What to wear for Sha'abi

I have a shaabi routine that I love, but I'm much too fat to dance it in tight jeans. What can I wear for shaabi? I have a nice baladi dress but it's a lace one, maybe a bit too elegant...
 
Last edited:

Roshanna

New member
Personally if not going down the jeans/leggings route but aiming for a casual yet stageworthy look, I'd go for a fitted, stretchy streetwear/'normal' dress in a bright colour, with a simple but bright contrasting hip scarf and some big earrings & bangles. Either maxi or shorter length depending on your style and comfort level.
 

Daimona

Moderator
I second Roshanna.

I've usually done shaabi in both fitted and loose dresses with a colorful hip scarf and matching earrings, necklace, lip stick and nails. In my group, we had similar dresses and leggings (the only time I would wear shiny leggings on stage ever), but in different colors and of course matched with hip scarfs and other accessories.


The exact look depends on what I want to portray and what kind of shaabi music I'm using. Old style, baladi-like shaabi - a longer dress. Modern shaabi - a relatively short dress and always high heels (using some of my Egyptian friends party wear for inspiration).
 

Ndimi

New member
OMG! I must have been living under a rock! This is awesome, i love it! Now, how do I go about learning it?
 

Jeanne

Member
The dress suggestions here are good. If you don't want to wear a dress and would like a non-jeans pants alternative, I once did a sha'abi routine (modern style) wearing black dance pants (flared leg, kind of street-looking) and a sparkly top. I made a belt to match the top that was not like a hipscarf or bellydance belt, but more like a belt you'd wear with regular clothes, except made out of shiny stageworthy stuff).
 
I've usually done shaabi in both fitted and loose dresses with a colorful hip scarf and matching earrings, necklace, lip stick and nails. ...


Old style, baladi-like shaabi - a longer dress. Modern shaabi - a relatively short dress and always high heels (using some of my Egyptian friends party wear for inspiration).

I suppose my difficulty is that I can't picture what you mean by a dress - after all, there are thousands of different styles of dresses! I do have one Egyptian friend, but she doesn't go to parties, so I have no idea what they wear for party wear.
 
Last edited:

Roshanna

New member
As an example, here's what my students wore for a baladi class dance, but I think something very similar would also work for shaabi (I'm in a different costume then them because I was dressed for a separate solo). I wanted something bold but affordable and available in a range of sizes - they all bought their dresses themselves and chose ones they liked the style and fit of to match my colour scheme (royal blue or turquoise with gold jewellery).
1604534_734156689956498_6120259433807219213_n.jpg
 

Daimona

Moderator
I suppose my difficulty is that I can't picture what you mean by a dress - after all, there are thousands of different styles of dresses! I do have one Egyptian friend, but she doesn't go to parties, so I have no idea what they wear for party wear.

:lol: I get it. My friend would wear anything she looks good in with A LOT of sparklies at parties. And as she is petite, so she would also always wear high heels.

Some may not agree, but I'd say you could wear whatever dress you feel comfortable in as long as your moves are visible.

Here are some examples:

https://youtu.be/peD4tQm2m5U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0VGX5LaeaA

https://youtu.be/BSWNJJZEMZo

https://youtu.be/ABevJaQLlLE

https://youtu.be/c-b1lx43fyo

https://youtu.be/XofUWrtweQs

https://youtu.be/snw_dYduvvM

https://youtu.be/Z6PaTBBPxBE

https://youtu.be/JRHUTko7sRg

https://youtu.be/KYfXQzAjZN4
 
Last edited:
Top