Thought Provoking Belly Dance Costumes: the good, the bad and the hideous
- Thread starter Amulya
- Start date
Greek Bonfire
Well-known member
Believe me, they've posted worse! One looked like the dress was burning at the stake!!
Harry
Member
For what it's worth, I prefer the purple one. Not sure why, other than it is just more appealing.I was looking at the coral costume just now and it occurred to me that it is my "don't look at me" personality butting in. It's the color that makes me uncomfortable. I wouldn't mind the decorations if the costume was black or dark green or aubergine.
Suzanne Azhaar
Active member
The front bra clasp isn't covered. Looks like the beginning of a costume, but definitely not there yet.
Daimona
Moderator
I didn't even notice the clasp. Is the bra strap also a part of the original lingerie?Suzanne Azhaar
Active member
Looks like a left over shoe string, O ring, and an earring. (Whatever you have on hand.) This costume needs to be completely redone. The pleat on the lower left cup (right as you are looking at the pic) isn't pleated smoothly. (And they took a photo that way!) It's like nails on a chalk board for me.
Shanazel
Moderator
Y'all haven't heard from me in awhile, as I generally stay in the background, but I couldn't resist commenting on this one. It reminds me of a traffic light, except the amber (yellow) light is missing...
Hi, ya, Harry!
I didn't think of traffic lights, but it did bring back memories of a grade school play where the students dressed as poinsettias and Christmas trees. I was a white Christmas tree decorated in strings of big red beads.
Harry
Member
....That's why I like this group. I know what I like, and I don't have to be afraid to say so (within boundaries of decency), plus many of you ladies really come up with some of the most interesting descriptions.
Zorba
"The Veiled Male"
This reminds me of a story a couple of my California dance sisters told me. They were in a troupe where they did a performance in some kind of "costume all covered with flowers". They absolutely, positively *HATED* that costume, and would IMMEDIATELY start with multiple four letter words if I brought it up! The teacher would apparently, on occasion, start talking about "doing it again". Everybody would quit until the idea went away... One of the subject dance sisters burned hers, I think the other one "donated" it to charity. I never saw this train wreck in person, but it must have been horrid from their reactions.
The troupe I'm in now WILL NOT have anything whatsoever to do with mermaid skirts. Apparently the previous teacher insisted on some kind of mermaid skirt that didn't look good on much of anybody. I'm not quite sure how you do that, mermaid skirts usually look good on just about everybody - but the my dance sisters here are almost as adamant about it as the flower costume gals were! Of course I *never* utter the words "Let's do this one in mermaid skirts!" - oh, no; not me!! Absolutely not!
Harry
Member
This reminds me of a story a couple of my California dance sisters told me. They were in a troupe where they did a performance in some kind of "costume all covered with flowers". They absolutely, positively *HATED* that costume, and would IMMEDIATELY start with multiple four letter words if I brought it up! The teacher would apparently, on occasion, start talking about "doing it again". Everybody would quit until the idea went away... One of the subject dance sisters burned hers, I think the other one "donated" it to charity. I never saw this train wreck in person, but it must have been horrid from their reactions.
The troupe I'm in now WILL NOT have anything whatsoever to do with mermaid skirts. Apparently the previous teacher insisted on some kind of mermaid skirt that didn't look good on much of anybody. I'm not quite sure how you do that, mermaid skirts usually look good on just about everybody - but the my dance sisters here are almost as adamant about it as the flower costume gals were! Of course I *never* utter the words "Let's do this one in mermaid skirts!" - oh, no; not me!! Absolutely not!
I'm only a BD fan, so I had to Google mermaid skirts to get a point of reference. There appear to be several iterations described as mermaid skirts. There are some that have more appeal that others, and some that have less, imho. I think what you may have encountered in your current troupe is that they had a bad experience with a less appealing iteration, which turned them off to the whole style, regardless of iteration.
Just to let everybody know where my head is on the subject of mermaid skirts, here's a flowing number I thought was appealing. As a matter of fact, I think the whole ensemble is nice.
Greek Bonfire
Well-known member
This reminds me of a story a couple of my California dance sisters told me. They were in a troupe where they did a performance in some kind of "costume all covered with flowers". They absolutely, positively *HATED* that costume, and would IMMEDIATELY start with multiple four letter words if I brought it up! The teacher would apparently, on occasion, start talking about "doing it again". Everybody would quit until the idea went away... One of the subject dance sisters burned hers, I think the other one "donated" it to charity. I never saw this train wreck in person, but it must have been horrid from their reactions.
The troupe I'm in now WILL NOT have anything whatsoever to do with mermaid skirts. Apparently the previous teacher insisted on some kind of mermaid skirt that didn't look good on much of anybody. I'm not quite sure how you do that, mermaid skirts usually look good on just about everybody - but the my dance sisters here are almost as adamant about it as the flower costume gals were! Of course I *never* utter the words "Let's do this one in mermaid skirts!" - oh, no; not me!! Absolutely not!
Who was this teacher and why did she foist this choice on her students??? Mermaid skirts are not made for everybody; in fact, they're pretty much made for almost no one.
Harry
Member
I agree, partially. There are those iterations that would make the dancer appear to be in an overstuffed sausage skin... not at all appealing.
That may be why I'm drawn to something with a little more flow to it.
Zorba
"The Veiled Male"
My dance sisters would agree - apparently nobody looked good in them except the teacher - but this was before my time here in Florida, so I didn't see them. I have limited experience with them, I tried an L.Rose mermaid a number of years back and it was nice enough - and I have a mermaid-ish non-dance skirt that I wear sometimes.
Now with all this said, as pure COINCIDENCE would have it, just tonite the current troupe director announced that she wants to "try it again", but with better/looser fitting ones that she thinks will work better, and was showing examples to us. With a slit so we can actually move in the darn things - otherwise they start to border on hobble skirts (of which I tried one once.). My one dance sister and I who both sew were talking about a "Stitch and Bitch" to turn these things out. Why/how this suddenly came out of the blue I have no idea. I'm up for it, but I *do* want to make sure she really wants to do it. Gonna have to wax my legs for this one...
Zorba
"The Veiled Male"
I think this was their objection - a similar description (overstuffed sausage) was used as I recall. Wrong type and perhaps wrong size as well? A lot of skirts - and even pants - are sized very nicely to be able to get one leg into them, but forget anybody halfway normal sized being able to fit. "I'm a size two - woo-hoo!" NOT. I myself like what I call a BAGS. Big Ass Gypsy Skirt - 25 yards of lovely flowy swirling fabric.I agree, partially. There are those iterations that would make the dancer appear to be in an overstuffed sausage skin... not at all appealing.
Suzanne Azhaar
Active member
The slit, that explains it. Was trying to figure out why there was resistance for mermaid skirts. Too tight and no leg slit will do it. Prefer to make them with extra godets bracketing the leg slit also. Gives a nice silhouette in a spin.
Zorba
"The Veiled Male"
I'll keep the godet idea in mind if/when we go forward with the idea. Do you have any pix?
I don't have a lot of experience dancing in slitted skirts, most of mine are BAGS. But when I had my Baladi dress made, I remember we had to raise the slit to somewhere above the knee - I couldn't move in the darn thing. Then there's my so-called "Turkish" skirt - It has a lot more missing fabric than just a "slit", and it goes all the way to the hips on both sides! Rather alarming to dance in - but fun!
Suzanne Azhaar
Active member
No pics at the moment, but I'll be sewing one next week. Will be sure to take pics then.
Zorba
"The Veiled Male"
Would love to see it!
Amine
Member
I agree with you about the mermaid skirts and the stuffed sausage print. I don't see myself in mermaid skirts, I find that it reduces the freedom of movement in the legs, It's not aesthetic at all and isn't very comfortable, I prefer something voluminous and fluid to favor great movements and to show off.