I can’t believe I am posting to the group about clothes but I am feeling a bit, well, desperate! My daughter and I have spent days looking for a simple, pretty fit & flare dress for her auditions. I never thought it would be so hard to find. We’ve been to the mall, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Modcloth online, feels like we’ve been everywhere but just can’t find a dress. What are some of your favorite stores, we leave for NY next Thursday and im starting to panic. Any suggestions would be so appreciated!
Target and Forever 21 have never let me down in this area- although, admittedly, their quality can be meh, it’ll be find if it’s just to audition in.
Perhaps chose something she already has and feels comfortable but pretty in.
Gee, modcloth was a definite go to. Francescas online has nice yet different dresses
I have two audition dresses right now, and I got one at Rue21 and one at Charlotte Russe.
Try Unique Vintage and Lindy Bop
Thanks everyone! We have Unique Vintage close by (the store). I think we’ll go there tomorrow and check out a few of the others too! Feeling better!
They have an online store too 
We just found two at BCBG- and they were 50% off!
D found her favorite audition dress last year at Francesca’s. We didn’t see anyone else wearing it throughout the season, and she received a lot of compliments on it.
A couple days ago, we went past a store in New Orleans that had dresses in the window. My D looked at each other with the same thought: we wished we had seen those dresses last year! Lol. Since we’re up north, that would not have happened. It just is funny how college auditions come up even now.
What do you recommend for shoes and also for all dance attire ( tights? Leggings? Shoes? Hair?)
Wear shoes you can move in comfortably that look nice with whatever you’re wearing, no stilts you can’t walk in. High-tops, flats, boots, can all be appropriate, if it goes with your look, isn’t “sloppy” and you can move around the stage.
For the dance portion, bring “real” dance wear if you have it - whether “proper” ballet attire or “jazz” (tights and leggings are both fine), but anything you can move in that is not baggy/sloppy is OK. No pajama bottoms, over-sized sweat shirts, slippers, etc. If you’ve got ballet slippers, jazz or character shoes wear/bring them - most dance auditions start with ballet warm-up. If you can only bring one type of dance shoe, jazz shoes are best (can be used for ballet as well), but moderate-heeled character shoes are OK, too. If you’ve got tap experience and have been told there will be a tap portion, bring those shoes, too. Dress like you’re going to a dance rehearsal and plan to sweat (even if you don’t). Many programs have “simple” dance auditions, but not all. Wear your hair so it doesn’t get in your eyes if you need to do turns or drop your head down.
Every year I watch young ladies teetering around on stilts during our regional audition which has an obvious, negative impact on their performance (despite our recommendation in the instructions not to wear high heels). Even if you can walk well with them, high heels can have an adverse impact on your vocal posture and its really hard to look “grounded” during your dramatic monologue or hitting your money note when you are on stilts. Wear flats or low heels, and avoid character shoes (except for dance calls - character shoes are for dancing and tend to show a little lack of imagination during an audition).
There was a girl in the same Francesca’s dress as my daughter at her second on-campus audition this year. Thankfully, my daughter took it in stride (though I was admittedly a bit panicky). Also, at the last audition we went to , one of her friends auditioning was asked to take off her heels for the second song she was performing.
My daughter wears a brown felt Free People jumper with a black turtleneck underneath, really cute black belt, black tights and black Doc Martens. Not a look that works for all schools, but her philosophy is this is me, and if they don’t want me as I am then that’s not a place where I’m going to be happy. I know they have some cute Free People dresses at TJ Maxx occasionally, which is nice since they get expensive. She loves Francesca’s stuff, too.
Sorry you’re having so much difficulty finding the right dress…I can relate! Although my daughter isn’t ready for college auditions yet (she’s only in 8th grade), we were looking for the same kind of dresses last spring for auditions, and we had the same frustrations as you did – absolutely nothing in-store, even though I saw girls in this kind of dress all the time at auditions. So I went online, and that solved the problem…Nordstrom has several of this style in their online store. Go to women, dresses, and then check the “fit and flare” box under “silhouette.” If you pick two-day shipping, you can have your order by Friday. We ordered several options, tried them on at home, and shipped back the ones we didn’t want (Nordstrom has free shipping and free returns!).
Hope that helps if you can’t find anything in a brick and mortar store! And no, I’m not affiliated with Nordstrom in any way, lol.
We had a lot of success online at Nordstrom, Artitsia, and TopShop. I will say that the girls wearing sleeveless with bare legs during the Chicago blizzard last year looked a little ridiculous. For MT, my D tended to wear solid fit/flare type dresses (3/4 sleeves) but she added nude textured tights for a little youth/edge, and nude 2.5 heels. Standard dancewear for dance auditions. Edgier outfits for straight acting programs. Most important, wear what you feel good wearing. There’s a lot to be said for clothes and confidence!
I have been following this discussion with interest re daughter and the shoe and dress issue. She actually decided in October to wear a cute dress she had bought on sale for her prescreens with a pair of higher but wider shoes. It looked cute so she has just stuck with that. It is pretty simple. However she has been looking at some different shoe options and we realized we have no idea at the LA Unified if she will auditioning on carpeting or a hard service? I can not even imagine how they set up. Are the mono/song sessions in the hotel rooms with the dance calls in bigger conference rooms? Do they just take over two or three floors of the hotel? Anyone who knows please give us a heads up. She has only auditioned in rehearsal spaces with hard services and of a medium size.
nvm