Thread: Costumes for us Luxury Models...Can We Talk?

Some of us are built for comfort, not for speed, some of us have aging arm/elbow issues and some of us just like to be covered a bit more for other reasons. The Folkloric Look can take you just so far. Why dont designers make more dresses in larger sizes and well designed 2 piece costumes? We boomers and biggies are not going away???!!! And we have money!!! (well maybe not right now!) And we like a "one size fits many" approach that you can wear with your own bra with......oh, oh..wait I know...we require more fabric with strong seams!!! What was I thinking???

There is something wonderful about being able to wear your own bra. I have a 2 piece that I bought here and the "built in bra" was a pointy ships' prow and had no straps of any sort in it. A lycra choli style with free floating hard cups that supported - not a thing! I took the cups out...beads all over the floor, and reconstructed the bead work with out a bra built in. I can wear my own bra with it now, as long as I tack the bra to the choli at the straps and lower cups to keep things from shifting around. And guys, this thing was made for a luxury model dancer, so you would have thought they would know better!

Up on stage...I can still do a bedlah, but next to your humus..not so much...(ew)

What do you want to see for sale? Give us an example. Me first....

I really like that dress! I'd like to get something like that for restaurant shows. something like Serena Ramzy wears in her dvd, "Visual Melodies."

Dresses are out there...but they are usually the same size as the 2 piece (small) One would think the manufacturer/designers would recognize the fact that larger women are looking more for this stuff and do larger sizes on "spec" rather than custom order. I personally am very afraid of a custom order as my body type is a bit off the normal bell curve.

I hear you Anala. Even when they are bigger sizes, the costumes are not designed for the larger body--just petite sized made bigger. The more folkloric costumes are easier to find and to make or have made. And you notice that the big beauties get snatched up right away.

Here are some features I think designers could pay attention to:

Costumes that allow you to wear your own bra
Sweetheart necklines (so flattering!)
Arm coverage
Generous seam allowances so you can alter to fit
Mesh inserts or godets in skirts to show a little leg but not too much
Rich colors so we don't look like giant easter eggs
More room in bust

Souzan

I will add

Larger circumference of the upper arm sleeve
Fabric that will hold up to a bit of seam stress
Wider straps that look proportionate to the body
Bedlah bras that dont cut away rapidly under the arm pit so as to avoid the dreaded side boob ooozage

Add wider waists for the pre and post menopausal models!

Souzan

Stretch fabrics that are beautiful and allow a flattering but body-hugging fit. Like L Rose luxury velvet dresses. Somebody should send those dresses to Egypt and have people embellish them!

I like the term "luxury model"!

I have similar but opposite issues. I'm very petite (5'2") so I rarely find anything off the rack that will fit. Sometimes hemming a dress or skirt doesn't fix the overall proportion issue.

I started making my own costumes several years ago and now make them for other dancers as well. I rarely accept a custom costume request from someone I can't put my hands on. Body shapes can be so different from one person to the next, that I don't like relying on measurements alone. I've never quite figured out how costume manufacturers figure those details out. I guess that's why different costume makers work for different shaped people. I like to think alot of the value of having a "Custom Shahla" costume is in the initial consultation and subsequent fittings. I feel I can design a costume that's going to fit and suit the individual dancer. I really enjoy the process of figuring that out.

Maybe all you Luxury Models need to take a vacation in Maine next summer and I'll make you something fabulous. Just kidding, my waiting list is already extended to summer. But seriously, finding the right fit can be a real challenge no matter what size you are.

I'm not a luxery model but would like to contribute...

I'd like to see a more flattering use of mesh; whether it's on the tummy, hips,etc. It sometimes seems like the designers go "oh we need something else..." snip snip and sticch stich and you have a weird cut out that isn't flattering at all!

I love how mesh can create wonderful illusions for our bodies but it just has to be places properly.

I absoutely love the embellishment part of designing a costume but I agree that it is hard and very frusterating to fit a body with just measurements. When I designed a costume with Jim Boz, I used a L.Rose set that he already had the fit him well. I enjoyed every moment of making that costume because there wasn't the worry of whether it was going to fit or not. If any ladies out there have "templates" that they want embellished, I would be happy to provide that service!

That is good to know! Thanks!!!

Originally Posted by invokethegoddess

If any ladies out there have "templates" that they want embellished, I would be happy to provide that service!

Ask and ye shall receive!

It isn't a problem for me I do costuming for lots of luxury ladies and being one myself I have a lot of experience. But everything I do is custom. There is nothing wrong with requesting anything specific from your designer but it can be hard to keep things like that in stock that will satisfy everyone.

I am the compact luxury model . . . and I have dangerous curves!!! Those curves are hard to costume for sure, lol!

https://www.dahlal.com/default.aspx?...1&s1=1153&s2=0

I think this is a perfect dress - Oriental Spice - I have it with turquoise sequins instead of the green - see profile pic. It is so flattering - conceals and reveals just enough.

One of my pet peeves are the skirts with the thick elastic that give you, well me, a muffin top. Squeezing elastic is never good.

Another thing about bras too. A lot of cups for big boobies become plates and not cups and that just smashes it all down...we want them scooped and lifted. For me, I have a problem with how far apart the cups are. I need those girls squeezed together!

Anala, I love your dress. I wish there were more out there like that one. I remember a pink one and a green one when I was on my dress hunt 08. But I like the one I came out with it.

I think we should contact, Stacy and Clinton from TLC's "What not to wear" and see if we could talk them into doing a piece on "What not to design" and help us figure out how to costume our lovely luxury bodies.

I would like to see this design for the sizes of 14-+.
Belly Dance Store.com

I'm in love with my greenie, who sells these????

Oh...pretty! I wanted that dress. It was the green one I was referring to in my above post. ;) Looks great on you.

oh, didn't mean to tease, it fits me so good and I feel empowered when I dance in it.

Originally Posted by andalee-oriental

One of my pet peeves are the skirts with the thick elastic that give you, well me, a muffin top. Squeezing elastic is never good.

Yes! And it is so easy to fix from the maker's point of view - just put in some non-stretch cotton tape instead of elastic! It fits (and hangs on better over body stockings) and doesn't muffin top nearly as much! My Bella 2 piece has this at the waist (I think to stabilise the beading more than anything else) and it looks SO much better.

It is difficult to make costumes that can be adjustable to "custom fit" after the client recieves it.
Take a standard size 12 dress and 4 size 12 women and the dress might fit one of them well and not the others...there are many different ranges within sizes..long torsos, short torsos, wide shoulders etc...too many to make accurate fits without hands on custom fitting. You are also dealing with stretch fabrics (in embelished skirts) that have different degrees of stretch. You can also loose some stretch in the fabric when you bead over it...you end up having to make a "guestimate" to deal with all of the factors that may alter a fit.

When I make skirts now, I bead the top of the skirt first and then encase elastic in hand stitching, I leave a little room in the elastic so it can be tightened or loosened simply by undoing a few stitches. I also use a smaller elastic, and I find that it helps cut down on the muffin top as well. I make my costumes for a general size but like to add as many customizable areas so that I can maximize the number of dancers within a general size that I am able to sell to.

Originally Posted by CFerhat

https://www.dahlal.com/default.aspx?...1&s1=1153&s2=0

I think this is a perfect dress - Oriental Spice - I have it with turquoise sequins instead of the green - see profile pic. It is so flattering - conceals and reveals just enough.

I have that dress too, but with flaired skirt with net godets. Turquoise and copper trim.

But look at the dress next to it. The modern haggallah. The three in stock are definitely for luxurious ladies though shorter than me.

Souzan

You've got me all inspired, gals! I'm off to do some work on the chocolate brown velvet dress which I started about a year ago! (I love stretch velvet - so forgiving of lumps and bumps)

Originally Posted by invokethegoddess

When I make skirts now, I bead the top of the skirt first and then encase elastic in hand stitching, I leave a little room in the elastic so it can be tightened or loosened simply by undoing a few stitches.

-This may be a stupid question but wouldn't maternity elastic work better for adjustability purposes? (you know that elastic with button holes all along? is it too thin perhaps?)

I'd like to see designers make costumes out fabric that smoothes things out (cellulite), naturally contoured bra cups, and indestructible fringe!

Originally Posted by kemintiri

-This may be a stupid question but wouldn't maternity elastic work better for adjustability purposes? (you know that elastic with button holes all along? is it too thin perhaps?)

That is a great idea!

Your Greenie and my Greenie look alot alike, Ezma. (you tease)

As a luxury model myself I've often taken comfort at the knowledge that those beautiful costumes I can't afford wouldn't fit me anyway. Tragically, at the Sydney Farha Tour I was confronted by an Eman Zaki dress that not only would have fitted, it had me written all over it.

A friend who has a few Emans and who purchased yet another while she was there said that Eman commented to her, in Egypt, that a lot of the Western costume buyers were bigger than she was used to dressing. My friend told her she must make some larger ones, and I think she has.