Competitive Costumes for Country

[AnnieMarie]

Does anyone know of good costumers for the Country circuit. It's really easy to find the ballgowns but not so easy the country. Although, we could work with the same people for the most part.

Just looking for any suggestions.

Ann

[Chris Stratton]

Can you break your needs down into component pieces that might be readily available?

For example - in ballroom, many ballgowns aren't that much more than a leotard and a full skirt, so just getting those two items from a performance dance catalog, and maybe gluing on some rhinestones, accesorizing with floats, is a possible approach.

What do you usually wear for C&W? Can you combine say a medium length dance skirt with some sort of more social top?

[SDsalsaguy]

Yes, what are the costuming rules and restrictions involved?

[AnnieMarie]

Hi guys,
I have some basic stuff now...let me just say the ladies tend to have lots of "skirt changes"

Waltz:
Long Skirt/Gown

Two Step/Polka/ECS/Tripl Two:
Medium Skirt/Dress

Nightclub: Kind of an asymmetrical skirt

Cha Cha: Latin cut skirt

WCS: Pants are coming into favor..but they have to have western styling

That is taking an extreme.

I have the rules out in my car right now that really spell out the costuming rules. The main rule is that a "yoke" has to be defined.

I'm thinking ahead right now. I'm in the newcomer division right now..so I can't have anything remotely sparkly on my clothes :( Just a basic skirt and western shirt.

If you look on Crystals Creations...you will see some examples of the "really nice" CW outfits.

Sorry...I haven't been much help...but the ladies change some portion of their outfits. You can get away with the medium skirt and then the long for waltz...but people like to exemplify the different "flavors" of each dance.

[pygmalion]

I wondered about those yokes. It never occurred to me they were spelled out in the rules. :doh:

Needless to say, I'll google. Are you looking for bargains, or just for nice-looking costumes? For the "skirt changes," I'm assuming ballroomy skirts might work for you. Is that true? If so, I can recommend more than a few places that have suitable skirts for cha and nightclub at reasonable prices. A lot of the stuff is black, though. Does black work for you? And what about fringe? Without sparklies, it seems you'd need something to make you stand out a bit (over and above the stellar dancing, of course. :wink: :D )

[pygmalion]

Hold that thought! Does the skirt have to have a yoke, too, like the old horseback riding skirts ladies used to wear?

[AnnieMarie]

Jenn,
There are some photos on the UCWDC site that show a good example of what people wear.

Probably the closest skirt to ballroom is the waltz...and I have one on order. I have some basic stuff that I can embellish when I move out of Newcomer.

I'm just looking for suggestions of who makes this stuff. If for nothing else just to get some ideas.

Yes, those "yokes" are spelled out in the rules. It's a defining element of Western dress. While more things are moving towards a "ballroom" flavor..the outfits still have to be "Country." Most of them are actually quite pretty...you're allowed a lot of leeway...just has to be some type of "yokage."

[AnnieMarie]

Sorry for the double post everyone. I only hit submit once.

[SDsalsaguy]

Sorry for the double post everyone. I only hit submit once.
No problem AnnieMarie, that happens from time to time -- and I've taken care of the second posting.

[pygmalion]

Holy cow! You're right. This stuff is hard to find. The only place I know of that used to stock C&W tops and skirts seems to have stopped. :( I'll keep looking, though, like the googler I am. (Is that a word? :roll: :lol: )

The irony is that I ran across several sites in the past, by accident, but now that I want them, I can't find them.

I'll keep you posted.

[AnnieMarie]

Jenn,
I know what you mean about running across sites when you aren't looking for them. But when you are...no way. :)

I just want different ideas. I am fortunate that one of my fellow AMs sews...so she can make the stuff. I just want places to look for design ideas. I am not artistically inclined enough to draw out the design idea myself.

The boots are easy enough to find...just search for Evenin Star Boots. But the actual outfits...no way. Not since they moved beyond what you buy in your local western wear store.

[pygmalion]

Okay. I found this page which has a bunch of links. I hope they're not all dead ends. Unfortunately, I don't have time to page through and check things out right now. I checked one link -- designs by She'La, which advertised comptetion wear, and that one's unavailable. Grr. Maybe you can find something helpful here ... I hope. I'll keep looking.

w w w.concentric.net/~ddprieto/cwlinks.html#apparel

(I disabled the link because it is commercial. So just copy and paste in your browser. 8) )

[AnnieMarie]

Jenn,
Thanks for looking for me. Rumor has it you are a really good "googler."

[Vince A]

Ann,
Carolyn has all of her stuff made for her by Melodie Cochran, and I would stay away from the pricey stuff until are ready to move up.

Maybe adding some stones to what you already have once you move up to Novice, and then something new for Intermediate. I would spend my $$$ on Evening Star boots - custom made for you and without the inner toe cap . . . good boots give you sure-footed confidence!

Ron can even keep his same stuff, adding stones to the yoke on the back of his shirt, which must have that yoke! If he doesn't have ES boots, he should also invest in them! Later, he can add more stones and maybe a Kippy belt.

You off course will have a NC2S skirt, a cha cha skirt, a Waltz skirt, a Two Step skirt, and a WCS/ECS skirt - not pants!. You'll score better in the skirt!

Since i'm home playing hookie today, I'll try to get some pics of Carolyn's new outfits in the Photo Album for you!

[Vince A]

I posted a few . . . I don'y know why some repeated, but I'm trying to get an admin to delete the repeats! THose thumnails do show up if you click on them.

[pygmalion]

Jenn,
Thanks for looking for me. Rumor has it you are a really good "googler."

LOL. I'm back at a computer, and ready to google. Have google, will travel. 8)

[AnnieMarie]

Thanks Pygmalion. I hope you have better luck than I do trying to search these out. :)

[pygmalion]

Try this link. (They even have wedding attire! I like the white broomstick skirt.)
http://w w w.sheplers.com/

Or this one.

http://w w w.turtlewebs.com/merchant-review/western-formal-wear.html


And this one. They don't have a lot of merchandise on line (although their wedding gown pix are quite nice -- maybe you can get some design ideas.) These folks advertise that they'll do custom designs for you, so this might be a contact to keep in mind for future costumes, if you decide you want to invest.

http://w w w.1880westernwear.com/index.php/cPath/85_57
I'll keep looking. It's all in the search terms, just like evrything else in google. 8)

[AnnieMarie]

It's tough because the csotumes are really closer to ballroom...so the wesetern store stuff doesn't really work. I would try to post a pic...but I have them saved to my computer and not as a url...so I'm not sure how to do that.

You are so awesome for searching this stuff out. Will you ever give away your google secrets?

[pygmalion]

Don't worry. I finally paged through some of the pics posted on the UCWDC site. (Yikes. They really need to find a more speedy way to post photos. Those individual .jpg files are a pain.)


Anyway, other than the fancy cowboy shirts with contrasting yokes, and the boots and jeans, everything I saw was ballroom. Big time. Maybe the stoning was done a little differently, but the underlying garments would look just fine at a ballroom comp.

That said, OF COURSE I know tons of links. What are you looking for? Pictures for design ideas, reasonably priced stuff to buy, or break-the-bank stuff to keep for a while? Let me know, and I'll post some links with picture you can check out. 8)

[AnnieMarie]

Jenn,
Anything would be great. I'm just looking for a basis for some ideas. The competitve wear is much closer to ballroom...as you found out. And they are really beautiful to look at.

I'm hoping at some point I might make one of the competitions in Florida.

Thanks for your help.

[pygmalion]

You've got it. I have to go through my favorites menu at home, but I'll post at least a few links this evening and tomorrow. From the UCWDC pictures versus what I've seen in ballroom Latin, it looks like the C&W costumes are on the conservative side -- a lot less skin showing. Some of the ballroom costumes are like bikinis with a lot of extra sparkle. :shock: The C&W ones are more on the dress end of the spectrum. But there are sites out there where you can find both.

[AnnieMarie]

Jenn,
The rules were changed this year but the UCWDC is still a fairly conservative organization. No bare midriffs...at any time. Not even if our skirts fly. There can't be skin between our " dance pants and the costume.

Obviously...lots of body suit construction with a lot of these costumes.

[Vince A]

You've got it. I have to go through my favorites menu at home, but I'll post at least a few links this evening and tomorrow. From the UCWDC pictures versus what I've seen in ballroom Latin, it looks like the C&W costumes are on the conservative side -- a lot less skin showing. Some of the ballroom costumes are like bikinis with a lot of extra sparkle. :shock: The C&W ones are more on the dress end of the spectrum. But there are sites out there where you can find both.
Some of the Swing and Hustle competitions attached to the UCWDC allow for more "eye candy-type" clothing . . . mini-skirts, tight spandex dance pants, bare mids, halter and bikini tops, skirts slit way up to . . . :shock:, and so on.

There are lots of under 18-year-olds that attend/compete, and I commend the UCWDC for their upstanding rules in most of the dance arenas.

In one of the pics that I just posted, number 012 shows a Two-Step skirt that Care got dinged by the judges for . . . 1/2 inch too short. She still uses it, as she had a waistband put in that allows her to pull it down that 1/2 inch. Hence the Kippy belt that covers the repair/addition of the waistband.

[jon]

Would be interesting to see people competing in actual authentic country garb such as frocks and gingham shirts. But I guess it's more important to be "country" by whatever contrived definition has been arrived at by the UCWDC :-)

[pygmalion]

I was wondering how UCWDC derived whatever rules they're using. :?

[AnnieMarie]

Being that competitive country is performance just like ballroom...we want to be as showy as the rest of you guys :) If you look back at Country music outfits of the past...there is sparkle all over the place.

So these are "performance" clothes. I would say the definition probably falls more towards "Western" than it does "Country."

Apparently, the important thing is really to have some sort of "yoke" design.

I didn't make the rules...and they have evolved from what I understand.

Well...now that I haven't really answered anything.....

[pygmalion]

I can't help much with the tops. No yokes. Try these links for pants and skirts (and a a couple dresses.) All priced fairly affordably.

notablyunique.com (mostly stuff in stock for immediate purchase)
danceglam.com (contact them. They make it for you, fairly quickly. Just not in stock.)


More links to come.

[AnnieMarie]

Jenn,
You are so awesome. WE can make up our own yokes. We can create the design ourselves. Can be zig zag or a "Z...or anything like that. Doesn't have to be the traditional "V" yoke that most people think of.

We have fun with different designs.

[Chris Stratton]

Could the yoke consist only of a stoning pattern, rather than an actual sewn in panel? Of course a lot of the costume pics seem to show couple's outfits, perhaps with matching yokes, and it might be harder to find something for the man which could be converted with a stoned yoke.

[AnnieMarie]

Chris,
I believe so. It just has to be a deliniation of some sort.

[Vince A]

I think so as well . . . I have a full-back vest, and the yoke is defined by the stoning . . .

[pygmalion]

I like this link, too, especially for the pictures that give design ideas. Some of the costumes are incredibly skimpy, but they run the whole gamut from bikini-like two-piece outfits to full Latin dresses. The nice thing is all the color combinations and different cuts that can help give you ideas. They're discount Latin costumes, and, just in case you decide to buy something, everything is under $500. They also do custom designs.

http://w w w.ballroomcostumes.com/catalogue_main.php

Speaking of things, I wonder if there are any standard issue patterns out there that are suitable for ballroom or country costumes. Hmm.

(btw, is anybody out there a square dancer? I saw some outrageously prairie-looking costumes on the web. You know, those skirts with the multi-tiered flounces and petticoats underneath. Are those still the right costume for square dance. and btw, did you know that square dance is one of the most prevalnt state dances in the US?)

[jon]

Are those still the right costume for square dance. and btw, did you know that square dance is one of the most prevalnt state dances in the US?)

I haven't done MWSD for about 10 years but when I occasionally see people doing it there are still a bunch of crinolines. However the stylized costumes and matching garb for married couples and so on are perceived pretty negatively by a lot of younger folks, so overall I think the dress code has relaxed a bunch.

The "state dance" thing is completely artificial, but harmless. Because MWSD is so well organized an activity, they were able to lobby state legislators to introduce these resolutions in many states.

[pygmalion]

I guess I shouldn't be surprised about the lobbyist connection with the state dance thing. I am surprised, but I shouldn't be. Hmm. I wonder if individual cities can have official dances. For example, the Pennsylvania state dance is square dance, I think. But several major metropolitan areas are full of people who've probably never even heard of it, much less done it. So why can't Philly's state dance be jitterbug, and Pittsburgh's dance be polka? (Sorry. I'm totally off point.)

About square dance, if the dress code is relaxing dramatically, I find it kind of sad. To me, square dancers are the folk dance representatives of the US. Have you ever been to the Folk Fair? It has reps from all over the world doing traditional dance, mostly, in traditional costumes. To me, the US equivalent is square dance. Who will represent the US, if the square dancers start wearing spandex? Just a thought.

[SDsalsaguy]

WCS is the CA state dance! :D

[jon]

To me, the US equivalent is square dance. Who will represent the US, if the square dancers start wearing spandex? Just a thought.

Depends on how authentic you want to be. MWSD as it exists today is way out of touch with its folk dance roots, and the costuming is not how people would have looked at barn dances in the 1800s. I guess you could say the crinolines and bola ties and faux-pearl shirt buttons are "traditional costumes", but the tradition doesn't go back further than the mid-1900s if so.

Kinda the same thing with country dancing in another thread, the costumes on the competitors have about nada to do with how actual "folks dancing" would have dressed in the honky-tonks back when Texas Two-Step was being invented.

Re state dances, CA actually has both a "state dance" (WCS) and a "state folk dance" (square dancing). Of course it also has a "state aquatic mammal" and "state mineral" and several dozen other "state somethings" that satisfy some small vocal group of voters with harmless recognition.

Now if we required the governor to perform the state dance during his inauguration ceremony, that would be cool! Reminds me of the 1992 election, Perot might have been a nutcase but at least he danced well with his wife after his concession speech :-)

[Vince A]

Speaking of things, I wonder if there are any standard issue patterns out there that are suitable for ballroom or country costumes. Hmm.
I don't think there are any set "patterns" for country outfits . . . I've seen so-o-o many variations . . . from slinky Latin to the ballroom look - with yokes, of course!

By the way . . . Carolyn was very deep into square dancing when we met . . . she was on a Dance team out of the Bay Area for about 10 years!

She must have had about 30 of those "UGLE" outfits with the layers of petticoats. She either boxed them up and put them away or gave them to Goodwill or burned them. I'm not sure . . . :?:

[SDsalsaguy]

Umm, wouldn't giving those to Goodwill be somewhat oxymoronic? :lol:

[pygmalion]

That donation might be a very philanthropic thing, SD. Several of my former dance teachers used to get their costumes for various studio events ... from Goodwill. :wink: :lol:

Say what you will about square dance costumes (meaning, I admit they're ugly) the dance is still cool, in a vintage, valuing one's heritage kind of way. :wink: :D

[Chris Stratton]

Not a country costume, but Chrisanne currently has a curious ballgown on their US website in what I would guess you might call a calico print - size 8-10 section, a few lines down on the lefthand side. Not really my idea of a ballroom costume either, but unique at least.

(they call it 175R RTW LUP 10)

[pygmalion]

Eww! Hated it!

The style itself isn't all that bad, but the fabric I don't care for.

Have they recently updated the Chrisanne USA site? The last time I remember going to Chrisanne, they didn't have all those nice styles pictured.(Either that, or I somehow missed the show.) A very nice site, for style shoppers, indeed. 8)