troupe costuming - lrose and other questions

[artemisia_danst]

*Has anyone here ever ordered a large quantity from Lrose. how long did your order take?

they are telling me it can be here in time for my big show, but i'm a bit scared, cause if it doesnt we have a huge problem. i can find other stuff locally but not as nice, so i'd really prefer to get their stuff, but i'm so scared it wont get here on time.

for those who have ordered from them, how long did it take?

* i'm looking for 6 or 8 white skirts. style doesnt matter that much. any recomendations?


thanks
artemisia

[bintbeled]

I just asked L Rose if they could do 5 jazz combos for me in a month (plan B for Rakkasah east), and they said it would be no problem. The only prob I've heard of with late costuming wasone of my students who ordered a skirt for a recital, and they misplaced her order. She called to check on it and they made it and zipped it right out to her on time.

[Monica]

In my experience if LRose says they can do something by a certain time, they will.

[Lauren_]

I placed an order for 8 trumpet skirts, 8 sets of gauntlets, and various U tops and headbands in mid-July and needed them by mid-August. I was told 'no problem.'

I measured all the dancers and filled out their handy dandy group order form. I got an invoice, separated out by dancer, for who owed how much. A couple of questions and answers passed back and forth.

The costumes were shipped on August 8 (a full 10 days before our show). But the tracking info on the UPS website wasn't updating properly and I got scared. So I e-mailed L. Rose and Shoshanna called them for me, and verified that everything was on track.

The costumes arrived, packaged in separate bags with each dancer's name on the bag so I didn't even have to guess at whose was whose. Every single item fits like a dream and looks heavenly -- those trumpet skirts are truly deeply flattering to every body type.

I couldn't be happier. If they say they can do it, I'd believe them.

[artemisia_danst]

thanks

just needed the reassurance before i shell out 1600 dollars! we're ordering 16 sets. we do have costumes already for most of this show, but for one of the group numbers i really want to Up our look!

so Lauren, i'm guessing you didnt have that much rehearsing time IN costume left either than? how did that work out? which trumpet skirts did you get, i'm going for the deluxe? we have one little saidi move (hipdrop, combined with hipdrop/hop, with the knee in the air) in the choreo, and i'm not sure how that'll work.. i'm scared of ordering them with splits at several of the troupe will go on strike then ;-)

Artemisia

[ozma]

Call them and talk, they'll be upfront about what they can and can't do.

[Lauren_]

We had them for one rehearsal before the show.

We got regular trumpets, lycra instead of velvet. We ordered all different colors, wanted to look cohesive rather than uniform. You can see them here:
(sorry about the embedding, just click anywhere besides the button)

You Tube

There's a little saiidi-style movement around 1:06, but it's not big moves. The skirts don't feel restrictive at all, though. With a fishtail you should be in great shape!

We added about an inch to our measurements because I've found the skirts tend to ride up if they're too tight. They don't have to be tight to be slinky, and it's easier to move this way.

On Lora's advice I order mine really long, measure all the way to the floor. She talked me into a 40" instead of a 38" for my first one -- I'm 5'9 -- and I was so glad.

[artemisia_danst]

thanks for sharing that, reassures me of the range of movement! we're having the deluxe, which has even slightly more material on the bottom part, so should be fine for range of movement.

i thought about getting different colours, we are 16 dancers for this song,, changing 8 8 to 4444 to 22222222 formations. so i thought 4 colours, but then it's kind of hard when a few people are not there, have to be replaced by other, but might have the wrong colour for their part of the dance, etc, and several dancers can do several of the parts, we are about 20 people. so i think all in ONE colour will solve that issue and make this costume more re-usable for other gigs. i'm letting them chose the bra/top style though. i am scared that 16 in the same colour will be a bit samey though. oh well.

thanks for the measure info too. they've all measured themselves and send me that through, but i think i'm going to ask LRose to add an inch as well.

[Lauren_]

I love the idea of same-color skirts but different bra/belt sets. I think that would look very pulled together and at the same time give you so much to look at from the audience POV.

All different is nice for our non-pro group, BUT I wound up having to allow 2 of each color instead of one, so now when we're positioning for our dances I have to look at height, which 'part' the dancer knows, where each one is used to being, AND is she standing next to someone in the same color! I had to make a conscious decision to let go of color as an arrangement issue, but it annoys the Virgo perfectionist in me.

All one color is a great idea!

[artemisia_danst]

same here, that's why i let go of the 8 of each colour; if they all have the same colour, i can decide who gets to stand where and get which part, solely based on who knows which part best, and not what colour they happened to prefer.

we are going for the Lrose tops as well, simply because i cant get affordable matching bedlah in time, that'll be for the next show. most have nice to pro bella's for the other songs, but those are too much of a mish mash for this number. so i think L rose is the quick and efficient way to a pro look for this big number.

she has soo many different style tops that i think it will be nice. now all i have to decide is the belt.

[CFerhat]

Hi Artemisia,

I've ordered for as many as 14 dancers at once, and the order came in about five weeks, a couple weeks before performance. L Rose is very good at communicating by phone and e-mail, from my experience. On the order form, I actually put each person's name next to their order - it helps me keep everything straight.

One thing on tops - if you are ordering them w/fancy sleeves - chiffon, persian sleeve - make sure you get practice time in if you are doing any veil and/or cane work - that extra material makes a difference.

Good luck!
Christine

[Nisima]

I have ordered large amounts - up to 30 sets of things and if L.Rose says they can do it, they will. HOWEVER, you should definitely make sure Lora has a good number to contact you with questions and it's a good idea to go over the specs for different items (i.e., make sure it is extremely clear whether you want one or two slits in a skirt, and where positioned, over knee, on side, etc. Mistakes do happen and if the timing is going to be "close" then it is worth it to go over specs on phone. Also, sometimes there may need to be a slight adjustment to fit - some fabrics fit "tighter" or "looser" than others - that's to be expected. I would not be happy getting a large order for our troupe one day before performance - just not enough extra time to adjust fit if need be, or rehearse in costumes to get "used" to sleeves, skirts etc.
But, yes, I can vouch for the fact that L.Rose is very reliable - but I take the extra precaution to talk to her about how I worded specs so it's clear. Most of the time, if there's a question, either she or Shoshanna will e-mail or call me, but when time is short, I am very proactive about this aspect of large orders. And in the three years I've been ordering for our troupe, no L.Rose package has gone astray in shipping, ever!

[artemisia_danst]

thanks!
i'm just about to write up the order sheet

[artemisia_danst]

yippie. i got an email that our 16 sets are ready and have been shipped... let's hope they dont get stuck in customs. cant wait, hope they get here super soon

[suzyq52]

Two years ago, my instructor ordered quite a number of L Rose Trumpet Skirts, bras and tops for our performance. A lot of different colours - all in the velvet and what a striking group we were on stage! I still wear my outfit - the Trumpet skirts are wonderful. We had no problem receiving the order - just one problem with a costume that was sent in the wrong size but when L Rose was contacted that was quickly made right! I, personally, would not hesitate to order from L Rose again. I find my Trumpet Skirt soooooo comfortable and, of course, I love the colour - a nice bright pink!!!!! (That's the colour I mainly wear - everyone knows if it's pink, I have to have it!!!! lol)

[artemisia_danst]

ours are all red twighlight, i so hope they all like them. and that they fit.