Ballroom Fashion

Do I need a costume?

A professionally-made costume not only makes you look great, but also shows the judges that you are serious about dancing. Think about how much you spend on dance lessons and don't let that money go down the drain – let your look show how much effort you have invested into your passion.

However, if you are an amateur bronze competitor, you can get away with wearing an evening dress or a cocktail dress (with matching color trunks underneath). Unfortunately, these can be uncomfortable since they are often made not for dancing but for standing around and looking pretty. Every Fashion Yourself costume is made with a built-in body suit to keep the dress from riding up and sewn-in bra cups. Our costumes are very comfortable no matter what.

If you are competing in silver level or above, you should wear a costume. As you continue to compete and dance in higher and higher level competitions, you want to look for more elaborate, more richly decorated costumes – let your look develop along with dancing. If you are an open level dancer, then you already know that you need a costume. If you are a pro-am competitor, you are expected to wear a classy costume regardless of your level.

How often should I buy a new costume?

It depends on how often you compete, your level, and how much money you are willing to spend on costumes. The more often you compete, the more often you need new costumes. The higher your level, the more often you should wear new costumes. The same judges attend different competitions and they grow tired of seeing the same costume on you over and over again. A new dress is exciting, makes you feel good, and that helps you perform better.

If you are an amateur syllabus dancer, you can buy a new costume with every advancement of level. If you are an open level dancer, you already have a sense when you have worn the same costume to too many competitions. If you are a pro-am competitor, you should change your costumes a bit more often than amateur competitors. Consider a good dress an investment – a high quality, well-made dress will have a higher resale value.

Tip: in any case, you should not wear the same costume for longer than a year.

Tip: when considering your dance budget, include costumes into your expenditures, not just lessons and competition costs.

How do I choose the design?

Ballroom competition costumes are not just beautiful, but are also designed to show your movement. Fringe is often used for Latin and Rhythm costumes because it accentuates your hip work. Standard and Smooth dresses have long skirts to amplify gliding movements. Fashion Yourself gowns have skirts that are made of flowing chiffon. You can add scarves to provide a feminine touch to a Ballroom gown or ruffles to add a twist to any dress. Standard dresses also often have floats, which are chiffons attached to the sleeves. When designing your costume, you can choose these in the Sleeves tab or the Scarf tab. If you create a design without sleeves, the floats will be attached to bracelets.

Tip: if you are a syllabus dancer competing in both styles, order a body suit and separate Latin and Ballroom skirts all in the same color. This will keep you fashionable and save you money.

Tip: choose costume designs that make your dancing look its best, not designs that look good on top professionals.

Tip: the URL address of the Design page changes when you add, remove, or change the design components. So, if you want to ask your dance teacher or a friend for advice, copy the URL with your design and email it to them. You can also add the page to your favorites.

How do I choose the color?

Bright colors attract attention and, of course, you want to attract the judges’ attention. Don’t be shy to wear colors you wouldn’t wear in everyday life – remember, this is a costume. Pastel colors have a softer look and sometimes teachers recommend them. If you would like to order a costume in a pastel color, but the colors on the screen look too bright, add comments on the PayPal checkout page. Black, although slimming, can be hard to see on poorly-lit floors. If you are ordering a black costume, we recommend adding rhinestones and lace to make it sparkle. Nude color is very sexy and can work great for pro-am competitors and amateur competitors of gold or open level.

Tip: use colored lace, scarves, and drapes on black and nude costumes to brighten them up. This way you can wear slimming black or sexy nude yet stay noticeable against dark backgrounds or skin-tone dance floors.

How do I choose the embellishments?

Dance costumes have to look good from a distance because the audience and the judges can be quite far away. Fashion Yourself allows you to add large lace pieces as embellishments. Lace looks gorgeous up close and very elegant from a distance.

Another way to make a costume look stunning on the dance floor is to use rhinestones. Swarovski rhinestones are a defining characteristic of a competition costume. With each selection of rhinestones we scatter ten gross (1,440) of them on the costume to make you shine like a star under the competition lights. The amount of rhinestones you should select depends on the design and the size of the dress. The more fabric is used, the more rhinestones you need. We recommend adding two selections of rhinestones to Latin or Rhythm dresses and three or four selections to Standard or Smooth gowns.

Tip: keep in mind that some competitions do not allow rhinestones for amateur syllabus levels. Check the rules for the competitions you are planning to attend.

Tip: if you are not allowed to wear rhinestones, order a costume without rhinestones and add them when you reach open level.

How do I show off my features and hide my flaws?

Every girl deserves to look her best on the dance floor. When you look good, you feel good and you dance well. The dress design and style should emphasize the aspects of your physique and dancing that you want to highlight, and deemphasize those things that you want to hide. For example, shapely arms can be showcased beautifully in a sleeveless gown, and a beautiful back can be shown by having an open and revealing back design. On the other hand, a tummy can be hidden under a drape or a scarf, and a larger bottom can be balanced by having an elaborate design drawing the eye upward. Be honest with yourself – you know better than anyone what your assets are. Since every dancer’s body is unique, here are some suggestions to show off your features and hide any flaws.

Legs:

To show your legs, don’t add a Short Skirt. Adding fringe or ruffles will show movement without hiding your legs.

To cover your legs, add a Short Skirt to the skirt base. Add fringe or ruffles on top of the Short Skirt.

Bottom:

To accentuate your bottom, add a scarf that covers only your bottom.

To hide it, choose a scarf that covers your back and your bottom.

Belly:

Add a drape to the dress to cover the belly or choose a scarf to add detail and draw attention away from it. Our costumes for larger sizes use slimming body suits that have a smoothing effect.

"Muffin top" or "love handles":

Choose top back that is not too low and not too wide. Also, a scarf and/or a drape can do wonders.

Bust:

For a large bust, avoid skinny straps. Choose a top front which does not have a very low cut. Choose a top back that is not completely open; a strappy top back can provide support. Our costumes for larger sizes use cups that provide more support.

For a small bust, choose any design. We use bra cups that not just provide support, but also add size to smaller cup sizes.

Arms:

To show off your arms, you can use a sleeve design that does not cover them or you can add a scarf to the dress without choosing sleeves. The scarf would be attached to a bracelet.

To cover your arms, add long sleeves to any other sleeve design.