A Beginner’s Guide to Pole Wear: For Queer People

Images courtesy of the Museum of Latin American Art. Frida with Olmeca Figurine, Coyoacán by Nickolas Muray (1939)

Kahlo’s extraordinary explorations in self-portraiture are testament to the fact that, in real life and on canvas, Kahlo considered her image on precisely her own terms, celebrating her features – her Mexican identity, upper lip hair and that striking unibrow. “I am my own muse. The subject I know best. The subject I want to know better,” she famously declared.[1]

Pole wear comes in a variety of styles, from sports bras to crop tops, tank tops and even swimwear.[2]Like pole dance shorts, they are usually made of stretchy material, which allows for optimal grip, easy movement and maximum comfort during your performance.

It is often said that the more advanced you become, the less you wear. This may be true because as you progress, you often require more skin on the pole for optimal grip in the hip, back and even shoulders.

My pro tip for pole wear is that when learning inverts in high waist pole bottoms, please encourage students to roll down the waistband of their bottoms so that they can grip the pole with the skin on the hip. The hip is a critical grip point that needs to be conditioned and students often struggle with inverts because their high waist bottoms interfere with their hip grip point.

Dance Belts

Dance belts can be particularly useful for dancers struggling with contact between their groins and the pole, or queer people trying to manage feelings of gender dysphoria.

Commonly worn by ballet dancers, dance belts lift, support and pad the groin, smoothing the appearance or bulging of the crotch, and cushioning the groin in case of contact with the pole.

I have personally worn dance belts for many years, as they offer options with support, soft padding for comfort, thin waistbands, and are fitted with a thong strap in the back with minimal visibility under pole wear.

Quality suppliers of dance belts include:

i. Bloch

ii. Capezio

Gaffs

A gaff is a piece of fabric commonly used by trans women, and non-binary people to reduce the appearance of bulging in the groin. Some trans women prefer gaffs to dance belts because they are more thinly padded and have a wider seat in the crotch.

Gaff & Go is a well-known supplier of quality gaffs.

Sexual Health Nova Scotia offer a useful guide on gaff care, how safely tuck and wear your gaff.

“T” is for Tucking Tape

Pole dancers often encounter bottoms that are beautifully styled but offer suboptimal coverage. To manage the risk of exposure when performing, some dancers will use flesh coloured single or double-sided adhesive body tape to tuck and cover the groin.

It is important tuck carefully, and we should not keep body tape on for longer than is strictly required.

Unclockable, Jumia and Amazon offer reliable options.

Chest Binders

A binder is a piece of compression clothing that flattens your chest down. Binders can come in a half-length (crop top style) or full-length (tank top style). The style you choose depends on your own preference and comfort.

High compression sports bras and kinesiology tape can also be used for binding.

Spectrum Outfitters, Jumia and Amazon offer reliable options.

Pasties

Many dancers are comfortable dancing bare chested. For those who prefer some nipple coverage or enhancement, there are nipple tassels, adhesive nipple covers and pasties to suit your recreational and performance needs. Jumia (KE) and PoleJunkie(UK) offer reliable options. 

[1] “Why Frida Kahlo’s unibrow is important” < https://www.net-a-porter.com/porter/article-633ccbb7977517f1>

[2] Swimwear is versatile and suitable for pole dance because it offers optimal skin exposure and is double-lined.