Because I spent all of last weekend in an auditorium watching my oldest daughter’s dance competition, every song that I have heard this week is immediately evaluated for competition and every piece of clothing I see immediately becomes a dance costume. If your daughter dances, you know that most costumes are ordered or made, minus the rhinestones. Mom gets to do a lot of bedazzling, which involves lots of fabric glue and rhinestones.
For one of my daughter’s group dances this year, I had the pleasure of adding over 1,200 rhinestones to retro bathing suits. A polka dot headband and vintage red glasses were added and it was adorable. Thankfully before bedazzling, I was given two amazing rhinestone tips that I am willing to share. First, apply the fabric glue directly to the fabric with a baby medicine dispenser or a toothpick. Second, use a small birthday candle (straight from the grocery store) to pick up the rhinestone and apply it to the fabric. This saved me hours of time and no messy glue on the fabric.
Here are a few outfits that could easily be turned into award winning costumes.
At our studio, we call our competition girls under 8, the babies. Isobella and Chloe’s Girls Ruffle Bikini would be a perfect costume for our sassy babies. Add some bright green rhinestones to the green cording, straps, and waistband and scatter some pink, green, and yellow rhinestones on the ruffles and this bikini is ready for the stage.
Ooh La La Couture’s Devin Rose Gold Dress is ready for the stage as is, but at our studio we love rhinestones so we would add some more gold rhinestones to the bodice and straps. Put your dancer’s hair in a high bun and this dress would be the perfect lyrical or ballet costume for any age.
For our teen dancers, costumes vary more, some of my favorites are street clothes transformed. For instance, take Truly Me’s Vintage Pink Tunic with Hanky Trim and pair it with white bootie shorts and sports bra and it’s a trendy lyrical or contemporary dance costume. Leave the tunic as is or add some pink rhinestones. This may be what my teen dancer wears for one of her solos next year.