When you’re ballroom dancing, you’ve got to be very conscious of how you hold your posture and core. Proper ballroom dancing practice clothes are good investments because they’re made with that in mind. To begin with, we’ll look at some of the ladies’ choices followed by the gentlemen in a future post.

Read this post about how wearing the right uniform helps your performance.

Let’s take a look at what’s available.

Ladies Smooth & Ballroom Dancing Practice Clothes

American Smooth and International Ballroom costumes are long with a full skirt. When you’re dancing, the skirt swishes quite a bit and you’ll feel the weight of the fabric around your legs.

Tops, dresses, & skirts are available in a variety of styles.

Designs for tops or the bodice of a dress include sleeves, sleeveless, cutouts with or without netting, bloused, halter, mock-turtleneck, spaghetti straps, and more. Personal preference rules when choosing your dancing practice clothes.

As far as the skirt goes, for maximum ease of movement, look for a very full circle that falls anywhere from mid-calf to ankle. Any longer and you risk tripping on it.

On the other hand, some styles will be more body-conscious through the hips and thighs, flaring out towards the bottom for a sophisticated look. Either style works for your ballroom dancing practice clothes.

Ladies Rhythm & Latin Dancing Practice Clothes

Tops for American Rhythm and International Latin are similar to the Smooth/Ballroom style. Actually, that’s great when you’re taking a lesson because you’ll only have to change your skirt when you switch to the other style.

However, the Rhythm/Latin skirts and dresses are worn shorter, in most cases above the knee. Asymmetrical hems and deep slits are also popular styles. Many practice skirts come with shorts to wear under them. Just add a top and you’ve got a complete training outfit.

In addition, in practice, as well as on the competition floor, you may see loose, billowing pants or pants with fringe.

That’s enough to get you started. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to explore the possibilities when it comes to ballroom dancing practice clothes. When you dance in them, you’re gonna feel like a million bucks!

Here are your Dance Safari posts, “Guide to Buying Ballroom Dance Shoes” and “Ballroom Dancing Basics – Partnership, Dance Position, and Timing“.