- Shoes: Irish dance shoes are made of either hard leather or soft leather. Hard shoes have a wooden or fiberglass heel and toe, and are used for heavy jigs, reels, and hornpipes. Soft shoes are made of black leather, have a thin, flexible sole, and are worn for light jigs, slips, slides, and polkas.
- Pants: Men usually wear black or dark blue trousers for performances, and white shirts or button up blouses.
- Vest: Many male Irish dancers wear a colourful tweed vest. There are many options for vest colours, but many dancers will coordinate the colour of their vest to match the colour of their kilt.
- Kilt: Many male Irish dancers wear a kilt. Dancers have many options when it comes to the colour tartan they choose for their kilt. There are also different weights of tartan (heavyweight and lightweight). Lightweight tartan kilts are best suited for summer months.
- Ghillies: Ghillies are calf length socks that Irish dancers wear to help their shoes fit better. They also allow the dancers feet to move more freely within their shoes.
For women:
- Shoes: Women's Irish dance shoes are made of either hard leather or soft leather, just like men's shoes. Hard shoes are used for heavy jigs, reels, and hornpipes, while soft shoes are worn for light jigs, slips, slides, and polkas.
- Skirt: Women usually wear a short, pleated skirt for performances. These skirts are often made of wool, and are typically dark in colour (such as black, navy blue, or green).
- Blouse: Dancers usually wear a solid coloured blouse underneath their skirt.
- Petticoat: Petticoats are worn under skirts to help dance movements stay stiff and to add volume.
- Ghillies: Ghillies are calf length socks that Irish dancers wear to help their shoes fit better. They also allow the dancers feet to move more freely within their shoes.