Belly dancing is the Next Big Thing in women’s exercise, and no wonder. It’s gentle on the body, beneficial for the female physique, great fun and easy to learn.

In fact, it’s so easy to learn that many women who started learning “just for fun” suddenly find themselves joining a dance troupe and performing on stage!

At this point, what started out as an inexpensive hobby can quickly cost you a fortune, if you’re not careful. If you live in the US, Europe or Australasia, professional costumes in your local shops are probably priced in the hundreds of dollars. That’s hard to justify for an amateur, but what else can you do?

One option is to shop online. I have a belly dance store on my own website (see below) where you can see what kinds of prices are on offer from overseas suppliers for belly dance costumes and accessories. It’s possible to save a lot of money, but even so, the cost still mounts up.

The other solution is to make it yourself. If you are not good at sewing, that can sound daunting – but it needn’t be as bad as it sounds.

The first thing to remember is that costumes are all about theatre, and theatre is all about illusion. Your everyday clothes have to be neatly sewn and finished with properly flattened darts and no raw edges. But f you always dance on a stage, your costume need only be well-finished enough to fool the eye from a distance. If you dance in a cabaret, closer to the audience, then the outside of your costume must look perfect – but who cares if the stitches on the inside aren’t quite straight?

You’d be surprised how many ordinary garments can be turned into belly dance costumes. Summer midriff tops that tie under the bust can be given some bling by edging them with sequins (you can buy sequin trim ready-made in long strips three or four sequins wide). Even an ordinary cotton top, dyed black, can look impressive with some beading sewn on! Another good trick is to cover and old bra with stretchy velvet or glittery lycra fabric – it only has to be tacked on! You can cover the bra straps with the same material, or use the sequin trim, or braiding.

Look out for sales at inexpensive jewellery or accessory shops. You may find cheap necklaces or bracelets that you can break up and use the stones to decorate bras or belts. If you’re a regular customer, you might even persuade them to give you any broken or damaged pieces for free.

Skirts are more difficult to fake, if you dance Egyptian or Turkish style and want a modern, hip-hugging style. A good option is stretch velvet, which doesn’t need hemming or darts, and is forgiving if you make a mistake while cutting or sewing! You can also create an effective look with a hip scarf and one or two veils: tie the hip scarf securely around your hips, then swathe the veil(s) around your legs like a skirt, pulling it up under the hip scarf so the scarf is holding the veil in place. Try to arrange the excess veil into two “plumes”, one on each hip.

“Faking” costumes can be fun, so give it a try!

© Marisa Wright 2008

By: Marisa Wright

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