Purchasing Dancewear?
- Thread starter duskshade
- Start date
Mosaic
Super Moderator
I believe most men have their costumes made for them. Or as you mentioned buy bits & pieces that can work as a costume from different places.
Tarik Sultam & Zorba may be able to help you out with suggestions you could contact them or hopefully they'll see your post and respond
~Mosaic
Tarik Sultam & Zorba may be able to help you out with suggestions you could contact them or hopefully they'll see your post and respond
~Mosaic
BigJim
Member
The short answer is there isn't much out there for men to choose from buying off the shelf. You can check out ebay for a set of harem pants but you might have to buy a few pairs to get something that looks and feels good. I bought a pair of Sharif wear pants that worked out pretty well for my last performance. Helly Hansen makes compresssion tshirts and vests that you can use for an underlayer and I went with a custom made vest to add the sparkle on top. Dance belts /coin belts/hip scarfs are items you just have to search out to find one that looks good. I'd suggest trying to find someone that makes custom costumes and see if they can make something for you if you are serious about performing...Good Luck
khanjar
New member
I think you might have to do what I intend to do, get a sewing machine and learn to make your own, then you have complete freedom despite another skill that can be used in other directions.
( I say get a sewing machine, because I have just broken my 1913 hand cranked Singer 28k. a pretty major break, can't wind bobbins for the shuttle anymore, I can fix it but I need an oxy/acetylene heat source, something I don't have in my house.)
( I say get a sewing machine, because I have just broken my 1913 hand cranked Singer 28k. a pretty major break, can't wind bobbins for the shuttle anymore, I can fix it but I need an oxy/acetylene heat source, something I don't have in my house.)
Duvet
Member
I don't sew. Wish I did. Perhaps I will one day.
I got one outfit made by a good friend of mine, and another from the local theatre after their Christmas run of Aladdin (yes - I know!! Beggars can't be choosers!) The rest are just lucky finds or inventive re-uses of standard wear.
I've never found anything suitable for me at Bellydance Festivals (either too small or too short). I suppose there just isn't the market for it.
I got one outfit made by a good friend of mine, and another from the local theatre after their Christmas run of Aladdin (yes - I know!! Beggars can't be choosers!) The rest are just lucky finds or inventive re-uses of standard wear.
I've never found anything suitable for me at Bellydance Festivals (either too small or too short). I suppose there just isn't the market for it.
Pirika Repun
New member
Tarik Sultan makes his costume by himself. He bought custom made costume designed by himself in Egypt & Turkey, but he wasn't happy about some of them. So, he starts making costume by himself. If have you ever seen his costume, usually he wears vest, harem pants, and belt and all of them made by himself. He made pattern, and buy fabric and sew himself. He also buy sequins, limestone, and trim to decorate his vest and belt. He usually sews not only his house, but while he travels by subway. 
Tito said he design his costume, and he has his tailor make costume for him. The same for Khaled Mahmoud also has his own tailor. If you don't have it, well... you have to make it!
I'm not sure what is your dance style, but please do not wear women's dane wear to perform. There is Jazz or Ballet pants for men to wear, and style are for men. Also you can use regular jeans & T-shirts to turn to costume which both Tarik and Tito did, and works very well for both of them.
I'm not good at sewing, but I'm very small, and have to fix hem for most of my cloths. So necessity makes me sew and fix the cloth. The same thing for the costume, if this is necessity, then you have to make it!
Good thing about making costume is you can make something totally fit to your body, if you know your body shape, and how to frame your body.
While you are dancing, people are not look at your costume's hem or stitches, so if stitches are not straight, no body can tell from the distance. Good luck with making your costume!
Tito said he design his costume, and he has his tailor make costume for him. The same for Khaled Mahmoud also has his own tailor. If you don't have it, well... you have to make it!
I'm not sure what is your dance style, but please do not wear women's dane wear to perform. There is Jazz or Ballet pants for men to wear, and style are for men. Also you can use regular jeans & T-shirts to turn to costume which both Tarik and Tito did, and works very well for both of them.
I'm not good at sewing, but I'm very small, and have to fix hem for most of my cloths. So necessity makes me sew and fix the cloth. The same thing for the costume, if this is necessity, then you have to make it!
Good thing about making costume is you can make something totally fit to your body, if you know your body shape, and how to frame your body.
While you are dancing, people are not look at your costume's hem or stitches, so if stitches are not straight, no body can tell from the distance.
Good luck with making your costume!
khanjar
New member
Yes, I can attest to that, for the one workshop i did with Tarik, he was there stitching his costume, a belt I believe and one I copied the design from to make my current lighter weight belt out of draped and stitched red velvet, corset backing material to hold the shape and stay in place and small kuchi coins strung along the bottom edge and on the bottom of the ties, the result; something that works has coins on it but not enough to annoy and held on with aluminium jump rings pierced through the material to stop them parting company as is the want of many a commercial made item with coins sewn on.
But from a male dancer's perspective, the one that gets me the most is the lower below waist garments, what to wear downstairs, now Harem pants are an option, I got a pair, but they ain't cut for me, so no chance not them and as I say weren't cut for me, it was because of the sizing of them, they being the nearest approximation I could get to women's sizes, which is as even women know, a bit of a hit and miss affair. So it is I am going to make my own stuff, as sizing is a problem and I am a bit of a perfectionist.
But before anyone has any ideas of making stuff for blokes, first we need to get an idea of what most prefer, what they want to wear, not what is available.
But from a male dancer's perspective, the one that gets me the most is the lower below waist garments, what to wear downstairs, now Harem pants are an option, I got a pair, but they ain't cut for me, so no chance not them and as I say weren't cut for me, it was because of the sizing of them, they being the nearest approximation I could get to women's sizes, which is as even women know, a bit of a hit and miss affair. So it is I am going to make my own stuff, as sizing is a problem and I am a bit of a perfectionist.
But before anyone has any ideas of making stuff for blokes, first we need to get an idea of what most prefer, what they want to wear, not what is available.
prince ali baba
Active member
Where can you find Men's Belly Dance outfits
I found two places online that have some male belly dance/Arabian NightsStyle costumes. Keep in my these are probably more for Halloween,but could probably work for male dancers. Calibex.com shows an Aladdinstyle male belly dance costume ,similar to what Jamil dances in, for sale,but you have to go to Amazon.com to actually buy the costume. Miss Belly Dance ships and sells it through Amazon.com. Then one other place,which seems to be more for Halloween,but some of there costumes could work for belly dance(might require some minor changes) is Fantasycostume.com. What they sell for men are these male Ali Baba costumes which are listed as rentals,but if you pay a little bit more
you can buy one. However there's a few downsides from buying from them. I recently bought a rental from them and had to put out over a $100. However this was mainly for Halloween,but at some point I may adapt the costume into a belly dance costume. The other downside is these Ali Baba costumes,again something like what Jamil dances in except these ones come with turbans, they are one of a kind. Meaning they only have one of each version of the costume in stock,so you either have to have the money to buy or rent the costume right when you go to the site. However they do seem to have at least two different versions of the same costume(some minor differences in each version) in small,medium and large. The one I bought said small-medium and I haven't gotten it yet,but I checked with the costume lady(I guess the lady who runs the store and website) that the size has the right waist length for me when it comes to pants,so I'll tell about whether the costume fits me for another time. In the meantime here's a picture of one version of the costume. Nobody is modelling it in this pic,so you'll see it on a coat hanger.
Ali Baba - Size Medium [1030] : Costumes for Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Ben Nye Makeup, Wigs, Hats, Masks, Complete Halloween Costume Shop
I found two places online that have some male belly dance/Arabian NightsStyle costumes. Keep in my these are probably more for Halloween,but could probably work for male dancers. Calibex.com shows an Aladdinstyle male belly dance costume ,similar to what Jamil dances in, for sale,but you have to go to Amazon.com to actually buy the costume. Miss Belly Dance ships and sells it through Amazon.com. Then one other place,which seems to be more for Halloween,but some of there costumes could work for belly dance(might require some minor changes) is Fantasycostume.com. What they sell for men are these male Ali Baba costumes which are listed as rentals,but if you pay a little bit more
you can buy one. However there's a few downsides from buying from them. I recently bought a rental from them and had to put out over a $100. However this was mainly for Halloween,but at some point I may adapt the costume into a belly dance costume. The other downside is these Ali Baba costumes,again something like what Jamil dances in except these ones come with turbans, they are one of a kind. Meaning they only have one of each version of the costume in stock,so you either have to have the money to buy or rent the costume right when you go to the site. However they do seem to have at least two different versions of the same costume(some minor differences in each version) in small,medium and large. The one I bought said small-medium and I haven't gotten it yet,but I checked with the costume lady(I guess the lady who runs the store and website) that the size has the right waist length for me when it comes to pants,so I'll tell about whether the costume fits me for another time. In the meantime here's a picture of one version of the costume. Nobody is modelling it in this pic,so you'll see it on a coat hanger.
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