Belly Dance Costumes from the Closet!
All you need is to reach in

Is the current economy stopping you from buying a costume and performing to your favorite belly dance piece? If you answer is yes, don’t worry and reach in to your closet. Yes! A simple and yet pretty costume is waiting for you. All you need is time to mix and match.

According to the experts, the looks of the high quality, stylish, lovely sequined and beaded professional costumes are one of the main reasons why so many ladies are drawn to this dance, but it is also the lack of these $400 to $2,000 dollar costumes that stops them from performing.

So open up the closet, breath in and pay more attention to the clothes you don’t wear that often and you might be in for a surprise. Take out the beautiful ankle-length skirts you got for last summer, the tank tops that you planned to wear at the gym but never did, and the triangle or square scarves and shawls that you got for Christmas and haven’t gotten the chance to wear.

Yes! All you need is three pieces; a long skirt, a tank top and hip scarf. But, if you want to dig in deeper, and save time mixing and matching, look for a long and tight cocktail dress and all you will need is a hip scarf to go with it.

Going Gypsy on the audience?
A. With this style anything goes: You can wear really colorful clothes or chose neutral colors if it’s hard for you to mix and match. A long flowered ruffled skirt will look lovely with a peasant blouse, a little vest on top or a thick belt under your chest to play the part. A folded shawl or triangle scarf around your hips will accentuate your hip movements, and gold chunky jewelry will give you the finishing touch along a colorful hair scarf or flowers.

An Egyptian Queen Emerges?
A. You will need the same three pieces. This time, look for a one color tight ankle-length skirt, which you will mix with a tight tank top of any color as long as it’s the same color as the hip scarf. You can cut or fold your top to show off your belly. If your clothes have no sequins or embroidery of any type, try some glitter in your body and arms to get the shine going on. Wear long earrings and big matching bracelets to liven up the costume.
B. You will look as beautiful in an ankle-length dress as long as it’s tight to your body. Most of this night gowns do not have sleeves, so you don’t have to worry about cutting anything. Put on your belly dance practice hip scarf and jewelry. This look will look perfect if you’re dancing to Saidi. Whether plain or flowery, you can acquire some large plastic stones from your local arts and crafts store and add them to your dress. You can also cut the dress on the side to make it more interesting and show off a little bit of leg.
C. If you have a night gown with a tight top and a flowing or round bottom, you can ask your local tailor to alter your dress by making it into a skirt that starts on your hips, and sew the upper part of the gown into a really small tank top or a chest cover. Make sure the alteration is less than $200 hundred, because with that money you might as well buy the matching bra and belt set pieces for your costume.

A Tribal Fusion dance will mesmerize the public?
A. Wear basic blacks, red and purple colors. This look will need a nice red or black corset to go with a fitted black pants and a red scarf. If you don’t have a scarf, wear a black mini skirt on top of your pants and wear a thick belt in your hip line to accentuate your moves. Wear black or purple lipstick, really dark eye liner and remember pick up your hair and adorn it with flowers.
B. You can wear a long black skirt with a pair of gypsy boots, a tight tank top with a little vest and chunky silver jewelry.

Well, now you have not excuse for not performing. Just use a little bit of imagination and you will never run out costumes from the closet; that is of course until you have saved plenty of money to buy the real deal.

I’ve been wanting to work on a new costume for awhile now.  I have many inspirations that are helping me to create a look that is my own.  I want to create new bra, harem pants, and a skirt.  I recently bought a long sundress, that was a bit too long for me.  I am 5 ft. and I had to cut about 3 – 4 inches off.  I kept the fabric I cut off.

The fabric I had left over from the sundress has an ethnic print and was made in India.  So I decided to make the left over fabric into a mini skirt that would go over my harem pants, once those were made.  It is a great idea to keep left over fabric for future projects, I would have never thought that part of my sundress would become a skirt I would wear for belly dance.

I wasn’t sure how I wanted to sew the skirt.  I had many ideas and after watching numerous You Tube videos, I decided to add pleats to the fabric.  The materials I used or that may be needed to make this project is:

1.  Fabric

2. Sewing machine

3. Either lace, ribbon, or metal clasps

4. Self healing mat

5. Rotary cutter or scissors

It is very simple to add pleats to the fabric.  To make pleats, fold the fabric and put it through the sewing machine and repeat.  If you want smaller pleats, make the folds smaller or if you want larger pleats make the folds larger.  Once I finished sewing I decided to use metal clasps since that was what I had.  I knew how to add the clasps thanks to my training at a design house I work at.

There are two clasps, one with the hole in the middle and the other with a round circle.  Put the skirt over your hips or wherever you want to wear it before adding the clasps.  That way you can see if you want to make the length shorter and decide where the placement of the clasps will be.   To add the clasp with the hole in the middle, just poke a hole through the front layer of the fabric on the desired place, just remember not to go through the second layer of fabric.    Repeat this step on the end of the fabric, only adding the other clasp from inside the fabric.

After you are finished try it on and add your belly dance belt or a hip scarf and practice.  Practicing in a new costume  will let you know if there is a wardrobe malfunction and you can fix it to prevent a mishap during a live show.  My next project will be harem pants, stay tuned.  Please share your comments.  Happy Dancing!

A few people have asked me to explain more about making belly dance bra’s, so in this article I will go more into detail on how to change the straps and to  cover the bra with fabric.

Before you start on your new bra, make sure the cups are as sturdy as possible, if not, purchase another bra or use buckram to reinforce the bra. Buckram can be bought at the fabric store. A bra should not have any overflowing or oozing over the cups and back straps and should not ride up when you lift your arms. One of the most important parts is the construction of the bra starts with buying the perfect bra!

This is a picture of what parts of the bra need to be altered:

Here is a picture of a back strap replacement of the last costume I made:

I cut the back straps from a very sturdy cotton that has absolutely no strech in it. You can also use grosgrain ribbon (for shoulder straps) if you want or sturdy interfacing, but I always use heavy duty cotton. Of course it nees to be covered with fabric so it looks like a real belly dance costume bra and not like a lingerie bra.

If you want to know how big the back straps sound be, measure the brack straps of any bra while you are wearing it. Belly Dance back straps are longer that the usual ones on a lingerie bra because they need to overlap. If you are making a tribal fusion bra they need to be even longer so you can tie them instead of fastening them with hooks.

You can use the cut-off black straps from your bra to measure how wide they should be where they connect with your bra. Basically this is what they should look like: 

Once you have replaced the back straps (the shoulder straps you do later) you can decorate your bra. Some people find it easier to first cover the back straps before sewing them onto the bra. I personally like my bra’s to be as seamless as possible so I do it afterwards. On this picture you can see how I pinned the fabric on (in this case I used velvet ribbon as well):

Here I pinned some ribbon and beaded fringe on my bra:

Pinning the fabric on the bra is very important, you can still make changes, move it around etc. When you use fabrics that have a direction like velvet or fabric with a pattern,  do not forget to make sure it faces in the right direction!

Here is the finished version of the bra you see in this article:

The worst mistake I have made myself was with my first belly dance bra for a student recital. I had only ever seen a few real costumes and had pictures of belly dancers in Egypt in the 60′s, so I based the costume on that look. What I did wrong was keeping all the original straps and putting sequins on them. It looked hopelessly unprofessional.

The next article will be on embellishing techniques!

We have all seen the beautiful jewelry that tribal belly dancers wear.  In this particular style of belly dance, the costumes are darker and the jewelry is more abstract.  The dancers typically make their own costumes and at times the jewelry as well.

Tribal belly dance jewelry consists of metal and silver jewelry.  Some can often be heavy especially if you like to fill your arm with bracelets and cuffs.  The jewelry is often bought at festivals or haflas and yes, the most popular place to find them is on eBay.  The bracelets, necklaces, and earrings all come from different parts of the Middle East and other places like Africa.  Turkey, Afghanistan, and India all have an inspiration among tribal belly dancers.  Purchasing jewelry of this caliber would have to be an investment, since it can get really expensive.

You don’t have to spend a fortune on tribal jewelry.  In fact, I made a pair of tribal inspired earrings.  To make a pair of your very own tribal inspired earrings, you need the following supplies:

1. a hot glue gun, tweezers,
2. earring posts (make sure you buy posts you aren’t allergic to, they can be irritating), and
3. two buttons that are flat in the back.

Some buttons even have the back part attached to sew onto clothes, if you really like a pair, you can cut off the back piece and then shave down the sharp edges.  By the way, another way of saving is subscribing to Joann’s email list, that way you receive coupons via email, even cheaper!  Make sure when your choosing a pair of buttons, they reflect your style and individually when you dance.

Material Needed to Make Your Own Earrings

I bought a pair of wooden buttons, that were made in India.  They have a large round shape and have a flower in the middle, they definitely had the tribal look.  I also bought a pack of earring posts, so I can make more than one pair.  Along with my coupon, I spent less than $7.

Procedure:

1. First off, heat up your hot glue gun.  Hot glue guns usually heat up pretty fast and be aware of where you place it to avoid burns.
2. Decide on where you want to place the earring posts on the button.  I placed it on the middle near the edge of the button.  Get your tweezers and grab the post.
3. Place hot glue on the post and by using the tweezers, place the post on the button.  You just turned buttons into earrings!

I look forward to your comments and if you have any more ideas on how to make earrings let us know.  Happy dancing.

A lot of belly dancers create their own costumes.  Making your first costume is very exciting. I will be publishing a series of ‘how to make belly dance costumes step by step’ and I will give tips and tricks on avoiding ‘costume mistakes’. As a beginner, it is so hard to get the right info on the how the to’s of belly dance costumes. I have made my beginners’ mistakes in the past and will share them with you.

The most common mistakes are made with the belly dance bra’s. Belly dance bras are different from normal lingerie bra’s because they have to withstand the dancing and keep the dancer ‘in’. A belly dance bra can be made from a lingerie bra, but you have to be careful to buy the right one. Padded bras are the what you need, because they have a good base to work with. You can use a pre-formed bra, but I prefer a padded bra that’s not preformed; it’s a little bit more flexible and easier to work with. Make sure you buy the bra a cup size bigger than you normally do: the bra will ‘shrink’ when you embellish and line it.

Next thing you need to do is cut off the back straps and shoulder straps and put buckram in the insides of the cups so the shape will hold after embellishing. I like to make an extra sturdy bit in the middle of the two cups: as you see in the pictures I have removed the original connection in the middle and replaced it with a bigger one. This is not always necessary, but it is a personal preference. I think it makes the bra more comfortable and durable. You will have to make new straps, this can be done with heavy duty cotton. Cut the back straps about the same shape as the original ones, only longer, as these will not have stretch in them. Same for shoulder straps. Cover them with fabric and add them to the bra. It’s important that the straps are replaced, otherwise it will not look like a real belly dance bra but like a lingerie bra (see the following two images). It also prevents unwanted bouncy effect while dancing!

Here is picture of a bra that I cut the straps of and replaced them (yes it looks horrible, but after it is all covered with fabric it will look very different):

This is the inside where you can see the buckram in the cups:

You’re now ready to add sequin, beads, fringe etc. Check this site next week: more on how to cover your bra with fabric!

The bra above looks now like this:

Before walking out onstage and after a performance, it is extremely important to cover the costume.  You don’t want the audience to see what your costume looks like and more importantly it’s proper etiquette.  Coverups can be just as exciting as the costume itself; it can be a glimpse of what’s to come in your performance.

You can make them yourself or buy them.  If you’re making them at home, you might want to buy at least a few yards to be able to cover you from the neck down.  You also want to have a larger then normal neck opening to avoid any wardrobe malfunction around your hair since it should be primped and set.  Also, a larger then normal arm opening to also avoid any wardrobe malfunction like getting your bracelets stuck on the coverup.  I found a great website to aid in patterns for belly dance costumes, there is even a couple for coverups.  To go to that website click here.

I have a couple of coverups that I have bought fairly inexpensive.  I found a full skirt and it is long enough to cover me and to get out of it I just pull the zipper down.  It cost me only $5!  Buying a skirt can also be a great way to use as a coverup.  I also like shopping at discount stores like Ross. If you visit a Ross Store, make sure you shop around the intimate section where the pajamas are usually hung.  I have seen some really beautiful drapings there that can be used as coverups.  I have seen animal prints, silk prints, and some indian prints with mirrors all under $20 and some were on clearance for less then $10!  

If you know of any other discount stores, please share them.  Leave me some comments and remember we don’t have to break the bank to look great.

Belly dance costumes are pricey items so we want to be ultra careful with them. But sometimes you might like to clean them. There are several things you can do depending on the type of costume. I have never owned a costume with mesh parts, so I can not give any advise on those, but I can for the regular bra and belt sets.

Depending on the type of beads on the costume, it’s sometimes possible to wash a costume. I have done that with a Bella and it worked fine. I used a mild shampoo in luke-warm water. I placed the costume in the soapy water for a while till I was sure the thing had a good enough soak. After I did a lot of rinsing, because you want to make sure there is no residue left. I dried all the pieces flat on a rack with lots of fresh air surrounding. Another thing I did with that same costume, but this is not always necessary, was taking of the lining and metal wire in the costume (you don’t want that to start rusting!) After the costume was clean and dry, I replaced the wire with new wire and put new lining on. Not all bra and belt sets have wire, some Turkish costumes have, but not often. One thing that’s very good for keeping costumes nice and fresh is airing them after each performance. Some dancers line their costumes with terry towel fabric so they can take that out and wash it instead of washing the whole costume.

You can probably also get a costume dry cleaned, but make sure to inform the dry cleaners properly about the fabric and beading and ask if it’s possible. Plastic beads might not react well with chemical cleaning.
As for skirts and veils, that totally depends on the fabric. Airing is always recommended. But if you want to wash the items make sure you do it according to the type of fabric. For storing my costumes I use plastic containers. I wrap my bra and belt sets in towels and place some of those special sachets in the containers
that keep it all dry.

The following is a listing of belly dance related goodies that we like.  You can click on the image to view more details about the item.

Gold Costume by DancingRahana.com

I’m a big fan of brownish/goldish colors.  I feel like this color looks good on almost everyone.  The design is intricate and feminine.  The top looks like it has strong support.  The ‘holes’ on the side add that extra something to this outfit.  I admit, the skirt is not easy to pull of by just anyone, but if done right – this would look stunning.

Copper with Gold Sequin & Jeweled Fringe Egyptian Bra & Skirt Belly Dance Costume

Sparkly, Glamour Costume by BellyDanceStore.com

I’m a general addict for all things  that sparkle, and this top definitely grabs attention.   Rather than make the costume too sparkly, the designers have mixed this with a comfortable, fun colored skirt.

Sparkly Glamour Belly Dance Costume

Beladi Dress by isisexchange.com

The following dress can really be worn to any occassion, in my opinion.  I could see myself wearing this to a salsa dancing event, for a tango session, or a casual and fun belly dance performance.

Orange and Red Beladi Dress

I just found a really great instructional video to help you make harem pants, cheap.  It’s a short clip, showing great results, and uses great editing.

Enjoy!

Credit goes to Gianny L.  Go to her website for more tips and tricks.

How can a belly dancer have great costume pieces without spending much money? Here are some ideas:

Harem Pants

Pajama bottoms or elastic waist/drawstring pants can be made into a pair of harem pants. Cut a small slit inside the leg hems; cut two pieces of elastic to ankle lengths; then using a safety pin at the end, thread them through the hems; sew or pin elastic ends together. Cut the top down a bit and make a hem for elastic at hips, or if you’re lazy, just roll top down.

Skirts

1) Petal Skirt: Find a pretty, square scarf, fringed or not. Cut a small X in the exact middle, enlarging it bit by bit until it fits your hips. Turn back the four points, make a hem at top and insert a piece of elastic, or sew on 1” grosgrain ribbon (ask at fabric store). Then trim off points, decorate bottom edges, and wear over harem pants.

2) Reversible Ribbon Skirt: Use two same size pieces of fabric that fit around your hips: one with at least 1” wide stripes and one solid color. Iron/fuse the two together with fusable webbing (ask fabric store). Cut the stripes into ribbons, leaving 1-2” at the top. Add grosgrain ribbon. No need to hem the sides of the strips. Cut the ribbon bottoms into points and add a coin or tassel on the bottom.

3) Tube Skirt. Fit a rectangular or square piece of fabric from hips to just above the knees, leaving plenty of legroom. Sew closed, then add a ruffle, gathered at the top, from bottom of tube to ankles; or eight circle/triangle/diamond shaped pieces, attaching each one at regular spaces making a very pretty ruffled effect. You will have to hem/grosgrain the top of skirt, and edges of ruffle.

(add Ruffle here)

Veil

A sheer, pretty curtain panel can be used for a veil. Just make sure it’s about three yards long and 45 inches wide. Cut off the curtain rod insert and hem that edge. Two panels can be cut into pie-pieces for a half or three-quarter circle veil.

Bras and Belts

Get a sturdy, well-fitting, pretty bra and two pairs of large matching stretchy bikinis or shorts, not thong, panties. Cut two diamond or triangular shapes out of front/back of one pair of panties and sew them (hand or machine) onto the centers of two evenly hip-measured pieces of buckram (ask at fabric store), cut into a belt shape you like. Cut more pieces out of the other pair of panties and sew them onto the buckram next to centers.

Next, decorate! Find old earrings, bead or chain necklaces, bracelets, and headpieces for trims. Sequins, hanks of beaded fringe, buttons, belts or other pieces are found at garage/rummage sales or belly dance events. Old beaded gowns and tops can be turned inside out, the lining removed, and the inside stitching covered with diluted white glue. After it dries, cut out appliqués from these garments, which you can sew onto your belt and bra, covering cups, straps, the back, and spaces between the fabric pieces on the belt.

Make your bra and belt look cohesive by using matching decorations on the bra and the belt front and back. Beads, fringe, coins, buttons, pieces of lace, fur, feathers should be used in thirds—top, bottom front and back. Be creative. If you do something you don’t like, you can always rearrange before or even after sewing. Once you have the belt finished, put Velcro strips at the two sides. This makes the belt adjustable for any body changes that might come up. Secure it with diaper pins when performing.

Once you have everything sewn in place, coat the bra and belt with a layer of artist medium (ask art supply store), glossy or matte finish. That will work like a layer of nail polish topcoat and preserve and stabilize your work.

Beledi Dresses and Cover-Ups

Long caftans, robes, evening gowns, dresses and tunics can be made into beledi dresses and/or cover-ups to wear to and from all the gigs you will get now that you have such beautiful costumes. Some might need some minor alterations—cutting an opening down the front so you don’t have to put it on overhead; sewing closed or letting out seams on the sides, or adding embellishments.

Making low-coin costumes is one way to add variety to your wardrobe. After awhile you will develop an eye for what works, using these easy foundation ideas. It is spiritually nourishing to adorn yourself through your own efforts, making beautiful works of costume craft to decorate your dance. Use the money you save for lessons. Enjoy your new costume pieces and keep dancing!

“Shimmy From the Heart”

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