Costume questions:
- What makes a bellydance costume?
- Where to I find them?
- What do I look for?
- Costume care (coming soon)
- Misc. advice for the first-time performer. (coming soon)
Costumes:
(Right: Hayet in her very first costume)
They're half the fun of the dance, after all! There's nothing like finding the PERFECT costume, and seeing yourself in bedleh for the first time. You're suddenly transformed from an ordinary woman into an exotic, beautiful, glamorous creature!
The RIGHT costume can do this. There is a PERFECT costume out there for everyone.
The WRONG costume will make you look too fat, too dumpy, too skinny, too bony, too angular, too small on top, too big on top, top-heavy, bottom-heavy, bloated, too pale, too green, or just plain awful.
Or worse, the WRONG costume will fall apart after three wearings. Or worse, in the middle of your show! (A "wardrobe malfunction" is a bellydancers worst nightmare.) Even the stars aren't immune to the follies of tacky, ugly, or just plain bizarre costumes- click here for an extremely funny article by Leyla Lanty on the subject. (quote: Mme. Abla was quoted as saying: "Of course you could see her panties. That shows that she's a 'good girl' and wears them!")
The following are some guidelines I've come up with to aid you in your quest for the perfect costume, based on my own experience as well as the advice of the most excellent local bellydance seamstress Ellen Laintz, and others. This is by no means set in stone, and there are exceptions to every rule. (For instance, everyone says short dancers should avoid huge skirts in favor of straight skirts. BAH, I say to them!)
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