Competition dress choice; heel height; re-wearing dresses; & salsa/mambo question

[raindance]

I guess I have to remember not to read DF comp threads about dresses and whatnot right before bed. I had comp related nightmare last night about being at a comp in jeans and a tshirt, makeup not done yet, and dress was all ready to go but it was still in the hotel room (a short drive away). My heats were going to be starting soon, of course. I just kept trying to figure out how I was going to get back to my room, do my makeup, get the dress on and get back to the comp. But was sort of frozen, staring at the comp floor while thinking all of this.

I think my last comp was about 10 years ago. I guess that "am I wearing the right thing? will I be ready on time" stress is long lasting!

 

[fascination]

I guess I have to remember not to read DF comp threads about dresses and whatnot right before bed. I had comp related nightmare last night about being at a comp in jeans and a tshirt, makeup not done yet, and dress was all ready to go but it was still in the hotel room (a short drive away). My heats were going to be starting soon, of course. I just kept trying to figure out how I was going to get back to my room, do my makeup, get the dress on and get back to the comp. But was sort of frozen, staring at the comp floor while thinking all of this.

I think my last comp was about 10 years ago. I guess that "am I wearing the right thing? will I be ready on time" stress is long lasting!

Yes. I think I've only competed twice in the last 4 years but the pre-comp stresses have definitely visited in my dreams more than that. Then again, so have some lovely sensations of body flight and the very best of memories...so...fair trade

 

[IndyLady]

I guess I have to remember not to read DF comp threads about dresses and whatnot right before bed. I had comp related nightmare last night about being at a comp in jeans and a tshirt, makeup not done yet, and dress was all ready to go but it was still in the hotel room (a short drive away). My heats were going to be starting soon, of course. I just kept trying to figure out how I was going to get back to my room, do my makeup, get the dress on and get back to the comp. But was sort of frozen, staring at the comp floor while thinking all of this.

I think my last comp was about 10 years ago. I guess that "am I wearing the right thing? will I be ready on time" stress is long lasting!

I catalog this in the same bucket as "did not study for high school final exam" or "cannot remember locker combination" nightmares... come on, that was decades ago!

 

[j_alexandra]

I catalog this in the same bucket as "did not study for high school final exam" or "cannot remember locker combination" nightmares... come on, that was decades ago!

I thought it was just me...

 

[ProgressNotPerfection]

Ugh…this dress issue has initiated my pre-comp anxiety. I was doing FINE until I got stuck in my head about these #%^*&# dresses.

I wore my pink dress to a lesson last week to try it out, & sure enough, I stepped on the bottom of the dress several times. I don’t mean “caught my heel in it briefly while doing a tango flick” - I mean “skated across the floor on it for several steps until I could extricate my shoe.”

Pro had some creative suggestions about minor alterations I could make to the pink dress to adjust the fit & hopefully raise the bottom hem. My ballroom-experienced seamstress is out of town, so professionally shortening the length isn’t an option. I don’t own a sewing machine or know how to use one; and hand-stitching 5+ yards of the hem of the outer skirt (yes, I measured), plus the 3 underskirts, ain’t happening.

So I tightened all six of the shoulder straps (3 in front & 3 in back) that meet & fasten together at the top of my right shoulder, but now I don’t like the neckline…the straps now rub against my collarbone & shoulder blade in a manner that is both uncomfortable and (imo) unattractive. So I’m gonna put them back where they were.

There are two fabric loops inside the bodysuit at about waist level on each side, for the purpose of hanging the dress on a clothes hanger (you should never hang a ballroom gown on a hanger by its shoulders); but I don’t use them, since I store my dresses lying flat in fabric storage boxes. Pro wondered if I could pull those fabric loops up toward my armpits and sew them directly to the bra band, which would raise the dress from the inside. I’ll probably try that today (basting only, in case it doesn’t work), but that might cause other problems even if it helps with the length.

When I was inspecting the hem to see if I could shorten it by hand, I realized that the MAIN problem is not necessarily the length, but the fact that the inside edge of the hem, all the way around, IS NOT SMOOTH. It doesn’t lie flat against the fabric. And there’s something sewn into the bottom hem that has a bit of heft and stiffness (maybe some kind of crinoline trim?); so the 2mm of rough edge isn’t just soft fabric - it’s a fricking obstacle course. But I can’t remove that without changing the entire look/fit/flow/hang/movement of the skirt, & I definitely don’t want to do that. (Heck, maybe I should just cover the rough inside edge of the hem with fabric tape, since I’m less likely to catch my heels on it [though as soon as I typed that, I pictured my shoe getting stuck in the fabric tape & pulling it away from the dress & tangling the tape around both feet & tying my legs together until I fall over…so…maybe not].)

AARRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHH

 

[bia]

I wore my pink dress to a lesson last week to try it out, & sure enough, I stepped on the bottom of the dress several times. I don’t mean “caught my heel in it briefly while doing a tango flick” - I mean “skated across the floor on it for several steps until I could extricate my shoe.”

And this, children, is why we always practice in our costumes before the comp! If you do come up with a relatively easy fix, that's great. If not, and you don't have another dress that you're happy with for this purpose, I'd say that this is good enough reason to stick to your guns about wearing only the one dress. (Though the not sitting down thing is unfortunate...) I'd prioritize getting it settled and out of your head over ending up with the absolutely perfect solution.

 

[ProgressNotPerfection]

wearing only the one dress

Well, I've been talked out of that so thoroughly that I no longer think that's a good option. Last year's silver smooth schedule at Manhattan involved dancing from roughly 10:30 am through 6:30 pm (with a 2-hour break between singles & multis). If this year is anything like that, I'll definitely want to change dresses before the multis (for lots of reasons, including the "sweaty smelly" thing, the "can't sit down in it" thing, and the "it's now the expected thing" thing).

Whatever makes me forget about my outfit is the winning outfit(s), as long as it is professional enough. If you constantly think about your outfit, it will show.

I agree 10,000% with this! But...I know myself, and idk if it's even possible for me to NOT think about whatever I'm wearing, when I'm competing in an event at which costuming plays such a large role. I think the best I can hope for right now is to do what I can ahead of time to minimize my concerns about whatever I end up wearing; and then, once I'm out on the floor, concentrate so hard on my dancing that I don't have any mental bandwidth remaining to think about my dress (or hair or makeup or nails or anything else superficial).

 

[Cal]

I realize that I’m starting to be annoying about this, but as another addition to the “don’t-fret-about-the-dress” column:

Pro told me that at a recent competition, his Standard student was wearing her dress backwards. Pro didn’t notice it until they were on the floor and he was thinking that the float was in an odd place as he was trying to work his hand around it to take hold. And then he realized, oh, it’s backwards.

He said he did NOT mention it to her until she was finished with all her dances and awards.

His thinking was that (i) making her self-conscious wouldn’t help her, and (ii) after the first flight he was not going to send her scurrying off to the changing room, and have her return all flustered and distracted, and (iii) there was no “danger” in the situation that might result in falling.

And guess what, folks: She won all but one of her singles, and won all her multi-dance and scholarship events.

So, apparently judges from 80 feet away and judges who were within 12 inches as she danced by them didn’t notice the backwards dress – or, if they did notice, they were able to look beyond it. (Maybe they were just judging the dancing…maybe?)

People, about the costuming: Take a deep breath. Relax. It’ll be ok.

 

[fascination]

I also think this is another prime example of the complexity of the pro am dynamic... on one hand, you are the client and you are dropping a fortune...on the other hand, they they have the inside track on what considerations are likely to have the most impact. Then again, you are the one who knows what will affect your actual dance quality the most...its complicated

 

[raindance]

It sounds like altering the pink dress is going to be a disaster on multiple fronts, including the risk of falling at the comp, possibly injuring yourself and/or ruining the dress with hasty alterations. How would you like to enter scholarship with a bruised knee, sore elbow or wrist, and a bruised ego? Falling at a comp isn't the end of the world, but it's worth preventing by not dancing in a dress you think you're going to step on.

What other dress options do you have? Anything else in your closet that's appropriate for the singles? Anything you can borrow, or rent??

It's OK to compete sweaty and smelly, even if it's understandably not your preference - if they were marking against that there are plenty of pros who would lose ... You just have to make sweaty and smelly look good. (And the actual smelly part should be preventable with good deoderant, so the sweat isn't nearly as smelly.) A lot of ballroom dresses don't visibly show the sweat, they just get a bit more uncomfy to wear as the day goes on.

If you are going to compete in the same dress, and can't sit in the dress, you can go to your room in between for longer breaks. Either take the dress off, or at least lie down in it for a little bit to give your feet a rest.

 

[MaggiWrites]

I catalog this in the same bucket as "did not study for high school final exam" or "cannot remember locker combination" nightmares... come on, that was decades ago!

Or memories of same, because I've actually done both of those in student days long past. Well, the exam was a midterm, not a final, but I managed to remember enough to do respectably on it, and the lock combination (one I'd been using daily for six years by then) was supplied by the school secretary when I sheepishly admitted a complete blank. She just looked it up with a stern: "You're 17. Don't you think you're a little young for Alzheimer's?"

So it happens. And you survive. And it helps to have a sense of humour when you look back.

 

[MaggiWrites]

Ugh…this dress issue has initiated my pre-comp anxiety. I was doing FINE until I got stuck in my head about these #%^*&# dresses.

I wore my pink dress to a lesson last week to try it out, & sure enough, I stepped on the bottom of the dress several times. I don’t mean “caught my heel in it briefly while doing a tango flick” - I mean “skated across the floor on it for several steps until I could extricate my shoe.”

Pro had some creative suggestions about minor alterations I could make to the pink dress to adjust the fit & hopefully raise the bottom hem. My ballroom-experienced seamstress is out of town, so professionally shortening the length isn’t an option. I don’t own a sewing machine or know how to use one; and hand-stitching 5+ yards of the hem of the outer skirt (yes, I measured), plus the 3 underskirts, ain’t happening.

So I tightened all six of the shoulder straps (3 in front & 3 in back) that meet & fasten together at the top of my right shoulder, but now I don’t like the neckline…the straps now rub against my collarbone & shoulder blade in a manner that is both uncomfortable and (imo) unattractive. So I’m gonna put them back where they were.

There are two fabric loops inside the bodysuit at about waist level on each side, for the purpose of hanging the dress on a clothes hanger (you should never hang a ballroom gown on a hanger by its shoulders); but I don’t use them, since I store my dresses lying flat in fabric storage boxes. Pro wondered if I could pull those fabric loops up toward my armpits and sew them directly to the bra band, which would raise the dress from the inside. I’ll probably try that today (basting only, in case it doesn’t work), but that might cause other problems even if it helps with the length.

When I was inspecting the hem to see if I could shorten it by hand, I realized that the MAIN problem is not necessarily the length, but the fact that the inside edge of the hem, all the way around, IS NOT SMOOTH. It doesn’t lie flat against the fabric. And there’s something sewn into the bottom hem that has a bit of heft and stiffness (maybe some kind of crinoline trim?); so the 2mm of rough edge isn’t just soft fabric - it’s a fricking obstacle course. But I can’t remove that without changing the entire look/fit/flow/hang/movement of the skirt, & I definitely don’t want to do that. (Heck, maybe I should just cover the rough inside edge of the hem with fabric tape, since I’m less likely to catch my heels on it [though as soon as I typed that, I pictured my shoe getting stuck in the fabric tape & pulling it away from the dress & tangling the tape around both feet & tying my legs together until I fall over…so…maybe not].)

AARRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHH

I know this is over and done now, but in the future, is there a dry cleaner nearby? Any large hotel I've stayed in either had one in their shopping area or the front desk person knew of one near the hotel. Any dry cleaner I've used did quick repairs and alterations as part of their work. You could take a dangerously-too-long dress in and have the hem taken up while you wait (for an extra fee, but better that than a botched performance or an injury). It might need restitching later when your seamstress can do it, but as long as it holds while you compete in it I doubt if any judge is eagle-eyed enough to spot basting among all those yards and layers of fabric.

 

[raindance]

I know this is over and done now, but in the future, is there a dry cleaner nearby? Any large hotel I've stayed in either had one in their shopping area or the front desk person knew of one near the hotel. Any dry cleaner I've used did quick repairs and alterations as part of their work. You could take a dangerously-too-long dress in and have the hem taken up while you wait (for an extra fee, but better that than a botched performance or an injury). It might need restitching later when your seamstress can do it, but as long as it holds while you compete in it I doubt if any judge is eagle-eyed enough to spot basting among all those yards and layers of fabric.

One potential problem I see with this suggestion is that this is not a quick repair - shortening a dress with lots of layers isn't quick. Hours of work, potentially. Basting stitches may not hold up to dancing in a skirt, either - and if they come out while dancing, you're back to a skirt that may get tripped on.

Also, many people who do alterations aren't experienced with ballroom gowns. The odds of them botching it are not small, in my opinion. You need someone used to working with dance dresses - the fabrics, the "why" of how they are built, and how the dress needs to fit and move once it's altered.

 

[MaggiWrites]

One potential problem I see with this suggestion is that this is not a quick repair - shortening a dress with lots of layers isn't quick. Hours of work, potentially. Basting stitches may not hold up to dancing in a skirt, either - and if they come out while dancing, you're back to a skirt that may get tripped on.

Also, many people who do alterations aren't experienced with ballroom gowns. The odds of them botching it are not small, in my opinion. You need someone used to working with dance dresses - the fabrics, the "why" of how they are built, and how the dress needs to fit and move once it's altered.

You're right, of course. But the one time I know of that solution being used was when a friend who was a bridesmaid at a hotel ballroom wedding found the dress shop had sent the three dresses all in the same size by mistake, which didn't fit two of the attendants. The hotel had a dry cleaner shop on the premises and the cleaner had a lot of experience repairing formal gowns quickly for guests. You'd have to be lucky to find someone like that, but I think I'd investigate the possibility myself. If the cleaner were honest, she'd tell you right away that the job was too big or tricky to do in a hurry.

 

[fascination]

I would never ever give a many thousand dollar ballgown to an unknown dry cleaner...but I'm old and jaded