If you train pole and you are about to take your first aerial hoop or silks class, the useful thing to know up front is that almost nothing in your pole drawer is right, and it is not because polewear is low quality. It is because the two apparatus have opposite requirements. Pole is built on friction between skin and metal. Hoop and silks are built on avoiding friction between skin and equipment. Your grip shorts are doing exactly what they were designed to do, and what they were designed to do is the wrong thing on a silk.
Vertical Wise puts the inversion about as plainly as it can be put: "Unlike Pole Fitness, where the body should be exposed, Aerial Acrobatics require no contact with the skin and it is preferable to stay dressed to protect yourself from burns and bruises."
Why does aerial want you covered when pole wants you bare?
On the pole, your skin is the grip. Fabric between thigh and pole slides, so polewear is cut back to expose the contact points and built to stay put around them.
On a hoop or a silk, your skin is not the grip. On hoop, your hands, the crook of a knee and the hook of an ankle do the holding, and the rest of your body is mostly being pressed against a steel bar. On silks, the fabric wraps and locks around limbs, and it moves across skin at speed while it does. What your skin gets out of that contact is friction burn and bruising, not grip, which is why the sport that looks more exposed is the one that dresses down and the sport that looks more covered is the one that dresses up.
The same studio will often say both things on the same page. AK Pole Studio's policy lists Pole Tricks as "sports bra, shorts, no shoes" and aerial classes as "leggings and long sleeves." Those are not two different dress codes for two different vibes. They are two correct answers to two different physics problems.
Which body parts actually need covering?
The list is more specific than "wear leggings," and it is worth knowing which parts matter so you can judge your own wardrobe rather than buying blind.
Backs of the knees. This is the one that surprises pole dancers most, because on the pole the back of the knee is a grip point you want bare. On silks it is a burn point. The writer behind Agent Athletica says she never wears shorts for silks because of "the possibility of friction and burn on the backs of your knees with many skills and tricks," and recommends longer inseams that reach past the calf muscle.
Armpits and the sides of the torso. Also from Agent Athletica: "Some tricks will get the fabric right under your arms, leading to some serious friction. Fabric burns under your arms do not feel good, friends!" A sports bra or a tank that leaves the underarm open is fine on a pole and exposed on a silk.
The back and lower back. Vertical Wise flags the back as "a common spot for friction" on silks and advises covering it, and gives the same instruction for hoop, where the back presses into the bar.
Knees, for hoop specifically. Vertical Wise recommends "Long leggings that extend to the knee or leg warmers" for hoop, where the knee hooks over steel rather than sliding along fabric.
The neckline. Agent Athletica makes the point that a low-cut top that behaves perfectly upright becomes a distraction the moment you are fully inverted, which in aerial is most of the class.
What about the ankles and feet?
This is the one place where aerial asks for less coverage rather than more. Vertical Wise advises keeping your ankles free for grip on silks, and notes that socks make things harder for beginners. Foot and ankle hooks are a real grip mechanism on fabric, so a legging that ends at the ankle is right and one that stirrups under the foot is working against you.
If you are coming from pole, this is the only part of the aerial dress code that will feel familiar: bare where the lock happens, covered everywhere else.
Does polewear fabric work on silks?
Mostly not, and for a reason worth understanding rather than memorizing. Aerial wants a fabric with some tooth to it, because the silk needs to hold position against your leg instead of sliding along it. Agent Athletica describes cotton-like materials and knit textures as grippy enough, and warns against slick technical fabrics, naming Lux, Fullux and Nulux as the kind of finish that becomes "your arch nemesis" as skills progress. Vertical Wise makes the same call for hoop, preferring cotton and warning that "silk and synthetic ones will cause slipperiness."
A lot of polewear is built from smooth technical knits, because on a pole the fabric's job is to stay out of the way and not abrade. On a silk that same smooth face is the problem. If you are raiding your own drawer, the test is simple and tactile: run the fabric between your fingers. If it feels slippery against itself, the silk will slide on it too.
What has to come off before you get on the apparatus?
The hard rule in aerial that has no equivalent in pole is metal. Vertical Wise's instruction is to "Select clothing without metal parts e.g. zips or belts, as it may cause damage to your equipment," and Agent Athletica gives the same warning from the dancer's side: "Avoid any kind of zipper or other decoration that could snag on the fabric."
Both halves of that matter. A zip pull can snag a silk and tear it, which is an expensive piece of equipment and a safety issue for whoever is on it next. It can also catch on you. The same goes for rings, bracelets, watches, belts, and anything riveted or studded. If you have a pair of pole shorts with hardware on the waistband or decorative garter clips, those are pole-only garments.
So what do you actually buy?
For a first hoop or silks class, the honest shopping list is short. Fitted full-length leggings in a knit with some grip to it, ending at the ankle. A fitted top with sleeves, or at minimum full underarm coverage, that will not ride up when you invert. No metal anywhere. A pair of leg warmers is a useful addition for hoop, doubling as knee protection and as something you can move.
What carries over from your pole drawer is less than you would hope: a high-waisted fitted legging, if you own one in the right fabric, and any top that was already built to stay down when you are upside down. What does not carry over is everything cut to expose skin, which is most of the good stuff.
It is worth saying plainly that this is a wardrobe problem rather than a skill problem. Cross-training between pole and aerial is common and the crossover in technique is real. The crossover in clothing is close to zero, and that surprises people mostly because nobody warns them first.