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One of the easiest ways to save on dance costumes is to plan ahead and take advantage of early bird discounts. 

Dance is a highly seasonal business, and when everyone wants their costumes in the fall, this can translate to an increase in lead-time and cost to you, the coach. To help offset this seasonality, every year The Line Up hosts an "early bird" sale from January to May, where teams can save on their custom dance costumes. However, the most common objection we hear is this "I don't have my team yet"! Here's a simple hack that many haven't considered:

You can take advantage of early bird savings by getting started with your design and prototype before you have your team formed. 

Competition season has wrapped up, your team's hard work has paid off, and it's already time to begin planning for next season.

Starting early on your custom dance costume design can save you time, stress, and money, but one of the main constraints we hear is, "I don't have my team or money yet!" 

No worries, there may be a solve for you! There are ways to get started even without your team assembled OR your funds in place for the year. Read on to find out how.

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!

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:

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:

Rhinestones are the perfect finishing touch to any costume, but often the biggest question we hear is: how many rhinestones do I need? It's a tough question to figure out especially when:

• 100 gems sounds like a lot, but is actually on the low end of the price spectrum,
• Design illustrations can be poor representations of a finished rhinestone design because it's difficult to represent gem size and placement accurately,
• Minor tweaks in spacing can drastically effect the quantity of rhinestones.

Did you know that many stains can be removed from your dance costume, skating dress, or cheer uniform using a few simple tricks?

To keep you garments looking new for years, be sure to remove pesky stains immediately before washing your costume.  You know the ones – self tanner, makeup, food, and even glue marks are all common stains that can easily be removed.  We’ll show you how, step by step, below! 

If we have to pick one single piece of advice it’s this: don’t be afraid to wash your costume!

We know, we know! The thought of something going wrong and potentially ruining your costume is enough to make you want to ignore the stinky mess! But not cleaning your costume can potentially cause more damage than just the smell factor.

Laundering your garment to promote longevity and to keep it sparkling fresh. With proper care, a well-constructed garment should last you several years. Rest assured, you can easily do it yourself without risking damage to your costume.

Check out the video tutorial and tips below from the experts in our laundry department on how to wash a dance costume, cheer uniform, or skating dress without worry!

Feeling overwhelmed with all the details when it comes to figuring out all of your team's apparel needs?  We know that planning for the upcoming season can be stressful, so we've compiled a dance costume planning checklist to make sure you're on track.  It includes activities for:

Styles Hunter and Lily Leo

When it comes to dance costumes, there's one ingredient that is pretty universal: sparkle.  Best way to add a little glitz and shine is with rhinestones, but paying your costume company to apply rhinestones can become a costly expense.  If you are on a budget like most teams, here are four great ways to get a sparkly dance costume that won't break the bank!