As costume designers and creators, we’ve all been there: the show’s about to begin, the costumes are ready, the stage is set—but something unexpected happens and you’re suddenly racing against the clock to solve a problem that could derail the entire look. This happened to us during the recent dance production of “Dance…no matter what”…

Finally, it’s time for the big reveal. Creating a costume for a production like “Dance…no matter what” is both a challenge and a joy, especially when you’re aiming to capture the grandeur and elegance of Marie Antoinette’s era. For this particular ballet costume, we wanted to bring opulence and drama while maintaining comfort and practicality…

Designing a ballet costume inspired by the opulence of Marie Antoinette is a delightful challenge, especially when it comes to incorporating intricate elements such as a removable train. A train in ballet is more than just a decorative feature—it has to flow gracefully with the dancer’s movement while offering practical benefits, especially for quick costume…

Fitting a garment is always a process—one that calls for patience, a keen eye and a good understanding of body movement and design. Finally we’re ready to fit the Marie Antoinette costume we worked on for the “Dance…no matter what” dance production by Les Danseuses Adult Ballet studio and I thought I’d share a few…

Although the bodice pattern pieces are so minimal and uses only a fraction of the fabric, especially if you think about the size of the dress, it sure is one of the most important parts. It helps to sell the look we are aiming for…grandeur and glamour. In this blog post, I will discuss the…

In my previous blog post I discussed the pattern drafting process and how I determined the amount of fabric needed. So now we are ready to cut out the pattern. Because it is only a full circle skirt, it is quite simple to draw your pattern onto the fabric and cut it out. You basically…

As I’ve mentioned in my previous blog post, I drafted the pattern for the Marie-Antoinette costume about 7 months before the show, because I wanted to get it done before we moved. It can be a bit risky to do it this way, because people’s bodies can change a lot over a period that long,…

Toughest show yet! We’ve assisted with many shows in the past and by now, know that near the end, it always get’s a bit crazy as time is running out, but we minimise the damage by proper planning and supporting each other as a team. This particular show was really a challenging one on a…

It’s show time…again! In May 2024, Les Danseuses showcased their new dance production “Dance…no matter what” and again we had the privilege to make some of their costumes. It wasn’t without it’s challenges, like most projects, but in the end, all worked out fine and we enjoyed it. It’s all about how you start and…

Brought the audience to tears When you bring your audience and the cast backstage to tears, I would classify that as a success and the finale of the Les Danseuses dance production “When Life Happens”, did just that. It was definitely the climax of the show. Every scene lead up to this moment and it…

Working with difficult fabric This silver glitter fabric looks amazing and was quite striking on stage, but it was a big challenge to work with. The main problem with the fabric was that it stretches in only one direction, which makes it difficult to make a full leotard from this fabric, because a leotard needs…

This scene was a very sombre low point in the Les Danseuses dance production “When Life Happens”. It depicts the world in utter desolation and hopelessness without any colour. So for this scene we decided to use grey for the costumes to accentuate that. Add some interest We really didn’t feel like making another plain…

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, “When your test pattern makes it on stage”, we took on the challenge of making our very first tutu for the Les Danseuses dance production “When Life Happens” during the Covid19 lockdown. It was a lot of work, but such a fun and satisfying challenge to take on.…

Will we compromise? The most important thing in a dance costume is that it shouldn’t restrict the dancer’s movement. Of course the look is important to portray a certain image and tell a story, but in my opinion it is better to compromise a little bit on the look than the movement. That is what…

Relate to your audience Initially the male dancer, who was portraying the abusive partner in a romantic relationship, was going to wear an all black outfit, to emphasize the evil side of an abusive relationship. But fortunately, as life has it, a relationship is not always just bad. Through the choreography, you can see the…

Can you say you were at a ballet performance when there wasn’t a single pas de deux? According to Wikipedia, “A pas de deux is a dance duet in which two dancers, typically a male and a female, perform ballet steps together.” Whenever I go to the theatre for a ballet show, there are three…

Have you ever made a ballet tutu before? Well, this was our first one. We had to start over so many times that I lost count, but once you get the hang of it, it’s actually not that difficult. It’s just a lot of work and sometimes a bit uncomfortable when you try to stitch…

Are costumes just as important as the dance itself? When you create a production, it is not only the choreography that “speaks” to the audience, but also the costumes and the emotion created by the music, lighting and atmosphere. All of these aspects need to compliment each other in order to portray your message. So…

Designing our vision This was such a fun, yet challenging project. This costume was designed for one of the cast members who is not just a ballerina, but also an aerial dancer. So we knew we wanted to create a unitard and use two different coloured fabrics to create the illusion of a snake. In…

Don’t you agree with me that when you add lace to a garment, that becomes the star of the show? I just love lace, it’s so elegant and always finds a way to be current. Imitating nature Lace can be such a powerful tool, when used correctly. By adding just a bit of lace to…

I am not a big advocate for using glue on garments, but when you’re in a pickle and you’ve run out of time, it gets the job done. And that’s exactly what we used for the embellishments on this dance costume. Colour Choices For this “Eve” outfit we decided on a dusty pink instead of…

Who says only the ladies can sparkle? A lot of times the male dancers will only wear a plain shirt with a pair of pants, because they are mainly the supporting partner and all the attention should be focused on the female part. We strongly believe that the male partner’s costume can be just as…