Finding lace and trimmings for costumes is a never-ending task; EBay, Aliexpress, op-shops, generous gifts all make for a lively versatile inventory. But sometimes you can get stuck. Well here’s how I used white and silver in three different ways – not because I’d run out of ideas but because 3 separate clients all chose similar pretty lace for white lyrical costumes.
Silver sequin lace from Spotlight (the rhinestones were my addition)
This lace is readily available from Spotlight stores on Australia and New Zealand. It’s quite versatile but is becoming a little overused. So circumstances call for some creativity to reinvent this useful fabric. In the picture above it is overlaid on knitted lace and has a few rhinestones added.
Stretch lace over lycra
In the first costume the motifs from the lace were blinged up with crystal AB rhinestones and used to decorate the skirt and bodice of the costume.
close up of lace motif on upper bodice
The sequin lace blends beautifully into the lycra/stretch lace combo.
back view
The lace motifs are continued around the back of the bodice and onto the lace sleeve. This is a lovely simple costume for a young dancer. The current trend for bare midriff is included but with plenty of coverage elsewhere.
The second costume is a lyrical with a long stretch mesh skirt.
White Lyrical costume using silver lace
In this case the a corded silver lace covers the seam between the lycra and the white sequin mesh on the upper bodice. I’ve condensed space between the motifs to give a more solid silvery effect.
close up of back
The Spotlight lace could easily have been used here as well with a similar effect.
back keyhole
The addition of the corded lace over the seam between the lycra and the white sequin mesh gives the impression of a more complex lace fabric overall.
Pastel detailing
The final white costume required soft pastel colours so I thought a bit of hand painting might work well. You can see this is the same lace that was used in the first costume.
just like colouring in
The apliques were placed on the bodice and continued around onto the back of the skirt.
hand painted motifs added to costume
While the colours look a little bright here, under stage lights they fade to lovely soft shades.
appliques on nude mesh
The motifs again were placed over the seam between the upper and lower bodice,
a few rhinestones added some stronger colour points
And below is the finished costume. So you can see there are plenty of options for creating white and silver costumes.
soft pastels with white and silver
