Early Update – 2011 Australian Irish Dance Championships

It feels like it’s been forever since the North American Nationals and British Nationals, but finally the wait for another major championship is over!  The Australian Nationals kicked off on Tuesday on Australia’s Gold Coast! It brings with it great dancing, fashion and events. AIDA has also really raised the bar for online coverage. Milton Baar is posting pictures every night of the day’s events and they’ve launched a youtube channel (AIDA IDTV) with dancer interviews. Love it!

It looks like it’s been a ton of fun so far. For proof, check out Ciara Sexton (look chic as always) posing with the Sneaky Stepper crew at the Australian Nationals… or a picture of them anyways! Too funny.

As much as I’d love to, I can’t fly across the globe for the Australian Nationals to check out the trends in person. Luckily, I have a lovely Australian Nationals corespondent, Ondine, who’s reporting back on some of the trends around the championships! Here are some of the highlights that she’s found so far:

1. Lots of bun wigs

2. Any full wigs are long, but not wild and bouffy

3. Lots of black and white color schemes on dresses. Lots and lots and lots!

4. A large amount amounts of white tape on heavies. Its being applied really thickly and is really shiny. People are also putting it further down their shoes than I’ve seen before, almost looks like their wearing ballet flats on stage!

5. Braids around the bottom of bun wigs

6. Wearing two large crystal tiaras on top of one another.

7. Very sharp slip jigs, like almost reel sharpness.

8. Many, many king of the faries and ace and duce of pipering’s at very slow speeds.

Sounds awesome so far! Another confirmation that the large crystal tiaras are really catching on and becoming more and more mainstream. Here’s a picture of a dancer wearing two crystal tiara’s that was mentioned above. It looks like she’s wearing a stoned headband and a crystal tiara on top of it. Definitely a dramatic look on stage.

I’ve also noticed from looking at pictures that solid color dresses with white embroidery are very popular. Stoned bows placed at the side of headbands are also very popular, at least with the age groups so far. As expected, red and orange are the predominant colors.

Noteworthy dresses

Here are some dresses that have stood out to me so far.

1. This rainbow color scheme dress. A perfect way to update the rainbow color trend. I also like the way the design gives the dress the feeling of knotwork without being busy.

2. The skirt on this dress. A new twist on the plisse/solid soft skirt look that’s been dominating the scene recently. This skirt has a scalloped edge with an embellished fabric. It gives the skirt a little more interest without it overwhelming the bodice design.

3. This asymmetrical dress. It features the skirt that Gavin debuted at the World’s this year on Lauren Early and a very nicely done asymmetric design. Clean and elegant but trendy!

4. This skirt was all over pictures at the Australian Nationals in different combinations. Tight ruffles, looser ones, etc. Very popular!

5. A killer white dress.

6. I don’t think I’ve seen this type of skirt before. It’s a combination of ruffles and layers with a very strategic coloring pattern. It definitely produces a cool effect, especially when paired with a bold bodice design like this one.

7. The frills on the sleeves of this fashion forward dress match the skirt! Cute touch.

8. A petal skirt in purple! One of the few colored varieties of the skirt that I’ve seen so far.

9. A bodice design dress ala Sinead Carson with actual 3D bows as the ties in the middle.

10. Another variety of the zipper/half moon design with a petal skirt. Looks like Gavin’s continuing to use that as a design element! Love this dress.

Those are only a few of the stand out dresses so far! Don’t take my word on it, check them all out here. I’m going to add more to this list as I go, but be sure to check out all the pictures from the Australian Nationals. A lot of really cool dresses.

The boys are looking great as well! I promise I’ll post on my favorite outfits later this week.

What do you think? Do you also wish you were there? Any dresses that you love so far? What do you think about the IDTV?

Stay Fashionable, Feisers!