Thread: Designer watch: Aziz

Is anyone familiar with the Syrian designer Aziz? I haven't seen him mentioned on Bhuz before.

When Andrea2 and I were in Cairo, Raqia Hassan introduced us to him, and we visited his home/atelier.

He was very proud of his fashion design degree (lots of BD designers don't have one, of course) and of having worked for Fifi at one time.

His designs feature the Sahar-style stiff bra and lots of chunky decorations, often humorous and one-of-a-kind. Some of his costumes have whole necklaces sewn on them. We saw one made of stretch denim and rhinestones that was to DIE for, but very tiny.

Andrea has several of his costumes in her shop.
Full Costumes
(the $575-620 price range is Aziz's work)

And bellydancestore has just added Aziz to their designer lineup:
Belly Dance Store.com

I recently bought an Aziz. It's pretty darn hot (IMHO). I would say it's on the line of a Sahar. Your paying more for the intellectual property than the beading.

I saw a lot of his clothing line when I made my purchase. His overall look is very trendy and fashion focused. His designs remind me of an Italian Runaway. Some look pretty and work very well while others look pretty and don't work at all, then there's the rest... I'll just call them "interesting". My advice would be to take it one costume at a time. He's not Bella.

:: AZEZ DESIGN ::


YOWSA!

http://www.azizdesign.com/images/Big/berlanty.gif ;http://www.azizdesign.com/images/Big/kamelya.gif

SCARY!!!

http://www.azizdesign.com/images/Big/1.gif ;http://www.azizdesign.com/images/Big/nagwafarid.gif

TWO EXTREMES... ..l;,..l;,


This one reminds me of the Olivia Newton John video: http://www.azizdesign.com/images/Big/wafa3amer.gif

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORvQFlr4DUw"]YouTube - olivia newton john physical[/ame][ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQXECBdPgEA"][/ame]

Yikes! I didn't see any quite that scary when I was there. How did you get to the costume pics, when I go to his 'gallery' I only see one (really old) pic of him?

When we met him, he was too paranoid to put his designs online. He would only let his wife and her sister sew for him, because he was so afraid of having his designs stolen.

(which seems justified, we had a seamstress offer to sell us directly her 'own designs' which were copies of her boss's).

Originally Posted by Lauren_

Yikes! I didn't see any quite that scary when I was there. How did you get to the costume pics, when I go to his 'gallery' I only see one (really old) pic of him?

When we met him, he was too paranoid to put his designs online. He would only let his wife and her sister sew for him, because he was so afraid of having his designs stolen.

(which seems justified, we had a seamstress offer to sell us directly her 'own designs' which were copies of her boss's).

When you click "photo gallery" the pix start to scroll by him on the left side of his portrait. (You might need to add software to your computer if it doesn't show) It's possible that these are older photos of his designs when he first started (the shoes and hairstyles look dated) but it is definitely a reflection of the extremes I saw on display. I think I saw the denim one too. You are right it was super cute.

The problem with the ones that were "pretty but didn't work" was that the cuts didn't neccesarily flatter a woman's body. His pants costumes though are very nice. I just wouldn't pay the retail price he was asking which was in the 6-1000 range. If you have the luxury to deal directly with him I would bargain VERY hard.

I´ve seen Dandash look like a goddess in some classic models from him...
but Fatima´s costumes are a little too skimpy for my taste;)

The orange one here has a flattering cut and chunky beading,love it!:
Belly Dance Store.com

(If I ordered that one I would like some upper armbands or a bolero to with it.)

Neenee's Imports doesnt list size or anything? How do they expect people to actually buy the costume if they dont know what size is available? Thats kind of goofy.

Originally Posted by emma-bessa

I´ve seen Dandash look like a goddess in some classic models from him...
but Fatima´s costumes are a little too skimpy for my taste;)

The orange one here has a flattering cut and chunky beading,love it!:
Belly Dance Store.com

(If I ordered that one I would like some upper armbands or a bolero to with it.)

That one is nice. I would just warn you on costumes that have plenty bling. Many of his costumes have glue on rhinestones. I would never pay $700 for something I could make in arts and craft class. (But that's just me. No offense to anyone else)

Originally Posted by Amber_moon

Neenee's Imports doesnt list size or anything? How do they expect people to actually buy the costume if they dont know what size is available? Thats kind of goofy.

Hi, Amber! I own Neenee's, and the web site is a work in progress (can you hear my teeth grating? ..l;,). The costumes originally had all of the sizes listed but it was really cluttered. When I asked for the setup to change, all of the measurements disappeared. I just got the parameters for photo sizes, and I'm in the process of cropping the pictures. If there's anything you are interested in you can PM me here or e-mail me at simonesveil at ATT dot net.

I'll just call them "interesting". Aisha, I couldn't agree more. Lauren, don't you remember the red fish net? It wasn't dainty fishnet like stockings, it had huge holes almost 1/2" in diameter. I think it might have even had a ragged hem - I'm not really sure since I blocked it out.

Originally Posted by Andrea2

Lauren, don't you remember the red fish net? It wasn't dainty fishnet like stockings, it had huge holes almost 1/2" in diameter. I think it might have even had a ragged hem - I'm not really sure since I blocked it out.

LOL -- I remember it. I remember, too, that you had to be selective about what to bring back 'cuz some of it was cRRRRaZy.

But when his stuff worked, it REALLY worked, and some of those costumes are gorgeous!

Originally Posted by AishaSakinah

That one is nice. I would just warn you on costumes that have plenty bling. Many of his costumes have glue on rhinestones. I would never pay $700 for something I could make in arts and craft class. (But that's just me. No offense to anyone else)

Glued on for 700$?
That´s why I´m going to have one like this made for me by Eshta,
I want them to last!
Red Velvet Sweetheart Costume New!- SOLD! - Belly Dance Forums

Also:Samasem costumes that I bought for less had all of the appliques *separate* from the costume with their own lining,
so that the owner can make new bases in case of extreme weight loss or stains.

p.s. Sorry, I probably shouldn't have posted the Neenee's link, I know the site's 'not ready for prime time' yet.

Originally Posted by Andrea2

don't you remember the red fish net? It wasn't dainty fishnet like stockings, it had huge holes almost 1/2" in diameter. I think it might have even had a ragged hem - I'm not really sure since I blocked it out.

Actually when I bought my costume I saw a black belady dress made with some type of fishnet with huge holes like that. It had booty shorts to go under it. I understood the intent but it was a bad version of a baggy holey naked dress. (It wasn't even clingy fabric) It made me think of what could happen if the Gorton Fisherman went clamming in the community swimming pool.

Originally Posted by emma-bessa

Glued on for 700$?
That´s why I´m going to have one like this made for me by Eshta,
I want them to last!
Red Velvet Sweetheart Costume New!- SOLD! - Belly Dance Forums

Eshta makes really pretty stuff! I have eyed her postings in the past, but I think the skirts were too short for me or something..

Also:Samasem costumes that I bought for less had all of the appliques *separate* from the costume with their own lining,
so that the owner can make new bases in case of extreme weight loss or stains.

Is Samasem a designer now? I would love to see what her designs look like. I enjoy seeing how dancers bring a unique perspective to the design process.

Originally Posted by lotus

Eshta makes really pretty stuff! I have eyed her postings in the past, but I think the skirts were too short for me or something...

The ones posted hasn´t been my exact measures either,
but I had a revelation:
Ordering from Eshta will be no hassle when I want a beautiful,well made costume in my size...which I can´t say about most costume vendors*cough*


.[/QUOTE]Is Samasem a designer now? I would love to see what her designs look like. I enjoy seeing how dancers bring a unique perspective to the design process.[/QUOTE]

She always designed her own,even when they were made by Amira Kattan...
but pictures of designs are hard to find because she has so much work that scanning old pics,updating and maintaining a site are not on her top list:(

However,
if you look at the Swap Meet purchase thread you can see SatinWorships Samasem,and maybe on Sabriye´s site gallery?
I sold a bright green mermaid dress to Rafiyah some years ago also.

Edited to add:
I opened a Photobucket account to show some designs and to have somewhere to post my own stuff for sale:
emaniswe - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

I really like this one
Paisley Power

Could never afford it tho.