| Belly dancing is the Next Big Thing in women's | | | | Even an ordinary cotton top, dyed black, can look |
| exercise, and no wonder. It's gentle on the body, | | | | impressive with some beading sewn on! Another good |
| beneficial for the female physique, great fun and easy | | | | trick is to cover an old bra with stretchy velvet or |
| to learn. | | | | glittery lycra fabric - it only has to be tacked on! You |
| In fact, it's so easy to learn that many women who | | | | can cover the bra straps with the same material, or |
| started learning "just for fun" suddenly find themselves | | | | use the sequin trim, or braiding. |
| joining a dance troupe and performing on stage! | | | | Look out for sales at inexpensive jewellery or |
| At this point, what started out as an inexpensive | | | | accessory shops. You may find cheap necklaces or |
| hobby can quickly cost you a fortune, if you're not | | | | bracelets that you can break up and use the stones to |
| careful. If you live in the US, Europe or Australasia, | | | | decorate bras or belts. If you're a regular customer, |
| professional costumes in your local shops are probably | | | | you might even persuade them to give you any |
| priced in the hundreds of dollars. That's hard to justify | | | | broken or damaged pieces for free. |
| for an amateur, but what else can you do? | | | | If you dance Egyptian or Turkish style and want a |
| One solution is to make it yourself. If you are not good | | | | modern, hip-hugging skirt, that is difficult to fake. A good |
| at sewing, that can sound daunting - but it needn't be | | | | option is stretch velvet, which doesn't need hemming |
| as bad as it sounds. | | | | or darts, and is forgiving if you make a mistake while |
| The first thing to remember is that costumes are all | | | | cutting or sewing! |
| about theatre, and theatre is all about illusion. Your | | | | If all that beading and sewing sounds too much like |
| everyday clothes have to be neatly sewn and finished | | | | hard work, it's possible to buy a bedleh (bra and belt |
| with properly flattened darts and no raw edges. But f | | | | set) for quite reasonable prices online these days. |
| you always dance on a stage, your costume need | | | | Then you can create a whole range of different |
| only be well-finished enough to fool the eye from a | | | | costumes by adding different coloured skirts, pants, |
| distance. If you dance in a cabaret, closer to the | | | | gauntlets, shrugs and boleros. |
| audience, then the outside of your costume must look | | | | You can even create an effective no-sew skirt with a |
| perfect - but who cares if the stitches on the inside | | | | hip belt and one or two veils: securely around your hips, |
| aren't quite straight? | | | | then swathe the veil(s) around your legs, pulling it up |
| You'd be surprised how many ordinary garments can | | | | under the hip belt and pinning to hold the veil in place. |
| be turned into belly dance costumes. Summer midriff | | | | Try to arrange the excess veil into two "plumes", one |
| tops that tie under the bust can be given some bling | | | | on each hip. |
| by edging them with sequins (you can buy sequin trim | | | | "Faking" costumes can be fun, so give it a try! |
| ready-made in long strips three or four sequins wide). | | | | |