Many of you already know that I have been a dancer all of my life. I started ballet when I was 2 years old, but I hated it. However, I quickly learned to love it when I was handed my very first costume: my very own pink leotard, skirt, and a tiara. I felt like a princess. Of course as I got older I discovered that there was more value in dance other than just receiving a sparkly costume, but that did not stop the costumes from coming. Stuffed in a closet in the back of my hallway, behind my door, and hanging in my laundry room are piles of costumes. Within these stacks hide some of my favorite costumes I have ever worn, and also some others that are quite unique. In honor of 18 years worth of costumes, here is a rating of some of the greatest, and some of the not so great.
1. Ballet- Hotel California
Rating: 8/10
I have never been too fond of ballet, but this costume got me to like it just a little bit more. Overall I thought the color and the gold embellishments were really pretty and I loved the pancake tutu, a piece that I have never gotten to wear before. I have no complaints about this costume, but the fact that it was ballet did cost it a few points.
2. Jazz-We Go Together
Rating: 6/10
Although 8 year old me had never seen the movie Grease, after watching videos of me dancing to this iconic song there is no doubt that I hadn’t tried to channel my inner Sandy. I really liked this costume, but now that I look back on it feels a little plain. I was wearing regular black leggings, my company jacket, and two pieces of poorly cut pink ribbon. Even though I think we pulled it off, a true Pink Ladies jacket would have looked much better.
3. Ballet-Waltz of the Snowflakes
Rating: 10/10
This rating really contradicts the rating of my other ballet performance, but this costume really made me feel like it was in the Joffery Ballet’s performance of The Nutcracker. Even though this costume now lives in my laundry room, every time I go down there it reminds me of the magic I felt on that stage the night of my performance. The white flowers on the skirt and torso are so beautiful, and I will forever applaud my dance teacher for picking this costume.
4. Jazz- Christmas Performance
Rating: 3/10
To put it into the nicest words possible, I felt like a walking ornament. This performance was given when I was in 8th grade, and the costume felt a little kid-ish for the dancers my age. It was super itchy, large, and overall not that flattering. The one positive about this costume was that I only had to wear it once!
5. Hip Hop- Party Rock
Rating: 8/10
My love for my favorite style of dance, Hip Hop, stemmed from this very performance. I remember absolutely loving this costume because of the pink pants, even if they were a tad too big. My top did make me look like I was about to join a group of bikers, but I felt so cool. The main problem with this costume was sizing, but based on
the photo you can see I got over that very quickly.
6 .Jazz- Luck Be a Lady
Rating: 4/10
The choreography of this dance was super fun and the costume fit perfectly, I just did not like the fact that I felt like a bird as I turned across the stage. The feathers left a trail wherever I walked, which honestly posed a hazard to dancers who were after me. I also cannot fail to mention the pile of fluff that was clipped to my head, that really was the cherry on top.
7.Lyrical- Dear Prudence
Rating: 10/10
This costume, dance, and team will forever have my heart. It was so exciting to have a costume that was made to fit just me and wasn’t ordered off of Discount Dance. I remember being so nervous to compete this dance, but with the support of my amazing teammates and coach we were able to see this beautiful ivory dress take the state floor!
8.Hip Hop- Like a Boy
Rating: 10/10
Lastly, I present my most favorite costume to date. I got to wear this during my freshman year Orchesis show and no costume has beat it since. The top is pretty basic, black with a criss cross design on the front. But what really made it was the pants: camouflage sweatpants from Forever 21. I was so excited to perform this dance in this costume, especially since I got to dance with some upperclassman that I really looked up to!
After reflecting on all of my costumes throughout my dance career so far, I noticed a common pattern in the ratings. Many of the costumes that had high ratings were because I felt CONFIDENT in them, and the costumes with the low ratings served the exact opposite. Therefore, my advice to performers everywhere is to wear something you feel good in so that you can give the best performance possible.
I think its so cool that you get to keep some of the outfits outside of the one’s North provides. I used to do dance when I was younger and I still have pictures of me in my first costume. One out of the 10 you showed I particularly loved the first one because you genuinely look like a princess and I feel like that’d be fun dress to have or Halloween or something princess-themed, but number 7 would have to be my all-time favorite. I feel like that dress is something I would wear daily it gives beachy casual vibes and the urge to take a visit to the costume closet is now very immense!
Tess, your post about your personal ratings of your dance outfits is an interesting read. I liked how you took a more visual format, tying each pick or dance outfit with a picture and a short paragraph to give context for each rating. Overall, I do agree with your ratings, such as number 4. I think the shiny texture of the dress looks very distracting in the picture; it really gives the “walking ornament” look with the shiny finish and saturated red and gold. The only rating I disagreed with was number 5, the Hip Hop- Party Rock. While it does fit the theme of hip hop, I feel that the dance outfit itself looks sloppy, giving it a hodge-podge feeling where the colors and textures clash. For some of the high ratings for some of the dance outfits, I do agree with the ratings for the most part, as most of them have appealing colors and patterns that aren’t visually overwhelming, such as the fall colors of the Hotel California dress having colors similar of some of the butterflies in the fall. On the other side, I do agree with some of the lower ratings, such as Number 6, Luck be a lady dance outfit. In addition to being a hazard with its falling feathers as you’ve described, I think the dress itself feels generic with its single color scheme, making it feel like it can fit with any other music genre just as well as this one: doing the bare minimum. Overall, I find your post to be a fun read on aspects of art, dance and performance arts in particular, that I’m not as familiar with as other aspects of art.
Hey Tess!
I loved reading your blog post! As someone who does not dance, I always wondered how it must have felt to dance in cool (most often some kind of flashy) costumes. It was very insightful and fun to follow your train of thought and explanations! I also liked how you added a lot of photos because it made the reading experience more enjoyable and helped me understand where you were coming from- since after all, costumes ARE meant to be seen. The part that stood out the most after reading about your dance costumes however, was the end statement about confidence. I think the same goes for daily outfits as well. For me, I find myself rewearing pieces of clothing that make me feel nicer more often than the pieces I’ve bought just because they were the “new trend”. Fashion is art and art is subjective. Therefore, fashion is subjective. Even if the clothes you wear are considered “ugly” by whoevers standards, I like to think that being confident in your own outfits not only helps you feel better, but influences others around you to feel more confident too!
Ok, firstly…WOW
I have never done anything in my life that requires this many costumes but I kind of wish I did now because these are gorgeous.
I did ballet when I was around 5 or 6 years old but like you, I never really enjoyed it as much as I maybe should’ve. I loved the ballet slippers but going through the 7 different poses and listening to my ballet instructor simply proved to be too much for little Karen. Later, my mom signed me up for a more traditional style of dance, at least in my culture, called bharatanatyam. It’s known widely for its exquisite costumes, intricate makeup, and a variety of gestures (eyes, hands, and head). Again, I never really put much effort into it, mainly because I was 8 or 9 years old and it was the middle of winter, so I was mainly freezing my little legs in my dance instructor’s studio while she scolded me for putting my hand out when I wasn’t supposed or some other silly mistake. But anyway, coming back to your post, I can truly see all the dedication and hard work you’ve put into dance over the years and the costumes are merely a cherry on top to the beautiful dances you perform in them. Personally, I loved the Dear Prudence costume the most but the Waltz of the Snowflakes one is also pretty adorable too :).
Hi Tess, I found your piece really well-written and interesting. Although I don’t know much about dance, I can tell how much it means to you. Your blog post was really well organized and I like how you included a story and picture of each dance performance with a verbal description of what you enjoyed about each performance and outfit. I also thought it was cool that you saved all of your costumes to look back on later. I thought the takeaway at the end was really insightful and I agree that feeling confident will improve your performance in any sport or activity. One question I have for you is “was there a particular reason why you did not like ballet? Could it have anything to do with starting so young?” Starting any activity at two seems excessive, especially considering that I don’t remember even being fully conscious at that age. I found it admirable that despite your dislike of ballet, you could look at the bright side and still appreciate performing and the outfits. Overall, I think your piece was really engaging and well-written and had an important message at the end. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Tess,
I really love all of your costumes they all seemed really cool, I feel like it is so great that you love ballet now as you will be able to try on different styles of clothing. I love love your first costume, it’s really lovely and you looked awesome in it, the red and gold stole my heart. And I love the 3rd snowflake one, it’s great that you have a nice memory you can now remember back about your costumes, I feel like all these costumes must be significance to you as they bear one of your memories as you progress on being a dancer. It was such a funny comment that you felt like a Christmas ornament in your 4th dress. I was amazed at how much love you have for dance that you can know where all the dresses came from and probably where they bought it, because I would never look into it myself. I really like the ending when you say wearing something that make you feel good in for better performance, that is so right, as better cloths give you more confident, I hope you still are going on with dancing, it is such a great thing to do.
I love this post, Tess!