The Ultimate Guide to Rhinestone Sizes for Dance Costumes

The Most Popular Rhinestone Sizes For Dance Costumes

Ballroom, Irish, ballet, jazz, and contemporary competitive dancing rely on rhinestones to give the costume a polished and finished look. While you can buy pre-rhinestoned clothing, often these come with a steep price. Typically, you can save a bundle of money by stoning a dance costume yourself. Yet, when you’ve searched for crystals online, you find many different rhinestone sizes using a unique measurement. Let’s explore stone sizes and how to pick the perfect product.

Explanation of Rhinestone Sizes
Many rhinestone manufacturers make round rhinestone sizes ranging from very small 5ss to large 50ss. This designation, “stone size” or “ss” is unique to rhinestone sizing. Generally, the bigger the number, the larger the crystal rhinestone. Moreover, most retailers will provide a size chart showing the corresponding millimeter size. For your convenience, here is a rhinestone size chart:
 
ss             mm                              ss         mm                              ss         mm
5             1.7-1.8                          10        2.7-2.85                      34        7.0 -7.17
6             1.9-2                              12        3.0-3.1                       40        8.35-8.54
7              2.1-2.15                        16         3.8-3.9                      48       10.95-11.11
8              2.3-2.35                        20        4.6-4.7                       50        12
9             2.5-2.65                         30         6.3-6.41    
 
Ultimately, choosing a rhinestone size affects your overall design and its impact. Large rhinestones reflect more light for lots of sparkle and a showy and striking design. Small crystals offer subtle glitter but work better for intricate and meticulous designs. They are also useful as gap fillers to go between spaces left by larger stones. Although there are no rules or guidelines, the most popular rhinestone sizes for dance costumes are 16ss, 20ss, and 30ss.

What Are Rhinestones and Why Are They Perfect for Bedazzling Dance Costumes?
Dance is a visual art performance reflecting cultures, emotions, and stories. Typically, costumes are an integral part of the dance, enhancing the overall presentation. Adding bedazzling embellishments helps create dynamic images for a mesmerizing routine.
Once a natural resource, gem hunters found sparkling quartz along the banks of the Rhine River. Once these “Rhine stones” became depleted, glassmakers sought ways to manufacture them.

Today, rhinestone manufacturers create beautiful flatback gems perfect for dance costumes. In particular, the round shape offers the greatest versatility for the availability of rhinestone colors and sizes.

Yet, not all rhinestones offer the best sparkle. Manufacturers may use plastic (which includes acrylic, jelly, and resin), glass, or crystal to create their product. While crystal is a type of glass, it contains particular minerals that change some of its properties. Furthermore, crystal rhinestones have the greatest sparkle out of all these materials due to these properties:

1. Greatest dispersion rate
2. Highest refractive index
3. Allows more precision cut facets
4. Superlative clarity
 
Additionally, the play of light depends on the number of facets. Typically, the number of angled planes can range from 8 to 16. Rhinestone manufacturers create facets through molding or machine cutting. Comparatively, the added strength of the crystal allows manufacturers to cut more facets into the crystal than molded glass.

Moreover, the facet arrangement affects optical performance as well. Facets control the entry and exit of light from the crystal. Thus, symmetrically positioned facets contribute to the rhinestone’s overall brilliance. Generally, higher quality rhinestones are machine cut for consistent facet size and arrangement.

FAQs About Rhinestones
When bedazzling dance costumes, buying the best rhinestones doesn’t always mean spending the most money. Many manufacturers make high quality rhinestones at an economical price.  Below, we’ve answered a few commonly asked questions to help you make the best choice for your bedazzling project.

How Many Rhinestones Are in 1 Gross?
There are 144 pieces in a gross.

Can I Mix Sizes?
Absolutely! Using different sizes on one project will give your project added depth as light bounces randomly.

Where Can I Buy Rhinestones Online?
Rhinestones Etc. is a family owned rhinestone supplier selling quality embellishments since 2011. Our current inventory includes premium crystal rhinestones from Preciosa and economically priced PriceLess brands. We ship Monday to Friday, offering same day shipping on orders placed by 2 PM.

Browse our online store to find crystal rhinestones in bulk at competitive prices.