Which dress?
By Leena Teperi - couture dressmaker

So, it's time to get a new dress. You may have an idea what you want, but your teacher, your partner, your mum, your hairdresser your freind and even your dressmaker all give you conflicting advice!

I think that a good dress is essential but it should not be the main thing. For me, the best dress is such that it actually gives space for the judges and audience to look at your dancing and also gives you the freedom to dance.

It is like Coco Chanel said:
When a lady enters the room if you say, 'What a beautiful dress,' the dress is not good. When a lady enters the room if you say, 'What a beautiful lady,' then the dress is good. A dress should give you confidence when you look in the mirror, you know that part is done, your hair and make-up are done and then you can concentrate on the main thing: dancing.

Easy to say, but how to achieve this? Here are some tips whether you are going to buy a new dress from the rack, a second hand dress or have one made for you.

First be honest with yourself and check your body type. Do you have wider shoulders
and bust than your hips, or the other way round? Do you have long or short back,
big bust, waistline larger than hips etc? Also, think what part of your body you do not
want us to look at and what part of your body you think is your best asset. It might - and actually in most cases I have seen - not be the one others think. I have had customers who tell me they have a big bum but as I see it they just have exceptionally small waist which just makes it look big. And some girls think their C-cup is simply embarrassingly big, other girls want their D-cup bust to look even bigger.

Whatever it is, if you do not want anyone to look at your, for example, bum, do not emphasise it. Instead, emphasise your neckline or bust and please do not try to cover your behind with a big decoration. That just makes all of us look at it and think:
Oh, she wants to cover her big bum and my God, it IS big. Instead, leave that area as plain as possible and have that decoration, for example, close to your face so that we look at your sparkling eyes. So do emphasise your best asset and leave the weakest one alone.

Another thing we all have heard of is usage of vertical and horizontal lines. Yes, vertical lines do make you look taller and slimmer, horizontal lines vice versa. So we use these lines to balance body shape. For example, if you have wide hips and narrow shoulders with small boobs, just emphasise, i.e. create a horizontal line to your shoulder line or bust line. And leave that hip area alone, please. Again, if you try to cover your large hips for example, with draped chiffon or a fully stoned belt you will just create a horizontal line on your hip area and make it look even wider. And because of that belt there, oh my, we certainly look at your hips. The theory of using vertical and horizontal lines is very simple and easy for everybody to understand as words, but it can go terribly wrong, so using them does not actually mean you literally 'draw' vertical lines with rhinestones from top to toe.

If you are blessed with a body type all Kate Mosses and Elle McPhersons have, you can wear basically everything. Lucky cows!

Then the colour.
Study this thing beforehand. Where is the competition held? Is it the most important competition in your life and you want the dress to be perfect only then and there, or is it for all your Sunday competitions? If it is mainly for one big competition for example, the Nationals held in the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, do go for the colour that is good there.

The ultimate best colour in the Winter Gardens I think, is white. Avoid flamenco reds, pinks, lilacs and pale greens as they easily look dull and grey in the Winter Gardens. Another good example is Brentwood where the International competition is held. It's big, it's a sports hall, the floor is light, it has very artificial, sharp lights, and a lot of things happening outside of the dance floor also drawing attention (traffic, drama).

Use bright colours and a simple design. In the Winter Gardens, dresses are full of rhinestones and they look fantastic under those lights, but then in Brentwood, they seem to disappear and to me are not worth their expensive price.

Next, what colour suits you? Mmmm, do we need to think colour-me-beautiful theory as you already have fake tan, loads of make-up and dyed hair? I mean, if you have changed your skin colour to orange and your hair jet black, does it matter if your dress is white which normally wipes all your own hardly existing colours off? Colours give us associations. For example colour-me-beautiful consultants say black does not suit anyone. I say if it does not suit anyone well, it does suit everybody in the same extent. Black, as an example of one colour, gives an association of drama and seriousness (that is why it is used in business suits), also elegance and mature style. It is a protective colour, 'I want to keep my privacy and distance, please' -colour. Think about Matrix and their black leather coats. Serious business, isn't it? So, think about colours, what is your 'message' you want to give and choose your colour.

Designing a dress and having it done successfully means putting together the right design, right material and right colour. If one of these goes wrong, you have a disaster.

So listen to experts. Believe me, if something has not yet been done, there is usually a very good reason for that. Being creative in the wrong way and desperately trying to do something that has never been seen before can end up in tears and losing a lot of money.

So, on to buying a dress. Either a new one from one of those big companies or second hand. Be careful to make sure it really suits you and YOU like it, not the person who is selling it to you. It is an expensive investment and I think it is better to pay a little bit more and have a dress you can wear a lot than have several cheaper disaster ones. Sometimes when a girl changes her dress she will hear “Where is that dress you have been wearing for the last year? We just absolutely love it and it just suits you so well!” Also, if you have found your style just simply stick to it (if it's a good one) don't change it for the sake of changing a style.

If you can't find a nice dress off the rack or second hand but only find nice designs but the wrong colour, or perfect design but it just does not fit - then have one made for you. Then you can take part in designing the dress. You may have it totally your own design or your dressmaker can design it for you.

Remember that dressmakers have ethics, i.e. if you go there with a photo and ask for an exact copy they should refuse. It wouldn't be nice for you to go to the competition and see a full copy of your dress on your competitor. This happened to me in my Amateur days and believe me that can ruin your day. So do not do it as it actually does not give you any benefits. You can of course have ideas and inspirations, as they say that if somebody tries to copy a dress it is a good one, but just be careful not to rock the boat. A full copy also makes it more difficult to sell your own as there is already a similar one. Also, respect your dressmaker, she is not your enemy, she is there to help you and possibly has made more dresses in a month that you ever will have yourself in your career so there is a good chance she knows something about dresses! Give her lots of time i.e. order your dress in time. Also as it is your dress, make time to go for fittings and have patience and time to stand there in front of the mirror.

You are in a business where you are under criticism all the time and you might feel that the only thing you get are negative messages and disappointments but unfortunately that is what you have to take, if you want to improve. Having a good dress will help you to regain your self-confidence, make you feel good and confident, and give you space in your mind to concentrate on the main thing, dancing.

I wish you the best of luck in your career!

Leena Teperi
Leena can be contacted by email: leenateperi@yahoo.co.uk

Other articles that may be of interest:
Duffers guide to Juvenile Dress Code
Hair and Make up tips