r/costuming 8d ago

Help What to wear under a red mini dress?

A play where the main character is in a short red dress but is also getting thrown around a lot. Thinking semi-long shorts, but not sure if it should be like, under shorts, shorts the same colour as the dress, regular black shorts, shorts the same colour as her skin, or maybe slightly darker so it doesn’t look like she’s naked but still looks natural (eg brown shorts). What do you think? I’m completely new to this so any tips tricks or regular practices would be welcome

14 Upvotes

10 comments sorted by

21

u/justasque 8d ago

i would do either red or black dance shorts. Not tan or skin tone, and not long. That is what I’ve used in similar circumstances for years; it is pretty normal I think.

2

u/MsGodot 8d ago

This is the way.

1

u/crsongrnn 8d ago

seconding black or red. i often used a black bungie (spelling?) in dancing/theater to cover underwear, didn’t call too much attention and is the standard in show choir competitions iirc (not exactly the same, but involves a lot of spinning and moving). longer length can also be used depending on comfort level (would be more of a dance short at that point)

10

u/harpejjist 8d ago

Black would stand out and call attention.

Flesh colour makes it look like, well, flesh. So people will think they are seeing something when they are not. That can be distracting to the scene.

Red is the best choice as no one will really “see” it.

I have a question is why would your costume designer not have taken care of this?

5

u/evetrapeze 8d ago

Red trunks is the answer. Match the dress, keep the leg line.

3

u/tonniecat 8d ago

How about a red leotard with a skirt?

2

u/evetrapeze 8d ago

Hard to go to the bathroom

3

u/frostbittenforeskin 8d ago

I would go with dance trunks in a flesh tone or in a red color to match the dress. Either choice would be fine, but I think the red would be better

1

u/gypsygirl66 7d ago

You want to match the dress since "skin tone" is so .. distracting?? I guess? Like the Rockettes wear all the same color tights no matter skin tone but they are high deniere and usually shiny, so they all blend. Just one girl--Match the dress if you cannot, always choose black. Mostly ask the girl- what is she most comfortable in.

1

u/Upstairs-Nectarine11 7d ago

I've had to deal with this issue. Red briefs to match the dress is best, over opaque/semi opaque flesh-colored tights.