How to Make Godets for a Flamenco Skirt

I have always found making godets to be a real headache.  These two videos give a good explanation of how it's done, though I'm still not totally clear on how to get the sides of the godet the right size! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmelY51UlLA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7Nht9U3QHI The important thing to note is that a godet is never a triangle:  [...]

Dress For Flamenco - All about Flamenco Costume

Bata de Cola Pattern

Because it's so hard to find a bata de cola dress ready-made, I'm often asked for help on how to make your own. Unfortunately, making a bata de cola dress is not for the faint-hearted. Even my regular flamenco dressmaker, who makes wonderful ruffled flamenco dresses, finds them difficult.  Getting the fall of the ruffles [...]

Dress For Flamenco - All about Flamenco Costume

Professional Flamenco Dresses

As a student, the sensible place to buy your performance wardrobe is on the second-hand market or on eBay - unless you have the skills to sew your own. However there will come a time when you need a professional-quality dress tailor-made for you. Unfortunately, the best Spanish flamenco dressmakers have been slow to create [...]

Dress For Flamenco - All about Flamenco Costume

Flamenco Patterns for Skirt

Making your own flamenco skirt is tempting, but it's not that easy.  The multiple panels and long hem mean you'll be sewing for hours!   For practice and student recitals, a skirt like the Bal Togs flamenco skirt is perfect and only costs around $40 (see picture on right), so it's hard to see why you [...]

Dress For Flamenco - All about Flamenco Costume

How to make sleeves you can dance in

I've been lucky to have access to a specialist flamenco dressmaker for most of my flamenco outfits - but once or twice, I've had to resort to an ordinary dressmaker, with mixed results.  Don't get me wrong, a good bridal dressmaker will know exactly how to go about making you a beautiful flamenco dress, given a few photos [...]

Dress For Flamenco - All about Flamenco Costume

How to choose fabric for a flamenco dress

Flamenco skirts and dresses require a lot of material - allow 2 metres (2.5 yards) for a simple skirt and 3 or 4 metres for a dress.    That much fabric is heavy!   Bear that in mind when buying fabric to make a flamenco dress, and  look for materials that are on the lighter side. Don't [...]

Dress For Flamenco - All about Flamenco Costume

Mexican Folklorica Shoes for Flamenco

Thanks to the many Californians who've told me that Mexican Folklorico shoes are a good - and economical - substitute for flamenco shoes, for those on a budget. Although I've never examined a pair of Mexican dance shoes, I can understand why they would stand up well to the rigours of flamenco. I remember some years [...]

Dress For Flamenco - All about Flamenco Costume

Bargain Flamenco Dresses

As we all know,  flamenco dresses are horribly expensive.   Of course, we offer some good value flamenco dresses here on Dress for Flamenco, but what if you don't like buying online? One option is to go to Spain.  I know that sounds like an expensive solution, but what a marvellous excuse to take a flamenco holiday!   If you [...]

Dress For Flamenco - All about Flamenco Costume

Adding Nails to Character Shoes for Flamenco

I've had several enquiries about adding tacks to character shoes - including a couple from people who were sold character shoes as flamenco shoes, and didn't discover their mistake until too late. I have bad news, I'm afraid - you can't add nails to character shoes, or any other normal shoe for that matter. The [...]

Dress For Flamenco - All about Flamenco Costume

Flamenco Skirt Styles

Flamenco skirts can be cut several different ways.   The best skirts for flamenco are slim-fitting around the hips and flare generously towards the hem.  This is usually achieved by using panels, which are very narrow near the waist and get wider as they go down to the hem. Some skirts have more v-shaped panels (called [...]

Dress For Flamenco - All about Flamenco Costume