Flattering costumes?!

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LunaXJJ

New member
Oh boy, this should be fun.


"Improper spacing can cause women to look short and dumpy, even if they are thin."

Umm is someone wearing their skirt up to their navel? :lol:
Usually bottoms are as high as people wear their jeans anyway, low or mid rise.

"Each has options to increase, or decrease, the curviness of the figure, helping each look more hourglassed in shape."

First "hourglassed?" Really? "Curviness" isn't a word either. Someone writing an article trying to sound knowledge should focus on proper writing.
Certain skirts have "ears" or bulkier belts that can make the hips look bigger. However you'd still need a very padded top to make small boobs appear large enough for hourglass. An hourglass shape is defined as your hip, and bust measurements being almost equally, and 10 inches larger than your waist. If you don't have a waist that's already proportionally much small than the rest of you, learn to love it because you can increase curves, but you won't be an hourglass.
Take it from this very pear shaped girl.

"Proper adornments, such as beading, coins, and veils, help add to the illusion of the dancer having the perfect belly dancing body."

A veil is a prop, not an adornment. Some people tuck them into their skirt, but that's usually because they tend to grab, and use it. Or do I tie it around my waist to make myself more "Hourglassed." :lol:

"Belly dancing is a beautiful dance that originated in Western Asia."

I thought it originated in the Middle East and North Africa?

On her whole thing about short waist women she says most have large breasts and should avoid too much cleavage. Ok, but what about women with shorter torsos who don't have a large bust? I you're going to cover a subject, don't leave out the minority, they exist too.
While we're add it, let's add "waisted" to the list of made up words.

"This helps to elongate the midsection and gives the hourglass appearance..."

Again, an hourglass isn't based on how long your midsection is, it's the measurement of your waist, not the length of your tummy.

"Women with long waists.."
Ok, does she think your waist is your whole stomach? A waist can't be long, it's only the smallest part of your midsection. Around, not up and down. -_-


Ok, finally made it past the part on tops. :confused:


"Belly dancing bottoms come in a variety of types for each waist type, such as harem pants, long skirts, and dresses."

Those are style of bottom and depend on your dance style, and preference. They have nothing to do with your waist! How you wear them may effect the appearance of your stomach, but whether you wear tribal pants, or an Am Cab skirt it doesn't effect your waist. You can wear them higher or lower, but that's as much as they'll effect your tum.

"Baldani dress."
Ok, I'm done. This woman knows next to nothing about belly dance, or writing.
How you get "baldani" from "beladi?!"

Why bother correcting the rest? She's ignorant on the subjects of belly dance, and body shape. It's like grading an elementary student's homework.

One more thing actually.
"A tapered skirt will show off a lean dancer’s curves and accentuate her hips and thighs. This is not an area larger women want to draw the eye to, so it is best for them to avoid the tapered skirt."

Not every heavier dancer wants to hide their body. Some women are proud of what they look like, and should be. While having flattering options for body shape is ok to me (like tips to accentuate body parts you don't have much of, or balancing out your hips to your chest), body size is different. A heavy woman may want to show off her body, but make her chest appear fuller, or a lean woman may want to fill out her hips. That's not the same as saying "overweight women should wear this, and skinny women should wear that." It's about balancing proportions not hiding your body.


I down-voted the article, too bad there wasn't a comment section. I'd repost this there. :lol:

*edit* WOW, I am so glad I stopped when I did.
 
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allinorah

Member
Yup, it was pretty awful.

As an overweight, pearish shaped dancer, I'm going to rock my straight skirts because my hips are awesome. That article just felt so insulting.
 
Amulya

Amulya

Moderator
I wonder who wrote that, and why they used a not so nice looking costume as example picture. Or are these articles editable by anyone like Wikipedia?
 
Afrit

Afrit

New member
Mmm - most of the Middle East is western Asia - except Egypt which is pretty important!

However, the term "short waisted" is standard it means the distance between your shoulders and your natural waist is shorter than average.

Pity she never mentioned the costume should fit the music and dance style!
 
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LunaXJJ

New member
Alli - You rock whatever you're happiest in, confident is one of the sexiest thing any woman can have. I bet you look amazing in your straight skirts! Never let something like this get you down. <3

Amulya - What's even more amusing is that outfit does make the top part of the woman's torso look disproportionately shorter! :lol: It's what the whole article is supposed to be about.

Afrit - I've just never seen "waisted" as a word before, and my computer is saying it's not a word, so I went with that.
Yeah, most of the ME is Western Asia, but I felt just saying Western left out India (and of course Egypt). She wasn't wrong, just not entirely right either.

And I agree costume has more to do with the dance, and song than how short/tall/wide/slim etc you are. I've seen women of all shapes and sizes in all types of outfits. They looked amazing! If they wore something that didn't fit the performance, I'd be far more concerned with that than her waist size.
 
Kashmir

Kashmir

New member
LunaXJJ said:
Yeah, most of the ME is Western Asia, but I felt just saying Western left out India (and of course Egypt). She wasn't wrong, just not entirely right either.
Click to expand...
India is not part of the Middle East - nor has it got ANYTHING to do with belly dance. But Egypt is a biggie!

The short-waisted thing has nothing to do with waist size but its positioning. "waisted" is definitely in the Oxford Dictionary - so it isn't even costumier jargon. Frankly most Word processing dictionaries are quite basic - I regularly find English words missing.
 
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LunaXJJ

New member
Well then I take back my comment on the waisted issue then.
I honestly though India did have Belly Dance prior to the prevalence of Islam. Maybe I read it somewhere with less than accurate information.

I can admit when I'm mistaken though, it happens. :D

Plus it's nice to be wrong on a forum where people are so kind. I'm sure some groups of belly dancers out there would have my head for it. :lol: Thanks for correcting me. <3
 
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Amulya

Amulya

Moderator
Kashmir said:
The short-waisted thing has nothing to do with waist size but its positioning. "waisted" is definitely in the Oxford Dictionary - so it isn't even costumier jargon. Frankly most Word processing dictionaries are quite basic - I regularly find English words missing.
Click to expand...

Short waisted is a real word, but long waisted is not haha. We have discussions in the costume forum where we use that word, I am short waisted so I notice when it comes up in a conversation. It's actually a really weird word, it's more like the stomach area from bra to belt is short.
 
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LunaXJJ

New member
Well then I wasn't totally off on my critique, just half. XD I'll take it.

And I didn't even realize that the first one has a big red spot over her, uh... "poop shoot." :lol:
 
Daimona

Daimona

Moderator
So if I am right (without reading the article itself), it is written by someone without a clue on what would be flattering to different body shapes and who is also selling dubious costumes?
 
Amulya

Amulya

Moderator
If you click on the costumes you get big lists of things and not just from one seller, I can't figure out which seller wrote this
 
Aniseteph

Aniseteph

New member
And this is why we listen to Eman Zaki and not Random Person Off eBay.

He/she is over-concerned with costume issues for short waisted women, that's for sure. Cover up that cleavage with a "T-shirt top" ladies, for pity's sake! :shok: As far as I know pretty much the first rule of belly dance "tops" is to hoick the girls as high as possible, and that's great for short waists :think:. And if it looks like the bra cups are too small... er, that'll be because they are too small.

Apart from all the WTH? advice, it's the depressing undercurrent of body hating that gets me. No slit harems if you have a "large frame", your hipscarf and anything sparkly is just a device to draw the eye away from the horrible imperfections elsewhere, and of course we all want to hide our behinds...

...the illusion of the dancer having the perfect belly dancing body.
Click to expand...

:rolleyes: Sigh. Someone just doesn't get it.
 
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allinorah

Member
Just for funnsies: my troupe and I are creating matching costumes and we found some gorgeous fabric. We all decided on straight skirts, which according to this author, I should not be wearing. The skirt is partially done, no elastic band yet and nothing's been hemmed. I think it looks pretty fantastic. Nothing like a good project to keep me occupied.

I apologize for the messy basement photo and the poor quality. Also, the fabric sheds like a BEAST! GLITTER EVERYWHERE!

WP_20140328_004.jpg WP_20140328_003.jpg
 
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Amulya

Amulya

Moderator
Allinora, don't forget to post photos once it's all finished. Love the colour and the sparklyness!
 
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