Have you ever been asked to write or draw something unprompted? If so, you know how hard it can be to start a new project from scratch, with no guidance on what you should create.
Thankfully, when most of us start a new project, there are restrictions that inform what we can create. For custom dance costumes, your number one restriction is your budget. A good custom dancewear designer can create nearly any costume you can imagine. But the more design elements and details you ask for, the more your dancewear will cost.
To help you stay within your budget when requesting your next custom dance costume, we’ve broken down how our custom dance costume pricing works. After you read through this guide, you should have a good idea of what your next custom costume will cost you – and why.
(Note that the following pricing applies to group costumes. For solo, duet, and trio pricing, refer to our full pricing guide.)
The Factors That Affect Custom Dance Costume Prices
Our custom dance costume pricing starts at $150. At that price point, you can expect to receive a simple yet elegant design that’s customized to your theme or inspiration, using the colors and fabrics of your choice. You can also expect some amount of additional customization – though you might not be able to add everything your heart desires. If you want to add multiple additional elements to your costume, you’ll likely end up having to choose between them at the $150 price point.
However, for each additional $10 you’re willing to invest in your costume, some additional design space opens up. And even if you don’t have the budget to add multiple complex elements to your costume, we can often add simpler, less expensive versions of those elements while staying within your budget.
Below, we’ll run through some of the most common elements we add to our custom costumes – and how you can add simpler or more complex versions of each depending on your budget.
Adding Fringe and Ruffles to Your Costume
Fringe and ruffles are some of the most complex elements to add to a custom costume – but the easiest to explain pricing for. Costumes with multiple layers of fringe or ruffles are going to cost more than those with one or zero layers simply because it takes more time to add multiple layers, and multiple layers use more fabric. More fabric plus more time equals a more expensive costume.
So at lower price points, you might be able to add one simple layer of fringe or ruffles. At higher price points, you’ll be able to add multiple layers, and you’ll be able to utilize more time-intensive stitching and design work. The more complex and flashy your fringe and ruffle request, the more you can expect to pay for it.
Adding Rhinestones to Your Costume
Rhinestones are one of the most expensive elements you can add to a costume because, for most designs, our designers have to place each individual Swarovski Crystal rhinestone on your costume by hand. That’s why adding 100 rhinestones to a costume costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $45. Placing each stone is time-consuming!
However, there are ways to bling out your costume less expensively. One thing we often do is print rhinestone transfers onto our costumes, to liven up the costume’s sleeves or skirts. Because these transfers are printed on, adding them is cheaper than adding hand-placed rhinestones. You can also add pre-patterned (so not hand-placed) rhinestones to something like a choker, to give your costume that extra sparkle.
Adding Ribbon, Bows, and Appliques to Your Costume
At every price point, you’ll be able to add ribbon or bows to your costume. At lower price points, you can add something simple, like a ribbon bow. The ribbon we use for these bows is fairly inexpensive, and the labor cost to sew them on is minimal. This is one of the easiest ways to add a cute, additional design element to your costume without stretching your budget.
Ribbon and bows start getting more expensive as we use higher-quality fabrics and more complex stitching or lacing to add them to your costume. As with any element requiring extra fabric and extra time, the more (or higher quality) fabric we use, and the more time we spend adding the element, the more expensive that element becomes. But as long as we know your price point, we’re able to include some sort of ribbon or bow in any costume.
Adding an applique to your costume is also a great way to get a ton of bang for your design buck! Appliques look incredibly intricate to audiences, but they’re quite easy to sew on to costumes (since they’re only one combined piece of fabric). If you want to add a lot of detail to your costume on a budget, an applique might be right for you. Some of our most interesting costumes are simple designs that we’ve added an applique to.
However, even appliques can get expensive if you let them. We’ve designed and stitched custom appliques that required a bit more effort for some of our clients – and those custom appliques definitely added to the price of the client’s costume. But for the most part, if you want an intricate-looking design on an inexpensive budget, adding an applique is a great way to get it done.
We Love Creating Custom Dance Costumes – At Every Price Point
When we create a custom dance costume, we always create something that is truly custom and unique. At every price point, we never duplicate a costume design (unless specifically asked to), and you’re always able to work one-on-one with your designer – to make sure our design matches your vision.
Now that you understand how far your custom dancewear dollar can go, be sure to contact us to get started on your next costume. No matter your budget, we’ll make sure you or your dancers look great!