Modesty's Costume Closet

My current project is making a new ballroom gown for a competition in March. My theme has been gothic rose as mentioned in a post I made a year or so ago.  Old design ideas  So as you can see there were a few considerations for this theme and a new dress. Now that I have a dress and have made a few costumes, I know what cuts I like. Some of the tailoring elements for the dress that I like are:  Godet Flared skirt Off the shoulder wide neckline Long sleeves The aesthetics/theme that I was aiming for were:  Gothic Colors Dark Roses So my first order of business was finding a pattern. I know...I could draft my own but I don't. I found something I liked from Just Dance Patterns .  Design 465 It has all the elements that I wanted. Off the shoulder neckline, godet skirt and long sleeves. I sent the pattern to a printer to get it printed on A0 paper...which is becoming a favorite thing for me to do now.  But obviously, I need to make the dress a bit of my own des...

There two things to consider when designing a dance costume:  Allow the dancer to move safely without interference Enhance the dancer's movement and body aka draw attention.  Let's discuss these considerations.  Movement Safety For a dance costume, you don't want the dancer's movement impeded or restricted by the costume. The style of dance (or the choreography) plays a role in the design. A dance costume for a dance that includes leaps and landings will have different design considerations for movement safety than a more deliberate, slow dance.  There are a few areas of focus for this on a dance costume: Feet/Legs (Hem), arms (Sleeves), and Torso (bodice). Hem This refers the the bottom edge of any skirt or pant leg.  A hem should allow for what I like to call "foot clearance". This is what I failed to realize with my earlier costumes for ballroom dance: the hem needed to be at my ankle or higher while in the high heels.   The style of shoe and the co...