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If there's one thing we've learned over many years of creating custom dance costumes, it's that things can quickly add up! However, we've found that there are always ways to cut costs to ensure that your dance costume stays in budget. While this sometimes means cutting out certain elements of your design, it doesn't always have to! Sometimes thinking out of the box with your finishing details can help you save big time.

Recently we covered 4 DIY Dance Costume Embellishments That Add the Perfect Finishing Touch. Next up in our Dance Costume Cost series is 3 unexpected ways you can save on custom dance costume costs!

Team: Iowa City Regina Dance Team
Director/Head Coach: Kaitlyn Cooley
Location: Iowa City, IA 
Style: High School Dance Team, Jazz

The Champagne Leotard, our best seller of 2017! 

We had a wonderful 2017 at The Line Up, full of new and exciting things! We launched a series of new dance videos featuring our amazing and talented models,  Kate and Ali signed on as our first ever #LineUpVIPs, we worked with TRIBE 99 to help bring you the 2017 Dance Combine,  and we've formed some phenomenal partnerships with new and familiar dance, skate, and cheer friends. 

While we're looking forward to 2018 and all of the fun things on the horizon (including Superbowl 52 that will be right in our back yard!) we decided to look back on what blog posts resonated most with you in 2017.  Below are our Top 10 Blog Posts from 2017!

The Detroit Lions football team unveiled some new uniforms this year with their recent rebrand. The organization removed black from their branding and logos while keeping their traditional "Honolulu Blue" and Silver colors that have been with the team since 1934!

With new team jerseys and apparel comes new cheerleader uniforms and we were honored to help the Detroit Lions Cheerleaders out this year! Check out the cheerleaders' new apparel, below:

We've kicked off our How Much Does a Custom Dance Costume Cost series and next up we're talking about dance costume embellishments!

Embellishments add the perfect finishing touch to your custom dance costume. But when designing on a budget, they're often the first thing to get cut. Why? Because they can get pretty costly and add up quickly! Not only do you have to consider the cost of the embellishment itself, but also the labor costs to have your costume company apply the embellishments for you.

However, you shouldn't have to sacrifice those finishing touches because of your budget! The easiest way to save is to apply the finishing touches yourself.

Here are 4 dance costume embellishments that you can add yourself for the perfect finishing touch, while also cutting costs:

The Tennessee Titans Cheerleaders designed adorable frozen themed uniforms for their Junior Cheer team this year. We talked with designer Michelle and account manager Lindsey to get the inside scoop on the pint-sized uniforms!  

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. 

A day or weekend of competition is mentally and physically exhausting for dancers, but they can prepare their body days, weeks and even months before competition to improve their strength, balance, performance, endurance, recovery and injury prevention.

Aitkin All Starz Dance Team in a Custom Jazz Costume

One of the most common questions we get regarding costumes is "how much does a custom costume cost?!" This can be a difficult question to answer because a custom costume is just that - custom - and depends on what you add! Everything is completely unique, which means that the pricing is unique as well.

As a general guideline, custom costumes can range anywhere from $150 to $600. The more detail and complex, the higher the price.  However, we generally tell people the average price of a custom dance costume is around $250, and to start with that budget in mind.  

If you're looking for more information, here are six areas that will determine how much your custom dance costume costs: