How far does a costume define you...

[lizaj]

..as a professional? Or otherwise..what messages do we send out?
Looking at the last few items on Thought-provoking costumes from shimmy-shimmy..I kept thinking...well that would be OK for...etc etc....
I once got "told off" by another dancer at a hafla for wearing (my first new) Cairo costume at such an event. I may add I was not the only one. But should I have stuck to the circular skirt and tie top?
I once saw a very good young dancer wearing a cropped top and coin belt in a restaurant. It did detract me..should it?

 

[Amulya]

..as a professional? Or otherwise..what messages do we send out?
Looking at the last few items on Thought-provoking costumes from shimmy-shimmy..I kept thinking...well that would be OK for...etc etc....
I once got "told off" by another dancer at a hafla for wearing (my first new) Cairo costume at such an event. I may add I was not the only one. But should I have stuck to the circular skirt and tie top?
I once saw a very good young dancer wearing a cropped top and coin belt in a restaurant. It did detract me..should it?

No it it is an event where people know students are performing, but if the restaurant hired her as a dancer it would bug me. But at a hafla? No.

For professional dancers I expect a nice costume, not some kind of shimmyshimmy one... But nice is a very wide range of costumes. It should fit right, no beads, threads or sequins dangling off. No stains. No visible wear and tear.

 

[shiradotnet]

A dancer who wants to be taken seriously as a performer at a professional gig needs to wear a professional-quality costume for that gig.

For haflas, I think either a professional costume or a student costume is fine.

I did once get some comments when I wore a new Sim Moda Evi costume to perform at a hafla along the lines of, "Why on earth would you wear something that high end to a hafla????" There were a lot of people wearing professional-level costumes at that hafla, so I was a bit surprised by the comment. I didn't regret wearing the costume, though.

If a dancer wears a professional-quality costume, it may set an expectation in people's minds that they will see a professional-quality performance. So for that reason I wouldn't recommend that a student-level dancer wear one, but if she wants to take the risk of setting expectations that she might not be able to deliver, that's her prerogative.

 

[Mosaic]

..as a professional? Or otherwise..what messages do we send out?
Looking at the last few items on Thought-provoking costumes from shimmy-shimmy..I kept thinking...well that would be OK for...etc etc....
I once got "told off" by another dancer at a hafla for wearing (my first new) Cairo costume at such an event. I may add I was not the only one. But should I have stuck to the circular skirt and tie top?
I once saw a very good young dancer wearing a cropped top and coin belt in a restaurant. It did detract me..should it?

I would be very surprised if I saw a dancer wearing a coin belt/crop top in a restaurant, or any other paying venue, unless of course they were definitely tribal/tribal fusion.

I would expect to see high end costumes at most places even haflas. Of course at a hafla you will also expect to see the student costume as well, but well put together costumes. Sloppy thrown together things to me read "I don't care enough about myself or the dances I am dancing". I am lucky enough to be able to afford Egyptian made costumes, but some of the girls at my school can't afford them, but do go all out to either make their own, help each other to make their own, buy from the Chinese manufacturers and fix as necessary and they do look very nice. This year one group are wearing the costume below, they have embellished the skirts around the top to match the bra. The manufacturer made costumes to fit as their costumes tend to be small. They look nice when you see them altogether, The ladies all want nice costumes and the Chinese ones give them the chance to have something that looks pretty good at prices they can afford.
If I couldn't afford Egyptian ones I would be happy to wear something like this (with a few alterations). This is no more expensive than someone buying a crop top and skirt with coin belt. You can also get matching belts for the bra. To me it says I care even on a tiny budget.
~Mosaic

 

[Amulya]

~Mosaic

I like this! I have seen them on EBay, but the skirts never match, there is a belt that goes with it, but only some sellers (I think it's listed on the German EBay) have the complete version, however the belt is only decorated at the front. I think what troupe did with this costume looks really good

 

[Mosaic]

I like this! I have seen them on EBay, but the skirts never match, there is a belt that goes with it, but only some sellers (I think it's listed on the German EBay) have the complete version, however the belt is only decorated at the front. I think what troupe did with this costume looks really good

They are on Aussie ebay as well, The skirts all came with gold sequins so they have been changed to silver to match the bra, and addition beading around the waist to blend with the bra. There are 6 girls and each has a different colour. One girl did buy a belt and they are decorated/embellished all the way around, it had very long beading dangles as well as the standard fringe, so she shortened them as they kept catching in her veil, the belts are actually quite nice. Found some pics on ebay of back & front. The girls fixed the back of the bra up where the hooks are showing, all the China ones are like that.
~Mosaic
PS: The whole out fit cost the girls around AUD$55 including postage so not bad overall.

 

[Greek Bonfire]

At high end venues I would expect to see a high end professional costume. But at haflas? They are the opportunity for you to strut your stuff if you want, or you can go much more casual. I thought haflas were for experimenting and letting loose a bit more. I've gotten comments about "dressing up" more at haflas which I thought was kind of funny because there were other dancers that were "dressed up" as well. I didn't think there was a defined rule that at haflas you dressed down but if you want to do that, I think that should be acceptable as well.

Another thing too - if I fuss over my own appearance, I will most likely take my own performance more serious no matter where I am performing.