Thread: Costuming a duo with non-matching body types

A friend and I are thinking about dancing a duet at the hafla in June, but I'm kind of worried about costuming. We have very different body types and coloring. She's a warm-skinned blonde, very slim and fit, A cup; I'm a pale brunette, heavy and curvy, who wears a DD. She likes sleeveless costumes; I like to cover my arms. She wears greens and golds and peaches; I wear silver and royal blue and fuchsia.

Anybody have any ideas on where we could meet up in the middle for costumes that make us look like we belong together? ,r:;

Thanks.

Why don't you do something like L Rose beledi dresses in colors of your choice so each of you can wear your favorite bedlah with it and look fabulous.

Souzan

Great idea! Jewel tones with a BD neutral bedlah!

{{{HUGS}}}

How about you in an L Rose baladi dress with trumpet skirt in a color that flatters you, her in an L Rose bra/trumpet skirt with bare midriff made of the same fabric but a different color.

You could wear matching coin hip scarves in the same fabric color (black or white, maybe?) and style but hers with gold coins and yours with silver.

Your dress could have whatever style of sleeves you like, while she could wear L-Rose gauntlets in fabric to match her skirt.

My dance partner and I often wore contrasting colors-green and gold would look great on stage with silver and blue. We always wore the same/similar style of skirt and similar style bedlah. I recommend making a shrug with long sleeves for arm coverage, unless you're wanting to wear a dress. You could wear a shrug with long sleeves and your partner could wear gauntlets or cuffs to match her costume. You could also make the shrug in a skin tone lycra maybe dressed up with scattered beads/sequins. There are also dresses that are similar in style to bra/skirt costumes that you could coordinate!

can you compromised on a color scheme, and wear different shape costumes but the same materials? then you will both be comfortable and match-y

Have a sash feature on hips or across body drape or matching appliques on the costumes.

How about compromising on a color you both like in a similar but uniquely flattering style?

Or both pick the colors that you like, then get together to compare what's in your bellydance wardrobe to see wether you can come up with something that would work.

What if she wears a gold bra & belt and you wear a silver one. You could both wear jewel tone skirts. You said she likes green and you like blue...emerald & royal would be lovely. If you ordered L Rose skirts you could get a matching U-top with 3/4 sleeves with a chiffon drape to cover your arms. Maybe she could get the little upper arm cuff with a chiffon drape so as to compliment you, but not cover her arms. Of course, this requires you to have and order specific items...just a thought.
You could always wear black skirts with gold & silver costumes.

I used to do a duet with hasani, who about comes up to my nose. :) we at least both had big nenes, though, lol! I had shoulder length fine curly hair, she had calf length (yes, calf length) super thick straight hair. we did ok, as long as we kept our costuming as similar as possible. I would go for matching skirts and accessories, same color as possible (l rose is fab!), and bedlahs close together in style.

maybe you could both do teal? teal is close to blue and green so you could meet in the middle. burgundy or garnet is also pretty universally flattering. as is red. :) as is black.

I don't know how professional you want to be costumed. I saw two girls do a duet with those sequin butterfly tops. One wore silver and one wore a gold top and the both swapped bottom colored hipscarves (so the silver top wore the gold coin scarf). I think they just wore yoga pants it was really cute. Anyways the idea would be that you could do something similar or one of you in all silver and one in all gold.

If you both pick one color you could wear any style of costume as long as it was in that one color. Three of my friends did a show and they chose gold and white/cream costumes. One had a bedlah and one had a lycra skirt/bra set and I can't remember the third style.

If you are feeling each other's energy and loving what you're doing you will look like you belong together. My dance partner probably weighs 20 pounds or more less than me but I don't think that's what the audience sees when we are together.

Originally Posted by elisagamal

I used to do a duet with hasani, who about comes up to my nose. :) we at least both had big nenes, though, lol! I had shoulder length fine curly hair, she had calf length (yes, calf length) super thick straight hair. we did ok, as long as we kept our costuming as similar as possible. I would go for matching skirts and accessories, same color as possible (l rose is fab!), and bedlahs close together in style.

maybe you could both do teal? teal is close to blue and green so you could meet in the middle. burgundy or garnet is also pretty universally flattering. as is red. :) as is black.

that's where i was goin and she beat me to it

l rose's arm drapes might work for both of you, it's a sleeve/not sleeve compromise that's flattering on just about everyone

I am currently working on a choreography for a duet. I am interested to see what you decide for yours. All of the options sound great but what if you are just starting to perform and you only own 1 costume? If the budget is tight would it be bizarre to just dance in what we have? Would hip scarves be better?

All these different suggestions have been really interesting. Once we figure it out, I'll report back!

Hey Tigerb,

I dance in a trio, and we are all built quite differently.

We knew early on we wanted elegant dresses because they fit our style, music, and market. But they also served to keep us all feeling comfortable and looking long--even when our heights and widths were pretty distinct from one another.

It can be hard, especially when the dancers involved have their own careers and know what works for them and what doesn't. There has to be a little compromise, but for me/us it helped to remember the goal was to make the group look good. That means individually looking and feeling good, but the overall image was more important. Ultimately we have worn the same style of dresses, but with slightly different cuts and little touches that work best for each dancer.

For affordability and quality, L Rose is a great idea, and as far as color, I liked Elisa's ideas.

Can't wait to see what you come up with!