought I would be OBSESSED with the necklace. However, when you see it with the entire leo, it looks a little gaudy. And with the exception of the ombre sleeves, I just get old-fashioned vibes from the design (we all know how I feel about throwbacks!). This design wasn’t what I hoped it would be.
Jenna: 4.600
Design 1.5/3, Fabric 0.5/1, Sparkle 0.3/1, School Spirit 0.3/1, Uniqueness 0.8/1, Overall Appearance 1.2/3
This is another design where I like most of it except for one thing, and this time it’s the necklace design. I wouldn’t hate it so much if it weren’t drooping onto the sleeves. The roundness of the necklace design also looks odd to me right next to the sweetheart neckline. The rest of the leo is pretty but basic.
READ THIS NEXT: Leotard Rankings: Week 2
Article by Elizabeth Grimsley, Kalley Leer, Katherine Weaver and Jenna King
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