Dance! - Irish dance crash course. Part 5: Show and tradition: Clothing and looks
Show
Staying at the differences between the sexes, the clothing depends quite a lot on the gender of the dancer in question.
The extreme costumes from Lord of the Dance not taken into account, the men usually always dance in a pair of trousers, a shirt and possibly a vest, combined with a tie.
The women generally wear a dress of some sort, together with tights covering the legs.
Through the years 'sex sells' has started to play a huge role in showdancing, which made the dresses becoming shorter and skinnier, and tights are sometimes even omitted, not even mentioning the choice of fabrics used for the dresses.
The hair is most likely curled, so it bounces nicely at jumping up and coming down.
Tradition...
The clothing really comes from a time that Irish dance was practiced in 'Sunday's best'. In the past, this used to be the best clothes you had, a reason why there are strict rules regarding clothing at competitions. Especially men look neat in a pair of trousers and shirt, sometimes combined with a vest and tie.
...Men
Clothing for men really changed because of 'the show'. For them, there really is like a 'before-Riverdance' and 'after-Riverdance' era.
Before Riverdance, it was quite common to dance in a kilt, or in costumes that showed resemblance to the dresses the women were wearing, with pieces of cloth graciously waving around during dancing.
Riverdance more or less made kilts history. Men since then wear a pair of trousers and shirt, which can be combined with a vest and tie.
The more traditional outfits are very rarely worn in shows, which is a pity sometimes.
...Women
The difference for females between show and tradition is greater (these days) than compared to the males. The traditional dresses are rarely seen in big shows. Where the shows feature rather 'naked' dancers, cleavage, bare arms and dresses that barely cover the groin area and the backside are a no-no in traditional dancing. The back needs to be closed, the neck covered up to the collarbone, the dress needs to be at a certain minimum-length and should cover the arms with long sleeves.
The dresses haven't changed much over time, considering that the basis is still the same. The appearance though has become far more sparkling and daring over the years. Opinions differ about those dresses. One finds the brightly coloured dresses with their patterns, glitters and other shiny stuff to be a tradition, the other sees it as a thorn in the flesh.
The wigs
Something that always feeds a great discussion - especially who started it first - is the use of wigs. One says this is a trend, brought to Europe (and the rest of the world) by dancers from the US, the other person is convinced that the Irish started this trend themselves.
Though not obligatory and not of any help with the points a dancer will be awarded, it is to be found nice to curl the hairs, just like in showdance, so it moves nicely during dancing. That takes time when you don't have natural curls and in the past it could really take some time to get a nice curly hairdo. These days, curling irons made life quite a bit easier, but most of the time the curls don't stay right with all the jumping and landing, no matter the use of a lot of hairspray.
Since sometime, it has therefore become common to wear a wig. They are available in a great range of shapes and colours, but most of the time you can tell when someone is wearing a wig. The colour, huge extra pile of hair and the rather unnatural springy curls are to 'blame' in my opinion. In my opinion it's not the most beautifull thing as well. To make things clear: the wigs are hair-pieces placed over the dancers' own hair.
Socks for minors, tights for adults
For females there is a further segragation between girls and women. Though dresses only differ in size, there is a substantial difference in clothing until their 18th birthday. Before 18, girls are only allowed to wear so-called 'poodle socks'. Thick socks made from wool that cover about two-third of the lower legs most of the time. The rest of the legs is only partially covered by the dress.
As soon as they reach 18, poodle socks aren't allowed anymore and you have to use tights with a density of at least 70 denier. At the highest level, this is a choice. You're allowed to wear socks, but if you prefer tights, that's fine.
Where this difference comes from is unknown to me. History doesn't really state anything about it. My explanation is that this used to be something from history, as an easy 'seperates the girls from the women', or better: it would be easy to see who could be married and who couldn't.