To those who are a choir member...

[Loesje22000]

What does your choir outfit look like?

 

I became member of a newly founded lady’s choir, and as board member I am in the position to give ideas about the -yet to chose- choir outfit. We are a secular choir, and our country does not have the custom of ‘choir robes’. Most choirs here wear black with black and sometimes an accent color (scarves and ties). But I am open to new ideas 🙂  I understand if someone for privacy reasons don’t post pictures of their own choir, but just something similar from other choirs.

My mixed choir wears black w. black w. red scarves & ties, so that is not an option.

[theelfqueen]

We wear robes mostly.  When it's a special event we all have identical formal dresses... and sometimes for more casual events we all wear black (longsleeved, long skirts, or pants for both men and women). 

[Suzanne in ABQ]

For less formal, I'd go with separates.  Nice black slacks that have a lovely drape and don't wrinkle (like Chico's Travelers pants). Couple the pants with a sparkly or shimmery top in a jewel tone.  Again, choose a fabric with a nice drape so that it is flattering and uniform on all different shapes.  Asymmetrical hems look nice, but aren't mandatory.  Make sure it has sleeves. Many women of a certain age prefer not to show their upper arms, and it makes for a more uniform appearance on the risers if upper arms aren't breaking the look.  

 

https://www.chicos.com/store/product/travelers+classic+hutton+pants/570165147?color=001&catId=cat40010

Edited March 8, 2019 by Suzanne in ABQ

[Loesje22000]

Thanks for the ideas!!

Long sleeves are custom with our conductor.

I think we start with something easy and cheap while saving money for something more stylish in the future...

[ashfern]

My DD school choir has matching black dresses for the girls (short sleeve, sweetheart neckline, ankle length) and the boys wear tuxedos with black bowties.

[PrincessMommy]

I've been in both church choirs and community choirs.   I've only worn a robe in one church choir.

For community choirs they all had a set color scheme - long black skirts/pants and white blouse top.  One had that combo and a black lacy cardigan style coverup that had a little sequins (not many).  It was a nice addition that complimented the men, who were wearing formal jackets, except it was itchy.   One we all had to buy the same blouse... but any black long skirt we wanted.  Mainly you don't want  your clothes to stand out from the other members.  so, whatever you choose it should be fairly uniform.  

I would look up several community choir websites and see what they're wearing.  Most of them should have a picture or two of the choir in performance attire on their website.

Edited March 8, 2019 by PrincessMommy

[Guest]

When my dd was in a community choir, girls wore a longsleeved white blouse and black skirts. They also wore a red vest, but you could make that a scarf or other accent. 

[KungFuPanda]

My daughter has been in several choirs.  I think the all-black makes everyone disappear anyway, but it's the practical things that i remember.  Separates make it easy for individuals to choose skirts or slacks and still match on top.  Some fabrics are much easier to hem than others.  Wrinkle free is nice.  Once all of the dresses were sleeveless so the kids that played instruments could move their arms.  Once in the separates, the top was swapped out for something else for an event.  I think one song had a little choreography and the original top didn't allow them to easily lift their arms over their heads. They also have the colorful scarves.  At some shows they wear them the same around their necks. At other shows the girls wear them any way they like and the variations are nice.  The ones that had matching sashes at the waist were nice in high school, but a group of grown women might not love accentuating their waistlines.

[Plagefille]

I have always worn choir dresses or in one community choir we had blouses and skirts. Some of the ladies had seen them. (Overall all it was an older choir. I very much stood out, being only 30 at the time.)

[wintermom]

This could depend on the type of choir and settings for performances. If it's a "specialty" choir, like barbershop or a choir where you include coordinated movements, then something more colourful may be appropriate. If it's a traditional choir in formal settings, then black and black, or white and black, is more common.

Have fun!

[Arcadia]

I am not in a choir. Below link (http://www.belaircommunitychorus.org/photos) is what I am used to seeing at community events where choir members are wearing white tops and black bottoms. 

[Loesje22000]

26 minutes ago, wintermom said:

This could depend on the type of choir and settings for performances. If it's a "specialty" choir, like barbershop or a choir where you include coordinated movements, then something more colourful may be appropriate. If it's a traditional choir in formal settings, then black and black, or white and black, is more common.

Have fun!

 

Thank you! I have 🙂

Next week we have our board meeting about this and after 10 years of ‘just’ homeschooling it feels sooo good to have something outside the house ...

I think we fit in the ‘untraditional traditional choir’ category 😉

[Tap]

I would look at videos of choir competitions and get some ideas of what you like/don't like from there.  I like the look of everyone wearing identical shirt/skirt or slacks. But since it is community based, just keeping a color theme for the top/bottom is fine too. I think white/black looks the most uniform and it also makes it simpler to find.  If you do decide on an accent color, I would absolutely make sure those are identical. There are so many variations of color, it would seem distracting to me to have them in too many shade of blue for instance. 

[wintermom]

3 hours ago, loesje22000 said:

I think we fit in the ‘untraditional traditional choir’ category 😉

 

Maybe look at the performance settings to help develop your choir's look. Do you perform at festivals, outdoors, at community functions, or in churches and/or formal settings? Does the choir want to stand out and look "fun," or have a more subdued, professional look? 

Edited March 9, 2019 by wintermom

[Jenny in Florida]

One of the large community choirs here chooses a color scheme for each "session" (roughly semesters) and then has choir members wear whatever they like as long as they stick to those colors. I tried out the choir for part of a session before deciding it was more of a commitment than I could handle at that point. They color scheme for that session (spring) was khaki, white and turquoise. When I joined, I received a style book with swatches of the colors and photos of suggested ensembles.

[Laura Corin]

The men wear dinner jackets (tuxedos) with black tie.   The women wear long-sleeved black tops/blouses and long skirts or trousers.  Not everyone in the choir has a lot of disposable income, but everyone can borrow black clothes.

The choir bought artificial corsages that all the women wear for a splash of colour, similar to purple one on the left of this range. 

https://www.bloombloom.co.uk/weddings/buttonholes-corsages/

They are all in this range of colours but subtly different.  They come with magnets, so they don't damage the fabric: 

Edited March 11, 2019 by Laura Corin