Thought Provoking Belly Dance Costumes: the good, the bad and the hideous

Shanazel

Moderator
The top looks like a nude lingerie bra to which someone tacked a couple of sequined appliques. Not at all as successful as the nude hip band which I like. Something like that would've been very good for me to visually lengthen my short waist back when I still had the figure for such a costume.

Ah, those were the days... and I thought I was so misshapen back then. :rolleyes:
 

Dunyah

New member
Nude_silk_costume.jpgI'm not a fan of the trend toward nude-looking bras like the one up-thread. This costume uses the nude fabric in a more attractive way to my eye, though I'm not crazy about the skirt fabric, I do like the bra and belt and the way that the nude fabric can visually lengthen the torso.

Edited to add: I re-saved the photo and successfully uploaded. Yay! In the meanwhile I upload another photo just to see if it would upload and it did. Now I don't know how to delete that one, but it's a pretty cute costume, just not the one we were discussing. Oh well.
 

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Amulya

Moderator
The first one is pretty ugly in my opinion, the second I love, I have tried to recreate it but I couldn't figure out how to do the skirt/belt and I ended up with a really ugly half done thing (it's somewhere in my albums)
 

Shanazel

Moderator
I think that is actress Barbara Eden in the blue costume. Don't think it was meant to be moved in much less danced in. ;)
 

Dunyah

New member
I think that is actress Barbara Eden in the blue costume. Don't think it was meant to be moved in much less danced in. ;)

It's Doris Day in the film "The Glass-Bottomed Boat," which I have not seen, so I don't know if she danced in it or not. She was not meant to be a belly dancer in this costume, but a Far East Asian dancer of some kind. But the lines and the headpiece, if not the color, remind me very much of many tribal fusion costumes of today.
 

Shanazel

Moderator
Would you believe Doris Day was my first guess? Then I said, nah, Doris would NEVER wear something so un-girl-next- door-like. :lol:
 

Greek Bonfire

Well-known member
I am a stick in the mud as I love fringe. It is something I do not see on the modern cabaret costumes anymore and I miss it. Is there a reason why or is it a new fashion dictate? For me I have to dance in fringe mostly for mental health and my own self image.
 

Amulya

Moderator
Multicolour costume with face, but I do like the skirts, nice colour combination. And black costume with weird aliens on it :confused:
 

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Shanazel

Moderator
The black costume looks like the designer gets her inspiration from looking through a microscope at slides of swamp water.

Are there swamps in Australia? :think:
 

Aniseteph

New member
<googles cypress knees> Well there you go, once again this forum has added to my general edumacation. I'd always thought those things were rotting trunks of old trees. We don't have that kind of swamp here, certainly not with Spanish moss and alligators.
 

Amulya

Moderator
Not sure if it's the same as cypress knees, but we do have mangrove trees that have similar kind of roots. But I think they are a different type of tree. I have seen Spannish moss but maybe it's not native to Australia.
 

Darshiva

Moderator


Two things. Firstly, I don't normally wear my heart on my sleeve when posting to this thread. Secondly, I'm decidedly not a fan of Neon. But I have to say that this is the only nude-coloured costume I've ever liked. Mostly because it just seems to say "I am a normal costume that is not trying to deceive you about how much flesh the dancer is showing, I am merely made of a pale tan fabric with tons of bling"
 

Shanazel

Moderator
Hmm, I see what you mean but it still isn't a favorite of mine. She looks like negative image of Xena the Warrior Princess complete with body armor and epaulets.
 

Dunyah

New member
I haven't been a big fan of "nude" costumes, but I do like this Bella. Not crazy about the Neon one, but it does look very well-made and professional.

Nude_Bella.jpg
 

Darshiva

Moderator
I understand about the neon one - if it was mine the first things to go would be the shoulder & neck bling (harvested for use in other costumes) But I like the overall shape & design.

Not really that fussed on the bella you posted. It's a little too "I rolled around drunk on the beach and then got up to dance" for me. ;)
 
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