When the curtains have closed and the audience have gone home, and the makeup, accessories and props have been packed, what can you do with your dance costume once the show is over? Sometimes it’s more than one costume that we have to worry about as well! Maybe you’ve had several costumes for a show, or maybe you’ve done multiple shows over the years. If you’re anything like me and you have a dedicated shelf in your wardrobe to costumes that don’t even fit anymore, then this blog is for you!
A quilt made from a wide variety of costumes!
Make A Quilt
If you’re sentimental about costumes and performances then this is a great option, especially in situations where you can’t use your costumes again. You can cut squares of fabric from your costume and sew them onto a quilt. This way your performances are immortalised into your dreams when you sleep at night! This works best if you have a few different costumes as well, so you can have a kaleidoscopic quilt to snuggle up with and dream of future shows.
Being a ballerina bat for Halloween is both original and fun!
Use Them As Costumes Again
Use them again! Not necessarily for performances, but for other events like costume parties or Halloween. This takes the time, effort and money out of getting more costumes that you’ll probably never use again. If you played a fun character in one of our performances, like a teddy bear or a crayon, then this costume becomes a creative, ballet-esque take on what would otherwise be a regular costume. Dressing up as a ballerina is also a winning situation because you get to show off your ballet skills to everyone!
Costumes from this year’s summer intensive used from three different past shows!
Give Them Back To The Studio
For events like summer intensives, instead of making more costumes, we like to be resourceful and use costumes that we already have at TLFCB. We DIY them a bit so they’re unique for every show. Donating your old (but clean and whole) costume to us would not only it be clearing space in your cupboard, but it would also be helpful to us! We’d then have more costumes to choose from and more variety for summer intensives and other events.
Adding a fun flair to a leotard with old ballet tights!
Upcycle Them
If you’re particularly crafty, you can get to work and upcycle your old costumes into more wearable items! You don’t have to go the traditional route of using your costumes as tops, skirts or dresses. You could also use the fabric to make hair accessories, necklaces or even bags! There are tons of ways you could reuse old pairs of tights that have rips or holes in them as well. Here are a few ways to upcycle old costumes, tights and shoes.
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