How many costumes?

[Ranya]

Just a question because I was wondering...

How many costume is it good to have (in good I mean making sense, being practical or necessary) if one is dancing every week at the same venue?
I have 8 at the moment that I use, but I have never really danced at the same place every week (I was mainly doing weddings and stuff) and when I performed in one place, it was usually every two weeks or less.
But if someone does a show with one costume change every week at the same restaurant for example, how many costume to you think would it be appropriate to have at the same time - by this I mean that of course regularly one should change costumes...
but how many different one should one have together at the same time according to you ?

:dance:

 

[feedyoureye]

How many costume is it good to have ?
:dance:

Are there a lot of repeat costumers?

 

[Amulya]

Can you combine your costumes with different skirts, veils etc? That can help to make an even bigger selection

 

[alosha]

I agree with Amulya. Skirts and veils can completely change the look of a costume.

 

[Shanazel]

I generally had a gold, a silver, and a purple bedlah, with half a dozen or so skirts and many, many veils. They combined to make an amazing number of costumes.

 

[danya]

I'm shooting for 50....

Have 18 right now (15 of them I bought from Lila's--Turkish and Egyptian alike), but I love BD costumes more than my regular clothes (well, I wear the separate pieces for other occasions as well) I would like 50, but 30 would be great too...am almost there

 

[lizaj]

Have 18 right now (15 of them I bought from Lila's--Turkish and Egyptian alike), but I love BD costumes more than my regular clothes (well, I wear the separate pieces for other occasions as well) I would like 50, but 30 would be great too...am almost there

I wouldn't say 18 is almost 30.

 

[danya]

yeah 18 isn't 30

But 18 is still quite a collection. I didn't count the ones I made myself. So what's the average amount for a professional dancer? in the Mid East I see pros with only 3-5 sets...I love Topkapi, I love Lila's and Bella's too except the price which isn't justified with bella!! these 3 are very similar I think, don't you think?

 

[lizaj]

But 18 is still quite a collection. I didn't count the ones I made myself. So what's the average amount for a professional dancer? in the Mid East I see pros with only 3-5 sets...I love Topkapi, I love Lila's and Bella's too except the price which isn't justified with bella!! these 3 are very similar I think, don't you think?

I've only ever seen Bella's .I bought 2 second hand and although they were fabulous they weren't for me and I sold them on. I can't see anything on Lila's site that resembles a Bella or an Eman or a Pharoanix
I'm a fan of Egyptian style costumes and Uk designer Mandy of Shimmyshop.
In the final analysis a dancer looks best in what suits her and what she feels good in and that may be a designer worth 600$ or a homemade costume or a simple gelebeya and hipscarf.

 

[danya]

I agree Lizaj...

Like Marylin Monroe said: "It's the girl who makes the dress and not the other way around". Bella always made me look fat (I'm voluptuous, but thin) they look fabulous on my skinny colleagues. in Sahar I look weird, in eman as well as pharonix I look just like Lila's Egyptian ones. I never quite saw the difference unless the two latter ones have less embroidery. I saved tons buying from Lila: I just think she does not advertise at all, and does not show them on girls, so you can't see how awesome and indifferent they are from Abla, Eman and Pharonix! I'm speaking from Experience: once I bought one, I bought another and another...and I'm a traveling performer: I know the stuff out there!

 

[lizaj]

Like Marylin Monroe said: "It's the girl who makes the dress and not the other way around". Bella always made me look fat (I'm voluptuous, but thin) they look fabulous on my skinny colleagues. in Sahar I look weird, in eman as well as pharonix I look just like Lila's Egyptian ones. I never quite saw the difference unless the two latter ones have less embroidery. I saved tons buying from Lila: I just think she does not advertise at all, and does not show them on girls, so you can't see how awesome and indifferent they are from Abla, Eman and Pharonix! I'm speaking from Experience: once I bought one, I bought another and another...and I'm a traveling performer: I know the stuff out there!

She does advertise..on her website and she has loads of info on herself and loads of photos of customers wearing mostly those very regular Turkish bedlah. Nothing wrong with them. I had one I bought in Antalya..a lovely silver confection . Another dancer now has it.

I do agree a dancer does not have to spend designer prices to look good.

 

[danya]

But did the Silver Turkish ones from Antalya have

Faceted and Sparkling sequins like Lila's? THAT"S what I'm talking about. I saw them in Antalya; they are made in Istanbul: I had a silver one with flat sequins, and the color turned gunmetal gray and faded out after 3 months (i do dance a lot) the faceted ones just don't fade out, especially in the silver! don't you agree?!

 

[Aniseteph]

Not really - cup sequins may have a slight durability advantage being protected from rubbing by their raised edges, but that's it. Anything that loses it after 3 months is plain crappy quality IMO.

Commercial considerations aside, whether you use cup or flat sequins is more to do with the effect you want.

 

[danya]

Yes, faceted sequins last for ever

But flat ones: especially in these colors: red, blue and silver; just fade out, that's what I was saying exactly. I agree about the effect: that is personal preference.

 

[Aniseteph]

I'm not saying exactly what you were saying. It isn't the shape that makes them "last forever", it's what they are made of.

Flat sequins that fade after 3 months are crap quality. Faceted sequins made of the same materials are crap quality too; slightly protected from direct rubbing due to the raised edges, but still crap.

 

[danya]

Aniseteph, so what are ALL sequins made of?

I have seen maybe 20k costumes in my life since age 2: all the sequins are made of plastic: Aniseteph, are you trying to say that some are made of glass or metal or something? i"m unclear of your comment. also, their thickness is all the same, but some are 5mm, some 6mm, some 8mm, some 10mm. I prefer costumes with 5mm sequins; those are usually only Egyptian made. what do you mean by "Quality" of sequins? all sequins are the same except the flat ones VS faceted ones; as you explain very well above, because they are more "Protected" because they are faceted; just like a faceted jewel/diamond/whatever good stone, vs a flat one. People usually do not buy Flat diamonds! because even diamonds can scratch; did you know?. what do you mean by what is "Good quality" sequins other than plastic ones? Also, FYI and everyone elses, in the past 12 years or so, they have all been made in China. If sellers say they are made in the Czech republic or elsewhere, they are not telling the truth. Period! Actually, now that I have researched the history of sequins: I read that they were invented in the flapper era and were made of nylon based material: when washed, they would "Bend" or disappear/dissipate into thin air. They were very thin. ALWAYS flat, and the color very badly put on and would hardly last. So today's sequins are far better quality.

 

[nightdancer]

I, uh, guess you've never put "glass sequins" into google?

Danya, I'm going to be straight here. You are pushing your preferred vendor around here, and its getting old. We get that you like whatsername with the "ancient goddess" crap all over her website. I'm a Dahlal kind of girl. My buddy Shanazel over there may like Pharonix, and Cisa may like to sew her own. But I have to tell you, I looked at whatsername's site. First of all, its a cheesy site. You can tell it was "the first on the innernet" because its never been changed. Secondly, there is nothing outstanding about her quality or her selection. It looks like every other half-bit vendor out there, up to and including that stupid mannequin that all those of that calibre seem to use. You like her. We get it. You have every right to like her, wear her merchandise in all your many shows, and sing her praises to another dancer that asks you where you got it. But you have NO right to come in here, where you are new and denigrate other designers and then tell us that we are sadly misinformed souls because we don't agree with you. I am sure that if this merchandiser knew that you were doing this, she would not only be deeply embarrassed, that she would have the integrity to post something along the lines of "These are this person's opinions, not those of my business." You need to stop it. If you've as much experience dancing as you state, then there are many here that would benefit from your vast pool of knowledge. But so far, all you've done is alienate the experienced, knowledgeable members, and embarrass the newer ones, ensuring that they will not buy from your girl because they do not want to be associated with the likes of you. (Per a private email, who in the interest of that person's confidence, I will not state who said it.)

 

[Shanazel]

This is Shanazel in official capacity as moderator. We are off topic. Please return to the original discussion. The discussion about sequin and other decoration quality is interesting enough that someone may like to start a new thread re: this.

 

[mahsati_janan]

Just a question because I was wondering...

How many costume is it good to have (in good I mean making sense, being practical or necessary) if one is dancing every week at the same venue?
I have 8 at the moment that I use, but I have never really danced at the same place every week (I was mainly doing weddings and stuff) and when I performed in one place, it was usually every two weeks or less.
But if someone does a show with one costume change every week at the same restaurant for example, how many costume to you think would it be appropriate to have at the same time - by this I mean that of course regularly one should change costumes...
but how many different one should one have together at the same time according to you ?

:dance:

I would say that if you have a lot of repeat customers, have at least enough costumes to go 6-8 weeks without repeating and don't pair them up so that you are always wearing the same 2 in an evening. For the last place I danced regularly that had a high number of repeat customers, I had 12 bra/belt sets, 5 bra/skirt sets, and a lot of different skirt/accessories combinations. It was enough that customers didn't see the same sets very often, but not enough to prevent random customers from mentioning they had seen something before. You might not need that many - the place I was dancing was interesting because it was mainly Persian and Egyptian and they were almost all there every week and kept close track of my costumes. It made it difficult to keep enough costume rotation to meet their expectations.

If you don't have a lot of repeat customers or if they aren't as change conscious, you can probably have a lot fewer before the customers notice.

 

[LadyLoba]

Number of Costumes You Own or Plan to Buy

I was wondering..how many costumes do you guys all have, and how many, in your opinion, do you think someone should own?

I know there is no one right answer. With everyday clothes...I think enough clothes for 2 weeks plus a couple lounge around outfits for when you feel sick or just like doing nothing, and some extra socks, sleepwear, and underwear is a complete wardrobe....I've known people who kept two sets of clothes and washed every night and were fine with that....and I've known people who had so many clothing items they didn't even know what they had and felt they truly needed, and not just wanted, additional items. So I'm sure everyone will have a different view on belly dance costumes....just seeing what everyone thinks on that.