Stage presence comes down to more than just your dancing. Your appearance, makeup, and attitude are all elements that impact how successfully you communicate with the audience. Customizing your dance costumes gives you an even better chance to stand out on the stage by letting your creativity and your dancing shine. Whether you have a convention, competition, or even just a recital for your family, DIYing the details on your dance costume is a simple project.
The Base
Start with the overall theme of your performance. This will help you pick the base style and color. You have a lot of options for costume bases including leotards, two-piece brief and top sets, and accessories. Once you pick the style that matches the mood of your routine, you can move on to color. If you want a more subdued look, neutrals and nudes are a great option, but you can also lean into a color that matches the mood of your routine in a bold hue! The most important detail when it comes to your base is that it fits well and is stretchy and comfortable so you can dance without worrying about your costume.
Adding the Sparkles
Is it really a dance costume without sequins and rhinestones? This is the best part of costume customization! Make your costume shine by adding rhinestones with strong glue, bedazzler, or self-adhesive stones. Applying them randomly will give you sparkle, but patterns from a simple scatter to stars, swirls, and outlining the seams of the costume can make your costume sparkle beautifully from head to toe.
Paint
Fabric paint is another way you can create a one-of-a-kind costume. With options ranging from puffy paint to neon to glitter, you have plenty of opportunities for a unique and creative costume. Use the paint to create designs and shapes or paint a larger piece of artwork across the whole costume. If you are looking to add more details, fabric markers are more compact and easier to control. Stencils are also a great way to add perfectly proportioned shapes.
Texture
To add volume and texture to your costume, fabric accents like tulle, feathers, patches, buttons, and fringe can take your costume to the next level. Sometimes the best costumes come from thinking outside of the box! Just be sure not to add too many elements to your costume. Remember you want your costume to be a statement, not a distraction.
