Looking for dance costumes?
Finding that you cant order from most costume sites because you aren’t a dance instructor or studio owner?
I have a fond appreciation for quality dance costumes at an affordable price.What I don’t have is a fond appreciation for NOT being able to view or purchase many dance costumes as most costume companies are “Teacher Exclusive”.
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I get it, I promise I do. I’m a parent, not an instructor. But our studio allows parents the option to select their dancer’s solo costume and I appreciate and want to take 100% advantage of that.
So I’ve had to go beyond the major costume company catalogs and their websites. And you can too. I’ve had a ton of success finding costumes for my daughter that were perfect for her dances.
I’m here to show you how to do the same!
Dance Costumes On Ebay.
Yup. Ebay. I’ve purchased new and pre-owned dance costumes on Ebay for a fraction of what they cost originally.
Here are some tips to finding quality costumes on Ebay:
Set the location to US Only (or your home country if you are outside of the US).
There is an overwhelming amount of “dance costumes” on the internet. Many of these come from China, Hong Kong, etc and just aren’t quite what we are looking at for competitive dance. Selecting “US ONLY” will eliminate most of these filler costumes so that you can have a more quality focused search.
Set your price range.
If you cannot afford to pay for a $200 costume don’t allow them into the results.
You’ll find a $200 costume you love and you’ll either be mad that you can’t have it (and will have a hard time settling for something else) or you will purchase it and regret spending the extra cash that you cant afford.
Side note – I have seen some breathtakingly beautiful custom costumes on Ebay for well over $200. If you can afford that in your budget and are looking for something custom you can ignore setting the price range.
Use keywords.
Searching just for “Dance Costume” is going to bring you hundreds of thousands of results.
Even selecting US ONLY only narrows that search to tens of thousandsof results.
Ain’t nobody got time for that.
Keywords in your search help eliminate what you aren’t looking for to present you with what you are.
Example: Doing a lyrical number? Search “lyrical dance costume” or “lyrical costume” or “lyrical custom costume” etc.
My usual searches are “custom dance costume” and “sequin dance costume” (We like flashy costumes).
Check the feedback.
Of both the seller and the item if possible!
Item feedback is not always available but seller feedback is. Only buy from a reputable seller with an established Ebay history.
Read the comments. Especially if there is any negative feedback. Negative feedback does not always mean a bad seller. Read the comments to see why people have rated the seller the way they did.
Dance Costumes on Facebook
SO MANY COSTUME GROUPS!
And I’ve purchased from a few of them!
There are always risks involved with buying things outside of a regulated marketplace such as Amazon or Ebay.
When and wherever possible use PayPal and make sure the costume seller sends you an invoice for the costume before paying them.
Paypal will protect most (there are limited exceptions) transactions against fraud etc.
Most costume resale groups have rules to follow. Make sure you are aware before posting or purchacing costumes. These rules (if there are any) can usually be found in the “pinned post” or “docs”.
Personally I am in so many costume groups that I have had to disable notifications and unfollow them from showing up in my newsfeed because there are so many costumes being posted all the time! But its nice to be able to go to my groups to browse and search when I’m specifically looking for costumes.
Here are some popular costume groups to join with costumes posted regularly:
Competition Dance Costume Resale – Solos, Duets, Trios & Groups for $75+
Competitive Dance Costume Resale
Dance Competition Costumes On A Budget: $75 Shipped & UNDER
High End Custom Costume Resale
Plus many, many more!
There are also a TON of custom costume designer pages on Facebook.
These are typically for those with a higher budget but there are some beautiful custom costumes to be had. I do not have any to recommend as I have only window shopped designers pages, but one day I hope to give one a try.
Dance Costumes on Etsy
Can you say custom?
Etsy.com is a custom costume paradise!
These costume typically will be pricier but oh man are they pretty!
Similar to buying on Ebay, make sure you check seller ratings and feedback. Also make sure you clearly understand the sellers policies and read the costume descriptions carefully.
Dance Costumes on Amazon
Amazon has everything.
Dance costumes are no exception to this!
Plus if you have PRIME you can get many of them with free 2 day shipping and free returns if they don’t fit quite right!
Goodwill & Thrift Stores
This probably wouldn’t be what most people would think of when considering where to get a dance costume.
Y’all would be surprised!
I can typically always find a catalog costume or 2 in our local goodwill. It might not be in my daughters size or what were looking for but its still pretty cool to stumble on them. I see them pop up more frequently around Halloween.
Goodwill also has a website you can shop. As of the day of this post there was a brand new Revolution Dancewear costume going for $7.99!
Dancewear websites & companies that sell costumes to parents (or anyone)
Of course there are actual dancewear companies that have costume sections open to the public. These typically wont be as fancy as the exclusive ones, but you can find a nice looking costume with a transparent price at the following places:
All about dance seems to have many of the catalog costumes at a discounted price. Shipping is reasonable (and free with purchase over $65) and they accept PayPal.
Dancewear Solutions is great! They are the partner company of Weissman’s (a popular costume company) and they sell many great costumes and separates for both recreational and competitive dance.
Discount Dance Supply is one of the most popular dancewear companies. They also sell costumes, both teacher exclusive and those parents/anyone can buy. The selection is good and affordable.
Similar to the above companies, Just For Kix offers a wide selection of dance wear and they also carry a selection of costumes at an affordable price.
See you on stage!
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Know of another awesome costume resource I missed? Send it my way! dancemomcatlady@gmail.com
