Costumes for Syllabus

[Chris Stratton]

I'm going to attempt to redirect the beginner costume comments from the Bronze Foxtrot thread...

Real ballgowns are very nice, but I've seen some examples of very good floor presense come from relatively humble ingredients. Part of it seems to be about identifying the necessary characteristics, then finding the simplest way of getting them.

COLOR:
Eye catching colors go a long way on their own. Red is queen in all but a few situations, but most other bright colors work too - yellow, orange, white, royal blue, etc. Black, dark red, and dark blue can simply dissapear, either into the partner or into the general confusion of a large early round.

PRACTICALITY:
Smooth and standard dresses need full skirts. The basic concept is something called a 'circle skirt' which is simply an assembly of material that can be spread out flat on the floor to form a circle, with the waistband in the center. Most skirts are variations on this, but even at beginner levels you want to try to find something with at least 3/4 of a circle.
While not usually a problem, it is also important than the dress allow a dancer to comfortably raise her arms to dance position. And of course outfits for american smooth need to accomdate under arm turns and position changes (ie, beware of floats!)

SPARKLE:
While banned in syllabus at most USABDA & NDCA comps, thousands of cut glass rhinestones can add eye-catching potential to any dress for costume allowed collegiate comps, and are virtually required for championship costumes everywhere. You can buy these from a variety of sources online, usually in multiples of a gross (144) and stick them on with rhinestone glue. The sparkle of rhinestones is infinitely superiour to the tubular beads and metalic sequins used on some budget dance gowns and a lot of social evening dresses and prom gowns.

VOLUME:
Styles vary, but in general there has been some effort to add extra volume to ballgowns. Sometime ago this was done with stiffened hems sometimes carrying a feather boa. You still see a lot of these dresses at college comps (or occasionally, one that has had the feathers removed, leaving just a thick fishiline to create a stiffened wavy hem). More contemporary practice is to have a fairly sleek dress accessorized with various "floats" of light flowing material attached to the wrists or shoulders.

Taking these concepts into account, it can be possible to improvise something quite nice on a budget. For example, a red 'practice' skirt worn over a matching leotard and accesorized with a drape of cloth pinned to the shoulders stood out quite well in syllabus fields last year. Or a relatively simple dress can be made or bought and then dressed up with 10 gross or so of rhinestones.

[pygmalion]

Thanks Chris Stratton (or is it okay to shorten this to Chris?)

Somewhere I have posted a link to instructions for making a circle skirt, which look pretty easy for even a sewing novice to cut out and assemble. I'll try to find the link and post it here.

[pygmalion]

Here's the link. The instructions are actually for a bellydancing skirt, but can easily be used for ballroom.

http://www.zilltech.com/FAQCostumeCS.html

[pygmalion]

What about renting gowns ? There is a store in the Maryland area, called Dee's Creations, that rents and sells gowns. They ship and dryclean the dresses. The selection of dresses are available online. See the DCDancenet.com website for a link to their website.
PM me if you want more details or can't find the link.

[pygmalion]

Theres another linkt to a rental place in the ads and website section too. They have a pretty good selection. (will read this entire thread then post again later)

[tasche]

Making something yourself is not that hard as long as you a) expect your going to make some mistakes b) not get riled upa dn quit when you do most sewing mistakes are fiaxable. (expect when you trim a seam off that you just had sewn bc you weren't paying attention which happened about 15 mins ago)

[tasche]

I haven't danced syllbus since I was a tiny teen so was wondering if anyone would know if glitter slinkies would violate the "no costume" rules as I ahve a lot of nice fabric I'll never use and was thinking I could whip up a few dresses in my spare time to donate to some college teams.

[DancePoet]

Looks like Kitty may not have located this topic moved to over here yet.

But when she does, wanted to let her know the following. Based on where she goes to school, the dance studio I know that is selling "experienced" dresses and gowns is likely too far from her school, Stony Brook, unless one is in for a long road trip. I would encourage checking out local consignment and used clothing stores in your area, and if you mention to the owner's what you are looking for, someone might even know somebody who has other "experienced" ballroom costumes available. Keep networking and you will be surprised at what could turn up somewhere!

[Kitty]

Thank you everyone for your advice,

Today I ordered a Chrisanne standard ballgown (we hope it'll go through and school won't give us a problem).

Special thanks to Larinda for directing me to Chrisanne in my previous ballgown thread:-), and to Chris Stratton for pointing out the characteristics of a successive standard dress - I used them today when picking out the dress (I didn't buy the black one although it had the best design).

[tasche]

Well a Chrisanne dress will definately give you an edge even if its only psychological

[Chris Stratton]

Today I ordered a Chrisanne standard ballgown

I certainly understand the appeal of costumes as much as anyone does (I actually danced up into silver at my second comp so I could wear tails), but I'm not sure that buying one premium ballgown is necessarily the best use of you team's funds right now.

My two main concerns:

1) Looking at comp registration, your team appears to have only one intermediate lady - everyone else is bronze except for your champ couple. Many of the fall competitions are not going to permit ballgowns in bronze, so you may not get to fully enjoy that gown until spring. (None of the summer comps will allow costumes in syllabus at all)

2) For the price of one premium gown, you could probably aquire several on the used market. I realize this may be harder to do the paperwork for, but I'm curious how a team that seems to have many people at a comparable level is going to decide who gets to wear the one fancy new ballgown?

(Or do I recall some mention of a deadline by which you had to use funds or loose them... if that's the case then there's not much else you can do)

[Kitty]

I certainly understand the appeal of costumes as much as anyone does (I actually danced up into silver at my second comp so I could wear tails), but I'm not sure that buying one premium ballgown is necessarily the best use of you team's funds right now.

My two main concerns:

1) Looking at comp registration, your team appears to have only one intermediate lady - everyone else is bronze except for your champ couple. Many of the fall competitions are not going to permit ballgowns in bronze, so you may not get to fully enjoy that gown until spring. (None of the summer comps will allow costumes in syllabus at all)

2) For the price of one premium gown, you could probably aquire several on the used market. I realize this may be harder to do the paperwork for, but I'm curious how a team that seems to have many people at a comparable level is going to decide who gets to wear the one fancy new ballgown?

(Or do I recall some mention of a deadline by which you had to use funds or loose them... if that's the case then there's not much else you can do)


We bought an exceptionally cheap one, on sale (we could buy maximum of 2 used ones for that money). I chose it not because it was Chrisanne, but because the company agreed to accomodate us in the way we could spend our money (accept a check from The State of New York, not ask for a deposit, not ask for a credit card), and we didn't have to get the gown fitted.

You are right (and many members on the team were the same opinion as you are) that we don't have anyone but one girl in silver (even her partner was supposed to dance bronse). However, the girl in silver does need a gown, and if other girls will get to silver next year they'll need a gown too. And gowns are much more difficult to make ourselves than latin costumes (for latin - just glue stones on a dress from forever XXI).

And the most important reason: normally I would agree with you, but this year we are in a special situation: we got some (comparing to our normal budget - lots) extra money this year that won't be there next and wasn't there last year. This was our only chance to buy something that expensive. Ever. I don't think there ever will be another chance like this. And we already have cheap stuff (full circle smooth skirts and latin dresses).

And the last reason: I had to do all the work (I wasn't supposed to do this work in the first place) and I wanted a standard gown.

[pygmalion]

Does this mean you get to wear "the" gown Kitty? I hope so, since you did the leg work. :wink: Good luck. 8)

[Kitty]

Does this mean you get to wear "the" gown Kitty? I hope so, since you did the leg work. :wink: Good luck. 8)

:oops: I have to get to silver first.

[pygmalion]

Bummer. I must say, I think you're a good sport and a great team player. :D

[Adwiz]

I didn't want to start a new thread on this topic because the title is perfect for my question, but I hope people don't miss this question:

For Syllabus (Bronze) comps, how exactly do the organizers define "costume"?

We normally compete in Canada where rules are much looser, and organizations have very specific instructions on costumes (even exact length of dress measurements, etc.). But for American (USABDA) comps, the rules are always vague. They say something like "no costumes permitted". We don't really know what that means.

When does a dress become a costume? My wife has a latin dress that's nice but has large stones on the collar and cuffs. Does that make it a costume? My daughter has a latin dress with a sparkly belt. Is that automatically a costume? I have a Standard shirt with a wing collar. I wear it with a vest and Euro-style tie (no tails), but is that considered a costume just because of the collar? Nobody seems to provide any details on their web sites, so I was wondering if some of the folks here had more info on this that could shed some light.

[Chris Stratton]

When does a dress become a costume? My wife has a latin dress that's nice but has large stones on the collar and cuffs.


Generally any rhinestones on the dress make it a costume - but rhinestones in seperate costume jewelry are probably allowed.


My daughter has a latin dress with a sparkly belt.

Borderline. I think sequins are more likely to be ignored than rhinestones, especially on something that looks like a social outfit.


I have a Standard shirt with a wing collar. I wear it with a vest and Euro-style tie (no tails), but is that considered a costume just because of the collar?


A (dinner length) tuxedo is explicitly legal for non-costumed adult standard & smooth, so anything that looks like part of one should be okay. I've even seen guys wearing a white tie & wing collar with a black vest, all ready to do a quick switch to tails for novice or pre-champ.

[setsuna713]

Sorry to revive this thread but I had a question to add. I'm competing bronze but I want an outfit I can wear to both a collegiate event (where there isn't a very strict costume rule) and to other events that might have very strict rules. What's the best thing (if I only have the money for one outfit for standard and one for latin) to wear?

[Chris Stratton]

I'd go for something simple but classy. The leotard and circle skirt, or a one piece dress of similar design. The idea in my mind would be to have something that is essentially a ballgown without stones. If you are thinking of floats, you might want to make them detacheable in case anyone objects. I've seen the occasional stone-free gown in collegiate champ that would arguably be legal in USABDA/NDCA syllabus.

If the college comp comes after your interest in restricted ones is over for a while, you could stone the costume in between.

If you are making something yourself, simply make two - one to keep plain, one to stone. If you went with seperates, you might be able to get two leotards (one to stone, one to keep plain) and a skirt to use with both - I don't know that I've ever seen stoned seperates, but it seems like it might work.

For latin you could either go with a stone free costume, or just get some sort of party dress. With some carefully shopping of ready-to-wear bits, you might well be able to afford two latin "costumes"

I continue to believe that appropriate cut and color choices are far more important than the presence of rhinestones in terms of choosing a costume that will complement intermediate level dancing.

[setsuna713]

Thanks so much! My mom (isn't it great to still be a college kid) has said she'll make me a simple circle skirt. That should only cost me fabric and taking mom out to dinner. :D Is it acceptable to wear another type of top, not just a leotard? I'm still a little confused as to what exactly floats are. Any help? Thanks!

[Chris Stratton]

Wear anything decent and comfortable you want on top. The only reason a leotard gets suggested is that it is readily available to purchase, compatible with a full range of motion, won't ride up, and provides modesty in situations where the skirt might be flying up a bit. But there are probably other solutions to all those issues.