Girl's guide to Latin practice skirts

[Twilight_Elena]

I've searched and searched and searched. And I can't seem to find a nice, black, knee-length skirt for practice that is logically priced. I've seen adorable skirts at DSI's site, but I won't and can't pay 120$ for a skirt.
Soooo. Apart from looking around and finding a nice street skirt I can use (which I've done, with no results), can anyone suggest an online site that has what I want?

T_E

[tanya_the_dancer]

I've searched and searched and searched. And I can't seem to find a nice, black, knee-length skirt for practice that is logically priced. I've seen adorable skirts at DSI's site, but I won't and can't pay 120$ for a skirt.
Soooo. Apart from looking around and finding a nice street skirt I can use (which I've done, with no results), can anyone suggest an online site that has what I want?

T_E

I bought a couple of skirts from rainbow. They were reasonably priced (~$40) and work well.

[Laura]

I've seen some nice ones advertised by one of the ballet companies, it's either Danskin or Capezio. They've started to make a line of ballroom practice wear. I don't know if it's available outside of North America, though.

[latingal]

The main brands that have made latin skirts that work for me are; danskin, capezio, body wrappers and so danca. So danca is the hardest to find, but I like the material and fit of their skirts. Here are a couple of links:

Danskin: http://www.danskin.com/skirts-dance.html
Capezio: http://www.discountdance.com/index.php (in the skirt section)
So Danca: http://www.sfdancewear.com/items.php?Category_ID=143&Order_By=Manufacture

Good luck...latin skirts are not the easiest items to find at a decent price!

[Anna]

Capezio makes one for about $25 so I'm thinking of ordering one. How do the Capezio skirts work?

[danceislove]

i have the danskin "salsa" skirt and i adore it! it is my favvvvvorite practice skirt ever. it makes you feel sexy :raisebro:

[Twilight_Elena]

Danskin Salsa skirt looks nice. And the price is very good. It's by far the cheapest, plus it's on sale right now! Just 25$ plus shipping.
@danceislove: Is it stretchy? I'm thinking about sizes. I'm afraid large might be too big, but if medium isn't stretchy then it won't fit.

T_E

[JANATHOME]

Have you tried BackBayDancewear?
I always buy my shoes from them, never have purchased a skirt. I did buy a standard/smooth practice skirt from Rainbow that I like a lot.

[Twilight_Elena]

Have you tried BackBayDancewear?
I always buy my shoes from them, never have purchased a skirt. I did buy a standard/smooth practice skirt from Rainbow that I like a lot.

BackBay doesn't seem to have ballroom or latin skirts. And didn't Tanya mention Rainbow's skirts? She said they're priced around 40$, which is a relatively good price. But I think Danskin's deal is better. I'll keep Rainbow in mind.
The things we do for a skirt.

T_E

[tanya_the_dancer]

BackBay doesn't seem to have ballroom or latin skirts. And didn't Tanya mention Rainbow's skirts? She said they're priced around 40$, which is a relatively good price. But I think Danskin's deal is better. I'll keep Rainbow in mind.
The things we do for a skirt.

T_E

btw, I think that $40 included s/h from China.

[Twilight_Elena]

btw, I think that $40 included s/h from China.

Eh. Even so. To tell you the truth, I've been to rainbowshiu's store (both the e-bay one and her own site) and I'm not really fond of her skirt designs, even though there are tons of them.

T_E

[Laura]

BackBay doesn't seem to have ballroom or latin skirts.
I just found a whole page on Back Bay Dancewear's web site that has stuff that can be worn for ballroom practice. Plus, they have a whole ballroom catalog (downloadable PDF). Try this for the skirts page:

http://site.mawebcenters.com/backbaydancewear/catalog_c36537.html
Unfortunately, they don't have pictures of the Capezio ballroom/latin skirts that they are selling. However, if you go to Back Bay Dancewear's home page and download the PDF of their ballroom catalog, you can find pictures of the Capezio skirts there. There's definitely a couple of knee-length swingy Latin skirt by Capezio on page 37: Capezio #7423 and #7425.

[mamboqueen]

Haven't read the full thread.

I am probably due for a trip to Back Bay Dancewear soon (and Larinda now lives only a handful of exits from the place herself), so if anyone wants to know what something is like IRL, let me know. Happy to help out.

[danceislove]

Danskin Salsa skirt looks nice. And the price is very good. It's by far the cheapest, plus it's on sale right now! Just 25$ plus shipping.
@danceislove: Is it stretchy? I'm thinking about sizes. I'm afraid large might be too big, but if medium isn't stretchy then it won't fit.

T_E


Oh TE! Its the best skirt ever! I promise! :D
It is very stretchy. When I tried it on at the store the only size they had was a small (I am NOT a small) and it fit, not great but it fit. You could see my panty lines, so I ordered a large. The large will end up being roomy pretty soon as I keep loosing weight. There really is not a big difference in the widths of the skirts (I held up s, m, and l together), the big difference is that the larger the size, the longer the skirt. I just hike my large up high enough so its short enough for my tastes :raisebro: hahah! I am a size 12 (however large would accomodate much more!) and definitely don't have a flat backside , so you can figure how that compares to you and figure out what size you need.


I am thinking about buying a sewing machine and start making skirts. I mean good lord they cannot be that complicated?!?? Any thoughts?

Good luck!
Molly

[Twilight_Elena]

Oh TE! Its the best skirt ever! I promise! :D
It is very stretchy. When I tried it on at the store the only size they had was a small (I am NOT a small) and it fit, not great but it fit. You could see my panty lines, so I ordered a large. The large will end up being roomy pretty soon as I keep loosing weight. There really is not a big difference in the widths of the skirts (I held up s, m, and l together), the big difference is that the larger the size, the longer the skirt. I just hike my large up high enough so its short enough for my tastes :raisebro: hahah! I am a size 12 (however large would accomodate much more!) and definitely don't have a flat backside , so you can figure how that compares to you and figure out what size you need.

I think that's all the info I was looking for. Thank you SO much. :D

T_E

[yanka]

I would get something with built-in shorts/panties. Makes getting dressed for practice that much easier.

[Dancebug]

I am thinking about buying a sewing machine and start making skirts. I mean good lord they cannot be that complicated?!?? Any thoughts?


Making a practice skirt is not hard at all. I practiced my sewing skills by making couple of practice skirts for Latin and standard both. Actually I should say I learned how to sew while I was making practice skirts. A lot of people at our studio ask me to make skirts for them. I am still a chicken when it comes to making something for other people, though.

[Twilight_Elena]

I would get something with built-in shorts/panties. Makes getting dressed for practice that much easier.

Well, I'm thinking of getting a pair of these capri tights, which I want anyway for other, shorter skirts and long blouses: http://www.danskin.com/nycb-tights-605.html

Anybody got any experience with these? They look really nice, almost like street tights. They must be good, they're for the NYCB!
Opening up a thread about those tights at General Discussion as well.

T_E

[mamboqueen]

Too close to leggings for me.

Here's the skirt I have from that site:

http://www.danskin.com/womens-ballroom-asymmetricskirt-2821.html

I love it, but not sure it's not too much for lessons. Definitely too much for practice at the Y. I got the off-the-shoulder top, too.

[Twilight_Elena]

Leggings shmeggings. I'm not going to wear something as transparent as any sort of pantyhose and risk exposure of my dance shorts, which are just really too SHORT to be covering anything. :lol:

T_E

[Twilight_Elena]

Too close to leggings for me.

Here's the skirt I have from that site:

http://www.danskin.com/womens-ballroom-asymmetricskirt-2821.html

I love it, but not sure it's not too much for lessons. Definitely too much for practice at the Y. I got the off-the-shoulder top, too.

It's a very cute skirt, by the way. :D A temptation.

T_E

[Keelzorz]

For those of you looking to make your own skirts, here's a really great site that I've had kicking around in my link folder. I think I picked it up off DF a while back, but it reinforces the "it's just a skirt, it can't be that hard" concept. It was written for bellydancers to make big airy skirts, but if you translate in a heavier cloth, it should work just fine.

Circle Skirt How-To (http://www.zilltech.com/FAQCostumeCS.html)

[Twilight_Elena]

I wish I could sew, but I can barely sew a button on a pillow, let alone make something I'm supposed to wear. :rolleyes:

T_E

[tanya_the_dancer]

For those of you looking to make your own skirts, here's a really great site that I've had kicking around in my link folder. I think I picked it up off DF a while back, but it reinforces the "it's just a skirt, it can't be that hard" concept. It was written for bellydancers to make big airy skirts, but if you translate in a heavier cloth, it should work just fine.

Circle Skirt How-To (http://www.zilltech.com/FAQCostumeCS.html)

Now this is a project I could try to re-fresh my sewing skills ;)

Adding - didn't realize that the word r e f r e s h is a bad one.

[Peaches]

That reminds me...

What's with the seemingly inoccuous (sp?) words getting censored? Is this another hacker thing? Or am I just stupid because I can't find something off-colour about the word re-fresh? (Maybe best not to answer that question...)

[mamboqueen]

That reminds me...

What's with the seemingly inoccuous (sp?) words getting censored? Is this another hacker thing? Or am I just stupid because I can't find something off-colour about the word re-fresh? (Maybe best not to answer that question...)

We're trying to get our members to work on their synonyms. :)

[tanya_the_dancer]

That reminds me...

What's with the seemingly inoccuous (sp?) words getting censored? Is this another hacker thing? Or am I just stupid because I can't find something off-colour about the word re-fresh? (Maybe best not to answer that question...)

You guessed it. The r-word could be used as part of redirecting code.

[Twilight_Elena]

You guessed it. The r-word could be used as part of redirecting code.

That makes sense. :D
Nooooow. Since we're on the subject (NOT). What's your opinion on the tights I mentioned? Just checking if anyone has used them, many of us buy from Danskin...

T_E

[Joe]

For those of you looking to make your own skirts, here's a really great site that I've had kicking around in my link folder. I think I picked it up off DF a while back, but it reinforces the "it's just a skirt, it can't be that hard" concept. It was written for bellydancers to make big airy skirts, but if you translate in a heavier cloth, it should work just fine.

Circle Skirt How-To (http://www.zilltech.com/FAQCostumeCS.html)
Sheesh! They make it seem so complicated! :D

[Twilight_Elena]

Sheesh! They make it seem so complicated! :D

Yup. But I guess that, in the end, it's pretty easy if you know how to sew.

T_E

[tanya_the_dancer]

We're trying to get our members to work on their synonyms. :)

Good thing they can't use some keywords without the banned ones - kewords like "for", "if", "while", "then", "to", "do", "this" - would be hard to find synonymes for all those. ;)

[shortnsassy]

I am tiny, five foot on a good day and barely a 100 lbs. I can wear children's skirts. I can squeze my skiny bum into 14-16 knit skirts at Childrens Place (and these come with bottoms). I've found knit handerchief skirts as well as knit asymmertics for less than 3 dollars on clearance.

For those of you that are size 8-10 or smaller, I find latin skirts at Papaya. A teen hoochie mama clothing store that can be found in major malls. I have a black spandex/lyrca handkerchief skirt, a red spandex double circle straight hem skirt, and a red plaid with black spandex (think naughty latin catholic school girl) skirt. All of these were less than fifteen dollars a skirt. Granted, they don't have built in bottoms, but I would rather wear dance shorts under anyway because if feel I get better coverage and support.

[Twilight_Elena]

I think I've decided to get the Danskin Salsa skirt. You'll get reviews as soon as I get it, which won't be very soon, but still.

T_E

[calygyrl]

Try ekclothing. I purchased the Waterfall Skirt and was very happy with it.

[little_mouse]

I decided to order the salsa skirt as well - wore it last night for the first time. DanceisLove--it IS a great skirt. I love it. It must even "look" like a fun skirt because I certainly was sent into alot of turns last night. Whew!

I'm a size 6, borderline 8 and I ordered a medium. Since I have a thick waist, none really to speak of, I think I can wear this skirt for a long time before having to go to a smaller size. It fits great and the material falls beautifully.

Has anyone ordered one of the longer ballroom skirts? - Since they sent me a 20%off discount for my next order :)

[Twilight_Elena]

This is now two excited reviewers of the Salsa skirt! Wow. SO getting it.

T_E

[danceislove]

I decided to order the salsa skirt as well - wore it last night for the first time. DanceisLove--it IS a great skirt. I love it. It must even "look" like a fun skirt because I certainly was sent into alot of turns last night. Whew!

I'm a size 6, borderline 8 and I ordered a medium. Since I have a thick waist, none really to speak of, I think I can wear this skirt for a long time before having to go to a smaller size. It fits great and the material falls beautifully.

Has anyone ordered one of the longer ballroom skirts? - Since they sent me a 20%off discount for my next order :)

YAY!!!! I told you so ;) haha! jk.. I am so glad you love that skirt! It is my all time favorite. I get compliments (and many many dances) every time I wear mine :D
TE: You should definitely try it!

[waltzgirl]

Danskin.com has the salsa skirt on sale for $24.99!

[Twilight_Elena]

Danskin.com has the salsa skirt on sale for $24.99!

Yeah, it's been that way for a couple fo weeks now, the very least. Gotta snatch before the sale is over! :shock:

T_E