Leotard Rankings: Week 2

It’s NCAA gymnastics season, and the leotards are as sparkly as ever. With new designs come your favorite series: Leotard Rankings! Each week we’re analyzing leotard debuts to find our weekly faves. 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 Claire, Izzi and Katherine are joining editor in chief Elizabeth to help judge. Don’t agree with our ranking? Let us know your thoughts on this week’s leos in the comments or on social media!

And don’t forget to vote in the poll at the end of the article each week. We’ll be tabulating all the votes to find the overall fan favorite design at the conclusion of the 2022 season!

Utah State: 9.575

View a video of this leotard on Instagram.

Elizabeth: 9.700

Design 2.9/3, Fabric 1.0/1, Sparkle 0.9/1, School Spirit 1.0/1, Uniqueness 1.0/1, Overall Appearance 2.9/3

I’m obsessed with everything about this design. It matches the arena seats. If that’s not cool and innovative, I don’t know what is. The colors are SO retro, and I love the design. My only gripe, and it’s a small one, is “Spectrum Magic” on the chest, but I get it.

Claire: 9.800

Design 3/3, Fabric 1/1, Sparkle 0.8/1, School Spirit 1/1, Uniqueness 1/1, Overall Appearance 3/3

I love everything about this: It’s retro. It’s athletic. It’s unique. This is the leo I will be judging all other 2022 leos by. 

Izzi: 9.800

Design 3/3, Fabric 1/1, Sparkle 0.8/1, School Spirit 1/1, Uniqueness 1/1, Overall Appearance 3/3

This leo is unbelievably good. Matching the arena? Brilliant. Asymmetrical arm design? Superb. Where do I buy one?

Katherine: 9.000

Design 2.8/3, Fabric 1.0/1, Sparkle 0.5/1, School Spirit 1.0/1, Uniqueness 1.0/1, Overall Appearance 2.7/3

This is just awesome. It manages to capture a vintage vibe while still looking fresh and unique, due in large part to the colors, which appear on literally no other leos. It’s completely unexpected and fun.

George Washington: 8.075

View a video of this leotard on Instagram.

Elizabeth: 8.100

Design 2.5/3, Fabric 0.8/1, Sparkle 0.8/1, School Spirit 0.8/1, Uniqueness 0.8/1, Overall Appearance 2.4/3

This is one of George Washington’s best leos. The gold and navy looks great together, and I even love the mesh belt with the rhinestone design on it. I don’t love the inverted neckline, but it almost works here, so I’m willing to forgive it.

Claire: 8.000

Design 2.7/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 0.7/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.5/1, Overall Appearance 2.7/3

This leo is by no means revolutionary, but there’s also nothing to dislike: The colors pop, the fabrics contrast nicely and the crystal designs are fantastic! 

Izzi: 9.000

Design 2.8/3, Fabric 1/1, Sparkle 1/1, School Spirit 0.8/1, Uniqueness 0.6/1, Overall Appearance 2.8/3

I really like this design, especially how all the lines come together on the back. The rhinestone detail on the sleeves feels unique and adds to the design’s elegance. There’s nothing revolutionary, but I think this design is one of the better versions of a sparkle belt I’ve seen.

Katherine: 7.200

Design 2.2/3, Fabric 0.6/1, Sparkle 0.6/1, School Spirit 1/1, Uniqueness 0.4/1, Overall Appearance 2.4/3

This is perfectly fine. The design is nothing unique or special, but it’s an objectively nice design with no obvious issues. I really like the design on the mesh belt.

Nebraska: 7.950

View a video of this leotard on Twitter.

Elizabeth: 7.900

Design 2.4/3, Fabric 0.8/1, Sparkle 0.8/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.8/1, Overall Appearance 2.4/3

I really love this. When we saw a sneak peak, I said in Slack that I hoped it would be black body with a silver and red rhinestone design. I got my wish. However, the circles just remind me of crop circles. I think I would have preferred a slightly different design for that, but overall it’s a good one.

Claire: 8.400

Design 2.7/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 1/1, School Spirit 0.5/1, Uniqueness 1/1, Overall Appearance 2.5/3

I can’t think of a better way to put this: This leo is just cool. The elaborate crystal design works because the rest of the design is so understated. 

Izzi: 8.100

Design 2.2/3, Fabric 0.8/1, Sparkle 1/1, School Spirit 0.5/1, Uniqueness 0.7/1, Overall Appearance 2.2/3

I usually love leos with this kind of intricate sparkle design, but this misses the mark for me. The circles are too big of a shape for that kind of delicate pattern. They did do an excellent job keeping the leo simple by containing this pattern—not something Nebraska usually excels at. 

Katherine: 7.400

Design 2.2/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 0.8/1, School Spirit 0.6/1, Uniqueness 0.8/1, Overall Appearance 2.3/3

I would love this if the design didn’t abruptly stop. It’s so busy that I feel like the designer should have gone all in and made it the entire front. But I do really like the design.

Arizona State: 7.825

View more images of this leotard here and a video of it here.

Elizabeth: 6.900

Design 1.8/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 0.7/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.8/1, Overall Appearance 2.2/3

This is so close to being great, but the red collar just seems so out of place. I wish red was incorporated more on the body to make it fit in a little better, maybe incorporating some red rhinestones in with the silver ones on the body? The pointy sweetheart V front and strappy back are excellent, though.

Claire: 7.800

Design 1.7/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 0.7/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.7/1, Overall Appearance 2.3/3

I’ll never be mad about a basic black leo, and that gold piping is to die for! Echoing Elizabeth, I wish there was a little more red incorporated. 

Izzi: 8.800

Design 2.8/3, Fabric 1/1, Sparkle 1/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.7/1, Overall Appearance 2.6/3

I usually hate these faux deep necklines, but something about the gold and black combo makes me love this one. The red collar doesn’t bother me too much, but only because of the excellence of the rest of the leo. Something else on the leo needs to be red to tie it together. 

Katherine: 7.800

Design 2.5/3, Fabric 0.6/1, Sparkle 0.7/1, School Spirit 0.4/1, Uniqueness 0.4/1, Overall Appearance 2.2/3

I don’t hate the red collar as much as I’d have expected. Overall, the design is fine. It just feels like too much of a departure from Arizona State’s MO; that doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but I think this is a bit too unusual to give school spirit marks.

Florida: 7.750

View more images and a video of this leotard on Instagram.

Elizabeth: 8.000

Design 2.3/3, Fabric 1.0/1, Sparkle 0.7/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.9/1, Overall Appearance 2.4/3

I’m wrestling with the school spirit category on this one. Obvious high marks for using a literal alligator scale pattern on the fabric, but there’s also no Florida, F, Gators, gator head or even blue or orange—nothing Florida on it besides the pattern and the Bailey ribbon. It’s a nice design and looked great on TV, as well as all the gymnasts, though.

Claire: 7.700

Design 2.5/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 0.5/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 1/1, Overall Appearance 2.3/3

I love when leos play with texture, and the gator skin pattern is an excellent touch. This looks a bit one-note in the pictures, but was great in action (especially the contrast of mesh and racing stripes on the sleeves). 

Izzi: 8.900

Design 2.5/3, Fabric 1/1, Sparkle 0.9/1, School Spirit 0.8/1, Uniqueness 1/1, Overall Appearance 2.7/3

This is how you do an intricate sparkle-only pattern. I’m obsessed with the gator scales—what a unique way to bring in the school spirit on an all-black leo! I think orange or blue rhinestones would make this even better and add more school spirit because as others have said, the black high neck design is getting boring.

Katherine: 6.400

Design 2.1/3, Fabric 0.8/1, Sparkle 0.5/1, School Spirit 0.4/1, Uniqueness 0.4/1, Overall Appearance 2.2/3

While the gator scales on the back are certainly a (*cries in FSU Seminole*) unique touch, it doesn’t redeem the fact that the rest of the design is more of the same. I feel like we’ve seen the black high neck design a million times from them before, so this yet another “meh” Florida leo for me.

Iowa: 7.225

View the images of this leotard on Twitter.

Elizabeth: 7.700

Design 2.3/3, Fabric 0.8/1, Sparkle 0.8/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.7/1, Overall Appearance 2.4/3

This is great. Our managing editor Emily M hates the seams mesh makes, and this design does a good job skirting that problem. I like the black, and apparently it’s VERY sparkly in person. The arms are a little candy cane for me, but overall it’s a good leo.

Claire: 6.500

Design 2/3, Fabric 0.5/1, Sparkle 0.7/1, School Spirit 0.5/1, Uniqueness 0.5/1, Overall Appearance 2.3/3

No one does a basic black leo better than Iowa, and this one’s no exception. Very pretty, if not particularly unique. It does lose tenths from me for the sternum peephole, though. 

Izzi: 8.400

Design 2.4/3, Fabric 1/1, Sparkle 1/1, School Spirit 0.5/1, Uniqueness 0.8/1, Overall Appearance 2.7/3

I wish this didn’t have a chest cutout, but it’s pretty perfect besides that. Most of Iowa’s designs seem like tasteful figure skating costumes, and this fits right in. The sleeve design is unique and sophisticated. I also appreciate that the neckline isn’t so high it looks like a dog collar. 

Katherine: 6.300

Design1.7/3, Fabric 0.5/1, Sparkle1.0/1, School Spirit 0.5/1, Uniqueness 0.4/1, Overall Appearance 2.2/3

I’m not a fan of the big diamond-shaped hole in the front, especially in relation to the holes on the shoulders. But the gratuitous sparkles make up for the structural issues.

Kentucky: 7.100

View more images of this leotard on Twitter.

Elizabeth: 7.400

Design 2.2/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 0.8/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.7/1, Overall Appearance 2.3/3

I like this a lot. Normally I’m not as much of a fan of single-color leos, but it works here. I like how the design is made from sparkles, and the cut is flattering, too.

Claire: 8.200

Design 2.3/3, Fabric 1/1, Sparkle 1/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.7/1, Overall Appearance 2.5/3

I’m not and never will be a fan of sternum shields/cutouts/etc., but the rest of the leo is so good I’m willing to overlook it. I especially like the variety of crystals used.

Izzi: 5.800

Design 2/3, Fabric 0.8/1, Sparkle 1/1, School Spirit 0.5/1, Uniqueness 0/1, Overall Appearance 1.5/3

This feels like the definition of “fine” for me. There’s nothing offensive, but nothing that I really love either. I can’t think of anything interesting to say about it. 

Katherine: 7.000

Design 2.3/3, Fabric 0.6/1, Sparkle 1.0/1, School Spirit 0.5/1, Uniqueness 0.4/1, Overall Appearance 2.2/3

This isn’t terribly unique, but it’s a nice design. I also like that it’s made up entirely of sparkles; the diamond shape in the front is pretty.

Utah: 6.800

View more images of this leotard on Twitter here and here.

Elizabeth: 6.100

Design 1.7/3, Fabric 0.5/1, Sparkle 0.7/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.7/1, Overall Appearance 1.8/3

I wanted this to be good, but the nude doesn’t work for me. Maybe I’m just used to Iowa, who does a good job with the shade of nude used for white and Black skin tones, or maybe GK’s two nude options doesn’t work as well with the Utah gymnast’s, but it looked off here? I wish the mesh had just been black for everyone. I’m also never really a fan of script fonts on leotards—it looks out of place. I love the front design, though.

Claire: 7.000

Design 2.3/3, Fabric 0.5/1, Sparkle 1/1, School Spirit 0.5/1, Uniqueness 0.7/1, Overall Appearance 2/3

The lighter mesh is really throwing me off, but the darker mesh version is gorgeous and provides the perfect contrast to make the crystals pop. 

Izzi: 6.000

Design 2/3, Fabric 0/1, Sparkle 1/1, School Spirit 0.6/1, Uniqueness 0.7/1, Overall Appearance 1.7/3

The nude really ruins this one for me—I think it would have looked much better with simple white or black mesh. The pearls/necklace design actually kind of works here, though I didn’t expect to like it. Overall, kind of “meh” for me.

Katherine: 8.100

Design 2.6/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 1.0/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.5/1, Overall Appearance 2.6/3

I actually love the “nude” shade, not to match a skin tone but because I just like the creamy color. It looks great with the beautiful shade of red, and I love the sparkles. This is honestly one of my favorite leos of the season so far.

Arkansas: 6.375

View a video of this leotard on Twitter.

Elizabeth: 7.100

Design 2.0/3, Fabric 0.8/1, Sparkle 0.7/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.9/1, Overall Appearance 2.0/3

I’m not normally a fan of white leos. This one is OK, but it’s not amazing by any means. I do love the shade of red used, though, and the open back. I think I would have liked this better as a majority-red leotard, though.

Claire: 5.400

Design 1.3/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 0.7/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.5/1, Overall Appearance 1.5/3

It took me two rotations to decide whether or not this was the soup spoon leo. It’s fine but forgettable. 

Izzi: 8.500

Design 2.2/3, Fabric 1/1, Sparkle 1/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.9/1, Overall Appearance 2.7/3

I actually really like this leo, but I had to take off a tenth for uniqueness because, as Claire noted, it’s almost the same as the soup spoon one. I love the matte white, and I like the simple open back. It’s nothing revolutionary, but it feels fresh compared to most shiny SEC leos. I thought it looked good on everyone.

Katherine: 4.500

Design 1.4/3, Fabric 0.3/1, Sparkle 0.5/1, School Spirit 0.3/1, Uniqueness 0.4/1, Overall Appearance 1.6/3

I don’t really like this; the fabric looks a little old fashioned. I would have liked to see some more sheer fabric and sparkles to make it more flashy.

Western Michigan: 6.275

View the image of this leotard on Instagram.

Elizabeth: 7.100

Design 2.1/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 0.7/1, School Spirit 0.6/1, Uniqueness 0.6/1, Overall Appearance 2.4/3

See my comments on Washington’s design, but this is another good one. I’ll even give it slightly more unique points because the shade of that bronzey gold on the chest is fantastic and unusual. Western Michigan has hard colors to work with, but this leo came out fantastic.

Claire: 5.500

Design 1.5/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 0.5/1, School Spirit 0.5/1, Uniqueness 0.3/1, Overall Appearance 2/3

Again, not my favorite stock design, but they’ve done a good job with it. The Broncos’ color palette is not the friendliest, but the bronzy shade they chose is lovely! 

Izzi: 5.000

Design 1.2/3, Fabric 0.6/1, Sparkle 0.6/1, School Spirit 0.8/1, Uniqueness 0/1, Overall Appearance 1.8/3

Sorry folks, this stock design is taken. There’s just no way to beat Michigan on this. Everything that I said about Washington applies here as well, but this one gets a slightly higher score because this sparkle design is better than Washington’s chest streaks.

Katherine: 7.500

Design 2.2/3, Fabric 1.0/1, Sparkle 0.6/1, School Spirit 0.5/1, Uniqueness 0.8/1, Overall Appearance 2.4/3

This is really beautiful. I much prefer this shade of gold to some of the others we’ve seen, and it looks nice against the transparent mesh. All the pieces fit very well together. My one complaint is the belly button hole, which looks a little out of place.

Oregon State: 6.050

View a video of this leotard on Twitter.

Elizabeth: 5.500

Design 1.5/3, Fabric 0.8/1, Sparkle 0.4/1, School Spirit 0.6/1, Uniqueness 0.5/1, Overall Appearance 1.7/3

I’m not a fan of the faux-necklace look, but the sleeves on this design are to-die-for. I’m obsessed with the shade of orange. Oregon State always does a good job of doing orange and black without making it look like Halloween. This does look a lot like Bowling Green’s latest leo, so I have to deduct some points for uniqueness.

Claire: 5.700

Design 1.5/3, Fabric 1/1, Sparkle 0.5/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.3/1, Overall Appearance 1.7/3

Like Arkansas’ leo, it took a while to register that this is a new design. It’s fine, but—aside from the gorgeous sleeves—not a standout. 

Izzi: 5.300

Design 1.2/3, Fabric 0/1, Sparkle 1/1, School Spirit 0.6/1, Uniqueness 0.7/1, Overall Appearance 1.8/3

I think I could get behind the faux necklace if we couldn’t see the seams on the shoulder. The lines of the necklace completely clash with the seams, which kind of ruins the design for me. The orange is nice, but I really can’t see much besides those seams. 

Katherine: 7.700

Design 2.6/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 0.7/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.5/1, Overall Appearance 2.5/3

I love this. The necklace design is busy but really glamorous. As much as I’m tempted to say I wish there was more going on with the body, I think the plain black still works with how much is happening up top. I’m also a sucker for orange ombre sleeves.

Washington: 5.550

View a video of this leotard on Twitter.

Elizabeth: 6.900

Design 2.1/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 0.7/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.5/1, Overall Appearance 2.2/3

I normally hate when lots of schools have leos using the same stock design (two teams in this very ranking use this design), but I haven’t gotten tired of this one yet, which is odd because there’s a literal belly button hole. Anyway, I like the purple used here and of course the ombre. Obviously it’s not super unique, but the rest works and bonus points for already being better than 90% of existing Washington leos.

Claire: 5.900

Design 1.5/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 0.7/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.3/1, Overall Appearance 2/3

Full disclosure, this is not my favorite stock design… That said, the color and fabric combinations work really nicely together. The back is actually pretty great! 

Izzi: 4.000

Design 1.2/3, Fabric 0.3/1, Sparkle 0.2/1, School Spirit 0.8/1, Uniqueness 0/1, Overall Appearance 1.5/3

There’s just no way to do this stock leo without being compared to Michigan’s version—and Michigan will win every time. Without the extra sparkles, the belly button cutout is way too prominent, which somehow makes it feel like they’re trying to emulate a mermaid bikini top. My advice to other teams is to stop trying with this design.

Katherine: 5.400

Design 2.0/3, Fabric 0.3/1, Sparkle 0.2/1, School Spirit 0.5/1, Uniqueness 0.4/1, Overall Appearance 2.0/3

This is kind of boring, but there’s nothing awful about it. It needs more sparkles on the front, maybe around the W instead of there being spider streaks. As a redemptive quality, at least there are pretty ombre sleeves.

Arizona: 5.000

View more images of this leotard on Instagram.

Elizabeth: 5.500

Design 1.5/3, Fabric 0.6/1, Sparkle 0.6/1, School Spirit 0.6/1, Uniqueness 0.7/1, Overall Appearance 1.5/3

I want to like this, but I just sort of don’t. I’m not a fan of lace in general, and the faux lace here doesn’t work. I sort of wish the front was plain white to blue ombre with the red bottom. I like the back, though!

Claire: 5.400

Design 1.5/3, Fabric 0.5/1, Sparkle 0.7/1, School Spirit 0.5/1, Uniqueness  0.7/1, Overall Appearance 1.5/3

There are a lot of individual elements that I like—especially the sleeves—but the combination is pretty overwhelming.  Nothing stands out because everything stands out. 

Izzi: 4.500

Design 0.8/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 1/1, School Spirit 0.5/1, Uniqueness 0.5/1, Overall Appearance 1/3

There is way too much going on here. If they had broken this into four different leos, I probably would have loved it. 

Katherine: 4.600

Design 1.3/3, Fabric 0.4/1, Sparkle 0.5/1, School Spirit 0.4/1, Uniqueness 0.6/1, Overall Appearance 1.4/3

The faux lace just looks completely out of place here; maybe if it was white it would be okay, but the navy doesn’t seem to fit. It’s something about the lacey edges in comparison to the pointy design in the middle. I agree with Claire that there’s just too much going on.

UC Davis: 4.875

Elizabeth: 4.000

Design 0.5/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 0.7/1, School Spirit 0.6/1, Uniqueness 0.9/1, Overall Appearance 0.6/3

UC Davis ruined a perfectly good leo design by adding a weird tie to the front of the design. If I had to caption this leo, it would say, “When you have a boardroom meeting at 6 and a meet at 8.” The back is nice, and the design without the tie is good, but the tie ruins the whole thing.

Claire: 5.500

Design 1.3/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 0.7/1, School Spirit 0.5/1, Uniqueness 1/1, Overall Appearance 1.3/3

This is frustrating because it’s so close to being really good! The neckline just distracts from everything that is good about the design. Full marks for uniqueness, though. 

Izzi: 4.000

Design 0.8/3, Fabric 0.8/1, Sparkle 0.8/1, School Spirit 0.7/1, Uniqueness 0.7/1, Overall Appearance 0.9/3

This honestly looks like a prank leo to me. The tie is absolutely horrible. It does seem like the leo would be really pretty without it. I salute their attempt at a unique design, but I think they should stick to their usual simple, elegant leos.

Katherine: 6.000

Design 1.5/3, Fabric 0.7/1, Sparkle 0.8/1, School Spirit 0.5/1, Uniqueness 0.8/1, Overall Appearance 1.7/3

Also not a fan of the tie, but I don’t think it absolutely tanks the design. The sparkle pattern on the body is too beautiful for that, even if the tie sort of breaks it up. The diamond pattern on the wrists is also quite pretty.

Fan Poll

Congrats to Towson for winning the week one fan poll! Vote for your favorite week two design here.

READ THIS NEXT: Leotard Rankings: Week 1

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Article by Elizabeth Grimsley, Claire Billman, Isabel Baskin and Katherine Weaver

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