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The 1st Ladies of Football Throw it Back for The Redskins 85th Anniversary

For the football team's 85th Anniversary, the Redskins Cheerleaders decided to pay homage to past cheerleaders by recreating some of their vintage uniforms. The 1st Ladies of Football have almost 55 years of inspiration to draw from- they are the longest running NFL cheerleading organization! 

Line Up designer Michelle collaborated with Director Stephanie Jojokian to remake the uniforms for this year's team. The throwback looks replicated the original vintage inspiration, but were tweaked slightly to match the team's current color scheme and create a  more modern fit.

Former Redskins director Donald Wells and former Cheerleader Ann Marie Ludlow gave us the scoop on the designs from the past years. Read more and check out some throwback photos below!

The Iowa State Dance and Drill Association Championship is one of the largest dance competitions in the Nation, combining both solos, high school, and college dance teams from multiple categories for a full weekend of dance! This year's competition was held earlier this month on Noveber 30th - December 1st.  For a full list of the results and categories visit their website!

ISDTA has been holding their championships since 1976, and we are so glad to have outfitted a few of the teams attending this year's competition with their #LineUpLook! Check out some photos from the talented Tim McConnell below, and view even more at Tim McConnell Photography. 

Our partnership with the Minnesota Vikings Cheerleaders has evolved over the last 20+ years from the first practice wear apparel that we made them in 1992, to their multi-uniform wardrobe of the present!  Their looks have changed so much over the years and we've loved watching their look evolve.

This year's extensive costume wardrobe includes numerous pieces that work for a variety of gameday and appearance activities. Fun fact - the cheerleaders name all of their costumes to make it easier to coordinate with the team!  We've highlighted our favorite MVC looks below - take a look! 

Our 2018 Dance Costume Collection is here!  To celebrate we've rounded up our absolute favorite looks and paired them with some amazing and talented dancers (aka our models)!  

To curate this year's collection, we discovered what inspired our customers this past year.  For lyrical and contemporary it's romance: soft and feminine nudes, floral patterns and lace, and sheer layers.  For jazz and tap it's intensity: playful fringe, plenty of energy, and bold strength.  For hip hop it's fierce and theatrical: looks drawing inspiration less from street wear and more from music videos and NBA dancers.  

Get inspired and take a peek below!

If you've been following along our How To Design A Custom Dance Costume series, we've previously covered finding inspiration, design consultations, and fabric choices.  Up next in the process is the prototype! 

A prototype, or sample garment, is the best way to ensure your team's final group order turns out how you you'd like. 

Your costume company loves prototypes because they need to figure out how to pattern and construct your custom costume.  And you'll love the prototype because you can make sure your custom costumes look and feel great before proceeding with the full order! 

We answer some common questions about dance costume prototypes below: 

One of the most important aspects of a performance is how you feel in your dance costume.  The more comfortable and confident you feel, the better you will perform!  A costume that is flattering on the entire team is one way to make sure your dancers look and feel 100%, and elevate your performance.  Here are some tips for designing dance costumes that will look good on the entire team!  

You have your dance costume concept selected and illustrated-  Now it's time to choose fabrics!

Regardless of the look you are trying to achieve, the best fabrics for dance costumes incorporate spandex.  This ensures that your form fitting garment can MOVE with you when you dance.  The fabric you choose depends a lot on your costume concept - do you want something edgy and futuristic (think hologram accents!), or lightweight and elegant (think sheer mesh!).  

Below, we break down our go-to fabric options that most costume companies have available.  There are plenty of novelty and specialty fabrics out there that make amazing costumes - but here are a few of the tried and true basic favorites that will work for any dance costume!