Don’t Throw Away Old Dance Costumes, Recycle Them!

When I was growing up, there were no competitive sports for girls. We played intramurals after school, and it was very low-key. There was, however, dance. No competition, but it was something different. Crete, Neb., had one dance studio headed by Miss Weeks. We all took lessons in her basement. I always thought my best moves were with my “Jazz Hands”!

When our girls were in elementary school, there weren’t many more activities than I had. One daughter tried gymnastics, but it was short lived. Maybe because of my comfort zone, and their lack of whining to do something else, we agreed to try dance. “Jazz Hands!”

The girls danced from ages 5 to 18. I loved watching them twirl, strut, point in position 1,2,3…now I’m starting to sound like I remember all of the words that go along with each dance. Not really. Nor was I like the reality TV show dance moms.

I wanted to make sure our daughters weren’t one-dimensional, so they were also introduced to music. They both sang and learned to play string instruments. Title IX finally was catching on, and our youngest daughter participated in high school sports while still dancing her toes off in toe shoes. Lucky girl.

So Many Dance Costumes

During the 13 years our girls danced, they accumulated more dance recital costumes than Barbara Streisand wore on the set of Funny Girl. Money was not a concern because you wanted your daughters to be a part of the group, and they were a part of the group.

Okay, money was a concern, but we adjusted our budget to provide for glamour. I could also save on costumes by sewing them myself. Other costumes were cowgirl outfits or things I could just pull together. They also loved putting on the makeup for the recitals. Lipstick on an eight-year-old? I thought it was pretty funny, especially when I never wore any. No matter what they wore, they looked great!

After their dance careers were completed, I kept some of the costumes. Not sure why, but maybe it was my way to keep a bit of their childhood intact…for me. The outfits were laid to rest in a giant blue rubber tub labeled, of all things, “Costumes”. Not all of the costumes made it into the tub. While most were amazing, some were nasty, and some were plain stupid. I kept the amazing and slightly stupid costumes.

Recycling Costumes with Grandkids

At one point, I contemplated donating all of the costumes. However, I soon realized these costumes would be in demand again. At an early age, our grandkids realized that finding this giant blue rubber tub and dressing up in fluffy ballet dresses was something they weren’t able to do at home. It became an event when all four grandkids got together, dressed up and put on shows. “Jazz Hands” weren’t always a part of the script, but in some form or another, “Jazz Hands” always made it into the show.

I do need to make a confession. Our grandson was not as excited with the dressing up thing. When he was really little, he just giggled. As he got older and didn’t want to wear a costume from the giant blue tub, we found him other things to wear. Ties and hats were always a hit. It didn’t take long, and he became the emcee for the events.

As the grandkids got older, the costumes were put back into the giant blue rubber tub. I thought for sure it was time to play taps (not the “tap dance” kind) for the costumes. Lo and behold, they’re being recycled again.

Along came high school activities, and now our grandkids are coming over in search of props to support the football/basketball homecoming themes of the week. Well, sometimes, I could accommodate them. Olympics, camo, handy man, scientist, silly hats, and, yes, even a ballet costume.

Halloween events also bring the grandkids over looking for crazy things to wear. What the heck does the Bride of Chuckie wear? I didn’t know Chuckie was married? Bride of Frankenstein? Just wondering, do these women have “Jazz Hands”? Fortunately, none of them have asked for a scary clown outfit. All of our clown outfits are happy, thank goodness. No matter what, we do our best to accommodate our grandkids’ costume goals.

Maybe this is just another method of recycling…taking one thing that’s important in your life and reinventing it to fit the next phase of your life. Costumes that were cute in the ’70s continue to be cute in 2016.

Recycling is good, and life is good, especially with “Jazz Hands”!