Inexpensive dance attire for toddlers?

We will be enrolling our DD in some dance classes at The Little Gym. She absolutely loved her trial class, but she will need ballet and tap shoes. We already have some ballet shoes, but will need to purchase tap shoes. One mother recommended Payless Shoe Source and said that AAA members get a discount. Anyone else know of other stores that sell tap shoes? I know there are some places online, but I would prefer buying them at the store because I want her to be able to try them on.

Also, any suggestions on where to buy inexpensive plain leotards? Our DD would probably wear a 2T or 3T. I saw some online at Target and Sears, but that's it. I know we can find them at dance stores, but it can get expensive. I did find a "no sew" method on how to make a tutu online. It looks so easy! PM me if anyone wants the link on how to make them.

 

Target has some cute inexpensive leotards. I have seen the dance shoes at payless as well, but they didn't go small enough for my girls (size 5) so we took them to a local dance store. It actually wasn't as expensive as I had feared. Their ballet shoes were $8.00 and their tap shoes were $12.00. Dance class is so much fun! Enjoy!

ETA: The leotards at Target are in the big kid section, but the XS size fits my girls perfectly and they typically wear 18month clothes. They also have some little ballet slippers I believe.

 

Goodwill always has leotards for a couple bucks. I have even found some New W/ Tags.

 

I got a bunch at the resale shop for less than $3 and they look new...Target/Walmart/Kohls all carry leotards for less than $15 or so new.

We bought ballet shoes at Payless- they are GREAT! I also got a few cheap play tap shoes at the local consignment shop- my girls aren't in lessons, but love to dance and play 'ballerina'.

One favorite is to string bells on a piece of elastic cord (walmart/Micheals) as a bracel/anklet! So much fun....

Tutus are also cheap at TArget (less than 8$ last year) and I've seen some nice ones on Craigslist/ebay for very little.

Look on the 'class' bulletin board, often moms will sell outgrown things as their kids move 'up' classes!

 

Wal-Mart for leotards. They are your basic pink or black (depending on what color she needs) and are less than $7. My girls are about 2T/3T right now, and I bought the XXXS for them which worked just fine. It was a tad big in the shoulders, but not enough to make a big deal of it.

Tap shoes I would get at Payless for sure. I shopped around a lot in the fall when I was looking for dance stuff and their prices were extremely reasonable.

 

I went to a large consignment sale at our local fair grounds, and there was a table with a ton of itty bitty tap shoes. I bet if you watch consignment stores and such, or even posted a wanted to Craigslist, you could find some!

 

I always check our local kids consignment shops around here first. I have gotten the tap shoes at payless before when I couldn't find any other places. Target and Walmart are good places too when you just can't find leotards other places.

 

Kmart has them, too.

 

Thank you all for the great ideas and feedback. I appreciate the information about the sizing, too! We'll try those stores this weekend.

 

Our dance studio has a spot for you to donate your old shoes/ look for shoes you need. It's great! My girls needed new tap shoes and I didn't really wan to buy them now for the recital and have them outgrow them by September. We chcked in the box and got two pais for free! We put the ones they outgrew in the box for someone else.

You little girl is going to love dance!

 

I was in Walmart the other day and saw they had ballet and tap shoes in the shoe section. I'm in Canada but I'm sure if we have them u will. They were a 1/3 of what I'd paid for the girls things last year

 

Walmart's tards run longer in the body than Target's do. Definetely payless on shoes only problem is the tie instead of buckle

 

The only place I've seen new leotards for fairly cheap is at Target. Our local consignment store sells (used) ballet slippers and tap shoes, but I haven't yet seen any in my DDs' size. (We've been using hand-me-downs for now -- when they grow out of those, I guess I'll have to buy new ones.) I've even looked on ebay for leotards and they still seem expensive to me.

 

We went to Target and Payless Shoe Source tonight. They only had one leotard in her size so we will try another Target store. They did have her tap shoes at Payless. She is sooo excited! Thank you for everyone's advice!

 

Yep, we also have a leotard from Target, and tap (and ballet) shoes from Payless. The Target leotards run *very* small in my experience -- it wouldn't be unusual to need two sizes up from what your DD normally wears.