Dance Competition Dresses
Posted in Fly Fishing Gear on the June 29, 2011
The day you’re told you’re ready to enter a dance comp, is a day you’ll remember. You’re proud to have reached a watershed in your dancing career. Excitement and nerves are inevitable, as you consider the prospect of dancing in front of the judges. The last thing on your mind is the cost of your dress. Dance competition dresses are expensive, no matter what your style of dancing.
Ballroom dancers and belly dancers might argue which has the most costly outfits, but in the end it depends just as much on the level of the competition.
A long, crystal-encrusted ballroom dress is probably the most costly competition dress around, due to the large amount of luxury material and the sheer number of beads and sequins. Top quality professional bellydance dresses come second, because belly dancers use just as many beads and crystals, but a lot less material. Next are Latin and Street Latin dresses. Even though they use a lot of ‘bling’, they use very little fabric! Of course, the cost of a competition dress is determined by far more than just its component parts. Designing and putting together a dance costume requires specialist skills. I once found out the hard way, when I had a dance dress made by a regular dressmaker. Making a dance costume which is figure-hugging yet lets you move freely is easier said than done, and it’s not a skill all high street dressmakers have. It’s only fair to expect to pay a premium for a competition dress which has been made by a really good dance dressmaker.
The other important factor is design. If you want something unusual or original, you must expect to pay the designer who took the trouble to create it. For instance, you will pay a high price for the latest bellydance dresses from the top Egyptian designers, even though the current fashion means they’re not heavily embellished. You’re paying for uniqueness.
Your dance ability is all that should matter in a dance comp, but we all know that’s not always true. Rightly or wrongly, dance judges are only human and first impressions do count. So investing in something unique could pay off.
Of course, you can achieve originality by making your own competition dress – but don’t even think about it, unless you’re experienced at dressmaking. Do you have the expertise to achieve a perfect finish? Can you face the hours it will take to sew or glue on all those crystals and rhinestones. There are so many good quality, reasonably-priced competition dresses coming out of China these days, you have to ask yourself whether it’s worth devoting all those hours to DIY.
If you’re going to buy online, make sure you check the measurements of the dress and check references. Ebay can be a great place to buy, because you can check the supplier’s feedback rating. To be on the safe side, look for power sellers with a feedback rating of over 98%.