Thread: Future of Local Belly Dance Costume Stores

Originally Posted by Shanazel

...Just hope I can convince the gals in southern Montana and NW Wyoming that coverups in the audience during a performance is a classy, professional thing to do.

I don't know WHY people are so coverup -phobic*. Why would anyone show a costume except in performance? (OK maybe because hanging about in a synthetic costume and synthetic cover up in hot weather is not fun... but c'mon, ya gotta suffer for your aaahrt!).
* yeah, I do, now I think about it. It's because for some folks it's dress-up, not costume. Sometimes it's dress-up.

The only thing I bought on-line that needed a good fit (i.e. excluding stretchy dresses, hipscarves, veils, accessories etc) was a second hand costume on eBay. There were good pics of the seller dancing in it, info on how tall she is, her relevant measurements including regular bra size (in my book something vague like 34-36" C to DD means You Don't Know. 34G means you might have a clue ), and full measurements of the costume. It really needs to be that detailed for me to even consider.

Well, Estonia is a too small market even for the regular clothes' retailers, so I don't think we'll ever see a physical belly dance costume shop up there. We do have a few online vendors and you can order direct from Egypt, however I am terribly picky about my costumes, so I want to see and try them on live before giving out any money. So, I'd rather buy less costumes, but get them either on my trips to Egypt/Turkey or have them custom-made for me by the Estonian designers.

And now, that I am working in Egypt for the summer, I keep feeling the excessive need to buy all the costumes, just because I am in Egypt, you know

Me and two other Estonian dancers also created an online second-hand bazaar for Estonian dancers. People just put the photos of their stuff up, and the potential buyers can contact them directly. As we are a small country and a small community, it is easy for people to meet up during events or otherwise, and actually see and try things before buying.

And the closest thing to a physical shop we can do is a second-hand bazaar during the biggest festival in Estonia where everyone can bring in their things to our stand and we have volunteers taking care of the selling during the whole event. We did it for the first time last year, and it went ok. But I have lots of great ideas for the upcoming event!

Oh, and as for fighting the cover-up phobia - you just have to get such a fabulous cover-up that everyone will start envying and will also want to wear.

Originally Posted by Darshiva

I voted for DIY. don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to buy from a physical shop, but they just simply don't exist outside of Amera's Palace & Azura's Oasis AFAIK, and even then when I was there they had nothing even remotely close to my size.

Amera's does have plus size costumes now - but now that you're impressively slim, they'd be too big for you!

Thanks to all the responses so far. I find it interesting that cities in the US and the UK, which usually have bigger populations than Australian cities, don't have bricks & mortar belly dance stores.

Originally Posted by Roshanna

As far as I know, it's not common to order stuff online directly from Egypt or Turkey - most people I know who have bought Egyptian costumes had to actually go there to get them. If it was possible to easily order designer costumes directly from the makers, and have then shipped safely, then I'd definitely consider doing this though...

Actually it's more common than you think. Many belly dance costume sites which look US or UK based, don't hold stock - when you order, you'll find your costume is shipped direct from the Middle East.

Isis Exchange is one example. Recently, I discovered Bellydance.com does the same - one of my friends ordered a bedleh from their site, and when it arrived, it had come direct from Turkey.

Oh, and as for fighting the cover-up phobia - you just have to get such a fabulous cover-up that everyone will start envying and will also want to wear.

I'm working on it.

Originally Posted by Bellydance Oz

Amera's does have plus size costumes now - but now that you're impressively slim, they'd be too big for you!

The problem is more of an overabundance of cleavage that (once again) hasn't dissappeared with the weight loss. I'm down to about a size 12 now, so not tiny, but even in my fairly median weight I have great difficulty in finding a costume that won't cause constant 'wardrobe malfunction' concerns. Most "plus size" costumes are either a D cup at most or if they do fit in the cup are so ridiculously big elsewhere as to not be worth the trouble.

Originally Posted by Bellydance Oz

Amera's does have plus size costumes now - but now that you're impressively slim, they'd be too big for you!

Thanks to all the responses so far. I find it interesting that cities in the US and the UK, which usually have bigger populations than Australian cities, don't have bricks & mortar belly dance stores.



Actually it's more common than you think. Many belly dance costume sites which look US or UK based, don't hold stock - when you order, you'll find your costume is shipped direct from the Middle East.

Isis Exchange is one example. Recently, I discovered Bellydance.com does the same - one of my friends ordered a bedleh from their site, and when it arrived, it had come direct from Turkey.

Bellydance store, does have stock but also will custom order if they don't have the size/colour you want. Just had a look at bellydance.com their stuff looks like it comes from China & India, the costumes are Turkish and are from the Turkish Emporium, they have always been made to order for costumes.
~Mosaic

Love love love love Bellydance America! We're spoilt in NYC. They have both a physical store with 2 dance studios and an online store.

The shop has gorgeous costumes from designers (Queen Hannan, Iman Zaki, Yasser, Nousa, Crazy Move, Maurice, occasional Raquia Hassan), tons of shamadans, riqqs, doumbeks, music, workout wear, jewelry, props. And they have a tailor next door.

I think the balance of big NYC population and that they also have classes, rent studios, have Jehan as a teacher and sell very high quality costumes (and also lots of discounted stuff) and instruments, all helps to create a constant flow of people.

So mostly I buy BDA, then making my own, then swaps, then online...

I couldn't vote as I mostly get my costumes second hand on the bhuz swapmeet.

I have also bought things at our once a year bellydancers garagesale.

I have had basic costumes made by a dressmaker then decorated them myself.


I wish there was a local store I go to and try before I buy. As it stands I often lose up to $60 just on shipping a cossie if it isn't what I expected.

I bought two costumes off bhuz, one second hand and one new, both great buys.
a few ebay purchases including two baladi dresses direct from Egypt (love) and one cabaret dress from an aussie ebayer which didn't fit well and resold on ebay.
I've also bought pieces at local festivals and made many myself, mainly vests, skirts and even a couple of covered bras (never an easy task).

I import costumes and hip scarves from Egypt, but I don't have a store front. Anyone from the general public looking for a BD costume wants the look only, and they wouldn't understand why my costumes start at $200 when they can get something from the Halloween Emporium for $39.99. Don't even show them the designer stuff that's over $600! At this point I would lose too much money if I rented commercial space.

Some people will order directly from a designer, but there are others who are leery of pre-paying for a costume from a foreign country. Most people feel more comfortable buying online from someone who is governed by the same laws that they are (although I do ship internationally, it's not a large part of my business). The down side is that they are limited to what I physically have on hand. On my buying trips I pick up as many larger cupped and hipped costumes as possible, as they are always the first things to sell.

Safran, I didn't realize you were working in Egypt this summer. I hope you are having a wonderful time! How long will you be there? I enjoyed meeting you last year, and I'm still hoping to squeeze a trip in this year.