Floats for Standard Gowns

[LadyChaCha]

Hi all, help me out!
I'll be dancing next week in Ohio and just found out that my dressmaker has NOT come through for me! I will have to make do with the one very simple gown I bought from rainbow for both Smooth and Standard. The dress has a scarf that hangs straight down from the back of the neck choker to the bottom of the dress. Other than that, I have no float! However, for Standard I'll only be dancing Bronze. Can anyone tell me if that kind of scarf would be sufficient/appropriate?

If I need to, I have arm bands to tack it to and could raid Jo Ann's Fabrics for something that matches....

Thanks!

[fascination]

i'd just tack the end of the one you have to your wrist and/or elbow with bracelets or finger loops and call it a day...the floats ain't gonna be the factor...good luck...and see ya there

[BM]

Ditto. I also have a Rainbow dress with the one float. You should be able to pin it to your wrist and be on your merry way. Good luck!

[Katarzyna]

and if you need a float thats more interesting, just find a nice matching fabric and make it yourself. i did that without even serging the float as I had no time and it worked just fine :)

[biggestbox]

don't worry about it so much. For bronze, it doesn't matter too much if you have a "smooth" (no floats) or "standard" (with floats)

[Laura]

I agree with biggestbox. Don't worry about it.

[Larinda McRaven]

I don't think it is necessary to have floats in Standard, in any level. It may be the current trend, but certainly you will not be judged on it.

[biggestbox]

I don't think it is necessary to have floats in Standard, in any level. It may be the current trend, but certainly you will not be judged on it.

That is an interesting point, I'd like to hear more about it. Lately, men in standard have NOT wore tail suits to big comps like blackpool. Although the tail suit is still the norm, you definitely stand out as a top pro NOT wearing one.

[Larinda McRaven]

I pretty much wear whatever I feel like. Always have. Only at the very end of my competitive career did I try to please the judges who have always sniped at me about my choice of costumes. And it made me COMPLETELY MENTAL. So now I am back to just pleasing myself with costumes. Big comp or not. Floats, no floats, jackets, tails, high neck, low slung hips... just wear what makes you feel good.

[fascination]

I agree...whatever makes you dance like a winner...for me...since I have no clue what judges care about and ma not important enough that it matters...I just wear what I think works on me...having said that...I looooooooooooooooooooooooove huge floats...but I don't have them...no one would be able to find pro

[Indiana_Jay]

I looooooooooooooooooooooooove huge floats...but I don't have them...no one would be able to find pro

:uplaugh:

[etp777]

LOL fasc, probably true. :)

[Chris Stratton]

I looooooooooooooooooooooooove huge floats...but I don't have them...no one would be able to find pro

This reminds me of my sudden panicked newbie confusion when confronted with floats for the first time at a college team "formal" social. Suddenly I had no idea how to get my right hand into hold!

[etp777]

Heh Chris, I can perfectly picture that, as I wonder that myself every time I see some of these dresses. :) Luckily, the issue hasn't arisen yet.

[meow]

I've seen some floats really get in the way. They either get wrapped around the man's head so he can't see or twisted around the lady's arm. Don't think I don't like them cos I do, it is just sometimes they are a pain.

[fascination]

This reminds me of my sudden panicked newbie confusion when confronted with floats for the first time at a college team "formal" social. Suddenly I had no idea how to get my right hand into hold!
lol, yea...sometimes pro is sliding that hand in like he's going in to do open heart surgery....don't wanna get a hold of the wrong thing there;)

[Joe]

Lately, men in standard have NOT wore tail suits to big comps like blackpool. Although the tail suit is still the norm, you definitely stand out as a top pro NOT wearing one.
OTOH, when was the last time you saw even a semi-finalist wearing something other than a tailsuit?

[fascination]

how do you guys stay cool?

[Joe]

Personally, I try to change shirts between rounds.

[elisedance]

I've seen some floats really get in the way. They either get wrapped around the man's head so he can't see or twisted around the lady's arm. Don't think I don't like them cos I do, it is just sometimes they are a pain.

Seems that some are worse than others. At the Classique (montreal) this year one woman's face kept disappearing within her float. Ii suppose one could do quite an interesting showcase effect with this but on the comp floor it resulted in a comical look. Other floats are well behaved - there must be an engineering issue here. Mine goes from the mid back to arm and is double - it tends to stay down except for sharp turns - but you don't get the 'spinnaker in the wind' effect that can look terrific.

I think its a bit moot anyway though: aren't floats being replaced by stringy, beady, 'man's tie' etc accents? I think we are ripe for a modern, clean look with simple arms - star showcases where the woman has a simple black or dress with her hair loose and trailing as a float itself are, to my mind, the most beautiful of all.

[Keelzorz]

and if you need a float thats more interesting, just find a nice matching fabric and make it yourself. i did that without even serging the float as I had no time and it worked just fine :)

I'd be careful with that...I threw together a set of floats the night before a competition, and didn't hem or serge them as our sewing machine up and quit right then. They were fine when I put them on, but proceeded to fall apart the instant I started dancing, and some of the threads were getting caught on stones/laces on my dress. It got pretty bad, to the point one of my friends had to run out and untangle me between dances in a round :cry: My advice, at least run a bead of FrayCheck along the edge if you make them in a hurry!

I've also used a rainbowshiu dress with the long neck scarf, and it is plenty long enough to work as arm floats, if you want them. I find the arc in which they hang is too low for my tastes, and I usually would just leave it hanging down the back. But hey, do the modification with safety pins and you can make the call the minute you walk onto the floor. (Can you tell I'm used to doing things halfway and at the last second? :cool:)

[waltzgirl]

I find the arc in which they hang is too low for my tastes, and I usually would just leave it hanging down the back. But hey, do the modification with safety pins and you can make the call the minute you walk onto the floor. (Can you tell I'm used to doing things halfway and at the last second? :cool:)


You could maybe make the arc higher by pinning/stitching the scarf a bit higher up the scarf and letting the extra hang down from your wrist or arm.

[and123]

.... with her hair loose and trailing as a float itself are, to my mind, the most beautiful of all.

Cripes, I sweat like a racehorse at comps. Any "loose and trailing" hair is just gonna end up soaked and plastered to my neck and back :rolleyes:. I get your point though.... beautiful in theory, but not realistic.

[elisedance]

Cripes, I sweat like a racehorse at comps. Any "loose and trailing" hair is just gonna end up soaked and plastered to my neck and back :rolleyes:. I get your point though.... beautiful in theory, but not realistic.

Actually, I was thinking of a showcase that I saw on utube - but can not find now. I will keep looking...

[Joe]

I recall towards the end of her competitve career Lorraine Barrichi wore her hair down quite a bit.

[and123]

All this hair flying around on DWTS drives me nuts. I can see where it can be used for effect, but....

[elisedance]

whatcha expect - you're on the wrong channel, thats 'drunk with the stars'

[dancingirldancing]

You can 'burn' the edges of the float with zippo ....

[fascination]

I love dancing with my hair down but I wouldn't dream of it unless I was someone who could afford to take the risk or just didn't care anymore...the up-dos are so hard on the hair

[NonieS]

I looooooooooooooooooooooooove huge floats...but I don't have them...no one would be able to find pro


hahaha!! :D

[fascination]

course that was w/FP...I don't have that problem anymore

[Standarddancer]

It seems most current style of standard floats are streamer floats, shows up more frame.

[fascination]

yea but...I don't like em...think it looks like the woman got caught in a paper shredder

[Standarddancer]

lol, paper shredder floats!!! it takes me a while to adjust to them too, they do have their advantages and a lot of beautifully designed ones out there, although they don't help to camouflage bad posture as much as large floats.

[fascination]

it's a sort of sick fantasy...but I really want a float big enough to just once end up over my head....

I have seen a few of the streamer ones that i could abide...or streamers on one side and something larger on the other...but most ...blech

[Standarddancer]

I personally still like large floats, and if large floats are equally in fashion as streamer, I would wear large ones for comps; I accept the look of streamer, never thought of paper threader for streamer floats.

[etp777]

hahah fasc, Katya (of ALex and Katya here locally) still where's dresses with floaty type things even though they switched to smooth. At St louis she got the float caught over the face bit. Even better, dress was white, so looked like wedding veil almost there while they were dancing until she got out of it. :) Was cheering for too many pros in that heat so i didn't pay attention as to where float was attached, just saw it over her face. :P

[NonieS]

I don't like the streamer floats either.... I hope bigger floats go back in "style" because I'll be wearing them regardless LOL... I just prefer the way the look...