Keeping Your Hat On…

Let’s talk hats!  Last year my dancer wore the hat below for a tap dance.  I love the way hats look, but I have to admit the fear of a hat falling off is stressful for the dancers and the parents!  No one wants to be the dancer or the parent of a dancer whose hat fell off.  From the dance teacher’s perspective, the hat falling off is simply not an option.  So, what did we do to secure the dancer’s hats during their tap dance?  Check out the details below.

1.  Weather Stripping – Purchase weather stripping at your local Lowes or Home Depot.  It is fairly inexpensive.  If I remember correctly it was around $3.50 each and I bought 3 packages for a team of 9 girls.  We had some leftover which could be added to a hat throughout the season if necessary.

2.  Apply Weather Stripping To The Hat – Cut a small piece of weather stripping to go on the inside front of the hat and the back.  It’s easy to apply, just pull off the paper and apply it to the hat.  Note, for girls that have really thick hair they may only need a strip on the front.  Also, if someone has a small head, you can add additional weather stripping to the sides.

3.  Poke Holes – A fellow Dance Mom and I actually poked two holes, in each side of the hat, with a meat thermometer (sometimes you have to improvise).  Each girl tried on their hat with their low side bun (their hairstyle for the dance) and in the position they would be wearing the hat.  For this dance, the hats were tilted at an angle on the head.  We poked holes in the hat based on the position of the hat on their heads.

4.  Secure – To secure the hat on the dancer’s head, we placed a bobby pin wavy side down in the first hole at an angle.  Next, we placed a bobby pin wavy side down in the second hole and crossed it over the first bobby pin to make an X.  We did the same on the other side.

The dancers practiced with their hats for several weeks and they never had an issue with a hat falling off during practice or during a performance.  I will mention, if your dancer is wearing a black hat, either mark the hole on the inside with a highlighter and/or make sure as you take the bobby pin out, you place it back in the hole.  With black hats, it is difficult to see the hole once the bobby pin is taken out.

Have you tried this?  How do you keep hats secure for performances?