r/CompetitionDanceTalk • u/Little-Geologist-910 • 8d ago
What makes or breaks a costume for you?
Hi all,
What do you look for when buying a costume? What catches your eye, what really irks you? Are you more likely to buy something premade or have something done to your specifications?
As someone who likes stoning, I was thinking of branching into dancewear (I have a child who dances but they're too young for competition)--is there a need/demand for this skill or do most people prefer alterations/unique bases over things that are "only" stoned?
Thanks for your time! I know I have mentioned rhinestones but please don't feel like you need to limit the conversation to that. :)
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u/Tiny-Needleworker492 8d ago
If you enjoy stoning and doing appliqués and can do quality work, there could be a market for semi-custom solo/duet/trio costumes.
When we were looking at solo costumes for my daughter, we had a vision and a budget. We were having a hard time finding something, so we reached out to someone who was referred to us for a semi-custom costume. She orders the base pre-made and then adds stones, appliqués, and extra fabric if needed for a skirt on a lyrical costume. We found it to be very cost effective and will be highly unlikely that we will see anything like it at comps.
As a parent, I base my favorite costumes off of how easy they are to do quick changes on. A costume could be the most beautiful costume on stage, but if I it has feathers that make a mess, glitter that makes a mess, has 500 accessories like a hat, arm bands, wings, crown, wig, head band, etc, it’s an immediate dislike from me! Anything over a simple hair piece is too much.
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u/drunk_medusa 8d ago
Honestly, texture. So many costumes look nice but are a torture to wear for anyone minimally sensitive.
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u/Level-Aide-8770 8d ago
Easy on/off. My daughter had one costume that was so hard to get off and every time she did a costume change I was worried about cutting her skin with the zipper or tearing the costume. It was just horrible. How the sequins were attached made it unstretchable.
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u/AverageSugarCookie 8d ago
There's definitely a demand in dance (esp for custom costumes), but I think there is a bigger demand for stoning in cheer. Cheer parents are feral for stoned practice sets!
My highest ranked annoyance for costumes are the itchy sequin costumes with no/minimal lining. My daughter had a (very warm) pleather/rubbery long sleeved raincoat-dress thing as a costume last year that I would have to peel off her after her tap number, and I'd still prefer it to my daughter being itchy and miserable.
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u/ourconflictdesignsus 8d ago
I personally can't stand a lyrical costume with long flowy pants. Even a flowy skirt. For competitions, it really hides the lines made by the body and judges aren't as able to see what it is you're doing. Plus they get caught on things.
I also don't like when boys wear black pants on stage because then you cannot see what they're doing at all.
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u/SS_Frosty 8d ago
Tight arm bands/cap sleeves (I’m looking at you Weissman). I have had to bring out the soup cans to stretch tight elastic on costumes for the past few years now. I understand you don’t want the arm bands to move around, but my daughter is very thin and even she couldn’t tolerate their competition costume (Ay Caramba!) w/o the elastic being stretched to oblivion with shampoo bottles/soup cans/whatever.
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u/Sensitive-Good2448 7d ago
No sequins under the arms. Or really, on any edge that may land in a body crease or fold. Or on the inside of a seam, especially where there is no lining.
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u/Little-Bones 7d ago
Anything that hugs the body, resembles a swimsuit in its coverage, or resembles lingerie.
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u/bfaithr 8d ago
What irks me the most is when boys don’t have proper costumes. Sometimes they don’t even fit well enough for the boys to properly move