Dancing with the Stars Season 35 Rehearsal Wear (Premiere Sept. 15–16, 2026): What the Cast Trains In and What It Costs
The cast was revealed Wednesday morning on Good Morning America, which means sixteen celebrities just started spending five or six hours a day in a mirrored room wearing more or less the same three things. That rehearsal uniform is what this page is about — not the ballroom costumes, which are custom-built and unbuyable, but the leggings, tops and shoes the cast actually trains in. Those you can buy.
When does Dancing with the Stars season 35 actually start?
Two nights, back to back. Then it settles into its normal slot.
| Date | Time (ET) | Where | What |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue, Sept. 15 | 8:00 p.m. | ABC · Disney+ (live) | Premiere, Night One — men perform |
| Wed, Sept. 16 | 8:00 p.m. | ABC · Disney+ (live) | Premiere, Night Two — women perform |
| Wed, Sept. 16 & Thu, Sept. 17 | next day | Hulu | On-demand replay of each night |
| Tue, Sept. 22 onward | 8:00 p.m. | ABC · Disney+ | Weekly, Tuesdays |
Splitting the premiere by gender is the format change worth knowing about: judges score the men against the men on night one, the women against the women on night two, and only afterward does the field get compared as one. For the cast list, the pro pairings and week-by-week eliminations, our sister site handles the recap side — see the fall 2026 reality guide. We stay on the clothes.
Why does rehearsal wear matter more on this show than on other competitions?
Because on most physical-competition series you see the wardrobe once, during the challenge. Here you see it constantly. Rehearsal packages run in nearly every episode, they are shot in a plain studio with no costume department involved, and what the cast pulls on at 9 a.m. is genuinely their own.
So the clothes are ordinary. A viewer watching an obstacle-course show is looking at gear built for grip and water. A viewer watching a rehearsal package is looking at something they could wear to a studio class on Thursday, which is exactly why this is the show that sends people shopping.
What do ballroom rehearsal clothes actually consist of?
Strip out the personality and there are four pieces.
| Piece | What it looks like | Why |
|---|---|---|
| High-rise pant | Usually black, full length, more often flared or straight-leg than skin-tight | The hem does a job — see below |
| Fitted top or crop | Close to the ribcage and shoulders | A partner needs to see and feel the frame; anything blousy hides it and gets in the way of a hold |
| Practice shoe | Low, wide heel, usually 2 to 2.5 inches, suede sole | The ankle learns the height early instead of on live television |
| Warm-up layer | Zip hoodie, wrap sweater, leg warmers over the pant | Comes off after twenty minutes |
Nothing here is technical in the way running kit is technical. It is closer to what a dance major wears to a Tuesday class, and the price range reflects that.
Why flare or bootcut instead of a plain legging?
Two reasons, and only one of them is aesthetic.
The practical one is that a flared hem moves. Ballroom and Latin choreography lives in the legs, and a hem that swings gives the dancer feedback about timing and weight transfer that a tight ankle cuff simply does not. Coaches read the hem the way a golf instructor reads a follow-through.
The aesthetic one: the silhouette rehearses the costume. A ball gown or a Latin skirt behaves a certain way, and a flared practice pant is the cheapest possible stand-in for that behavior. By the time the real costume arrives during production week, the body already knows what to expect from it.
A straight-leg pant splits the difference and is easier to find. Skinny leggings still show up in rehearsal footage constantly, especially for contemporary and jazz numbers, so this is a tendency rather than a rule.
What does the rehearsal pant cost at three price levels?
Prices were checked on each brand’s own website on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026, at about 11:50 p.m. ET. Colors sell out and prices move, so read these as a snapshot rather than a guarantee. Nothing below is a claim that any cast member wears it — production never confirms labels, and rehearsal clothes are personal. These are close matches in cut.
| Tier | Black high-rise practice pant | Price | Sizes | The trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budget | Bubblelime High Waist Straight Leg Yoga Legging, tummy control, 29″–37″ inseam | $30.98 | XS–2XL | Five inseam lengths, which almost nothing else at this price offers. Longer inseams cost a dollar more. Thinner hand-feel than the two below. |
| Mid | CRZ Yoga Butterluxe Crossover High Waist Flare Legging, 31″ | $38.00 | XXS–XL | The true flare of the three, and the crossover waist stays put. Size run stops at XL. |
| Premium | Beyond Yoga Spacedye Practice High Waisted Bootcut Pant | $118.00 | XXS–4X | Literally named a practice pant and cut like one. Widest size range here. Four times the budget option. |
Notice that the flare and the extended sizing sit at opposite ends. If you want both, you are shopping the $118 column.
Is a $31 pant really doing the same job as a $118 one?
For an hour of social dance or a beginner class, close enough. Over ten weeks of daily rehearsal, no.
| Price gap | What the extra money buys |
|---|---|
| $31 → $38 | Small, and mostly the flare |
| $38 → $118 | Fabric: recovery after four hundred lunges instead of bagging at the knee by week three, plus a waistband that holds through a lift. You can feel it in about ten seconds in a fitting room. |
Deciding when a discount is actually a discount is its own exercise.
What should you check before buying a pant you will dance in?
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Inseam against your height, with the heel on | A practice pant should break just above the shoe, and a 2-inch heel changes the math. Our sizing sister site keeps an inseam-by-height chart. |
| Waistband width | Under roughly two inches, it rolls during floor work. Every version above uses a wide band. |
| Hem finish | A raw or bonded hem drags on a sprung floor and frays fast. Look for a stitched hem on anything flared. |
| Squat test | Studio lighting is unforgiving and mirrors are everywhere. If it goes sheer in a fitting room, it will go sheer on camera. |
| Pockets, or none | A phone in a thigh pocket slaps during a spin — one of the few workouts where pocketless is better. |
Between sizes? The rule of thumb differs by fabric, and it goes the opposite direction for compressive knits than for buttery ones.
Where do the shoes fit into this?
Outside our lane, honestly.
| Ballroom practice shoe | |
|---|---|
| Where to buy | Dance suppliers, not activewear brands |
| Price | About $70 to $140 |
| Care | Suede sole, so they never touch pavement |
| Sizing | Expect to size differently than in sneakers; buy them last |
The costumes are a separate world too — rhinestoned, custom, built in the week they air. If that is the part you came for, our screen-style sister site explains how television wardrobes are actually assembled.
What happens after the two-night premiere?
Weekly Tuesdays, one elimination at a time, through the fall. The competition calendar around it fills in fast: this week’s grid is unusually thin, and six premieres land before October. If you would rather shop the pieces than the show, start with how to identify on-screen workout clothes without guessing at a brand, or browse Shop the Look and our guides. The last new competition episode before the premiere was The Challenge, Wednesday on Paramount+.
TL;DR
| Premiere | Tue, Sept. 15 and Wed, Sept. 16, 8 p.m. ET, ABC and Disney+; Hulu the next day. Sixteen couples. |
|---|---|
| Format | Night one is the men, night two the women, then the field merges. Tuesdays after that. |
| Uniform | Black high-rise pant, fitted top, low practice heel, a layer that comes off. |
| Cut | Flared or straight-leg beats skinny: the hem gives feedback and rehearses the costume. |
| Price | $30.98, $38.00 and $118.00 when checked Sept. 9. Flare and extended sizing rarely meet below the top tier. |
Sources
- Premiere dates, format, hosts and judges: Good Morning America, “Dancing with the Stars season 35: What to know”.
- Cast size and the split-gender premiere format: Wikipedia, Dancing with the Stars season 35; episode date and runtime cross-checked against TVmaze.
- Prices: bubblelime.com, us.crzyoga.com and beyondyoga.com product pages, checked Sept. 9, 2026, 11:50 p.m. ET.