Thread: Sheer chiffon skirts and layering!

Where you have a sheer skirt, with slits do you prefer to layer it with another chiffon skirt, harems with a side slit or harems with a front slit? I'm contemplating a l rose skirt purchase but am not sure whether to order 2 skirts, a skirt and harems or just risk a single skirt. The chiffon color would be red.

I used my chiffons in a variety of ways. But my favorite way is to wear 3 or 4 at a time in complimentary colors in rows.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54o1m8EmH6c]YouTube - aziz1 Movie9 Full[/ame]
In this video I am Wearing 1 pink 1 purple 1 teal lined up in a row front and back and then a black liner. I often wear 2 chiffs and tuck the underneath one up into my belt one corner from the back and one corner from the front of the skirt to form drapes on each side and then the outer one hangs as is. Some times I just wear 1 chiff and a pair of harems old style. You would not want to wear just a shear chiff on its own w/ out harems or a liner of some sort. We used to wear a shear with a panel skirt over the top too. In my "Plaka" floor work video I am wearing silver lavender and teal w/ a silver bedlah. Very pretty.
Have fun with them use your imagination the combos are endless..g.:

I like big poofy harem pants underneath, something lightweight, drapey and semi-sheer. Often patterned fabric, as I like a retro look. My daughter who is younger (well obviously!) and slimmer than me sometimes wears stretch lace leggings. She also has bell bottom stretch lace pants which are very cool.
Rosette

My favorite is to layer skirts and wear satin harem pants. I've worn leggings before and shorts with the sheer skirts, but I'm just too lanky to pull of that look.

I think it depends on the look you're going for. If I want a leggy look, but with coverage, I wear harems with slits up the front. If I want a more covered look I will wear harems with no slits/side slits or an underskirt.

I don't think I would wear a sheer chiffon skirt with slits with nothing underneath, that might be too bare.

You guys want coverage? I don't get it! ;-)

I tend to layer lots of skirts. Chiffon, satin, you name it. the colours are more important although in general, the chiffon is on top. the exception is my Akia silk skirts which have lots of colours to them, so the chiffon is underneath to give dimension when I turn.

{{{HUGS}}}

Hi Tahira. "You guys want coverage? I don't get it! ;-)" I am not sure I understand your question. Are you being vicious or serious?
Andrea

Andrea- I think that was sarcasm coming from Tahira (see rest of post!)

I agree, it depends on what I'm going for. For most of my shows, I have a full (no slit) chiffon under a slit chiffon, unless I am a) doing a skirt dance where I want to manipulate the edges of the slit or b) just want a more leggy look

for a leggy look, if the chiffon is too sheet, I do 2 double slit skirts with the slits lined up (remember those dance shorts!)

if I just need access to the sides of the slits, I do chiffon pants (with or without slits)

Most of my chiffon is dark/heavy enough that I don't need 2 layers tho- again, remember those dance shorts!

Andrea -

I was teasing. Everyone kept talking about being covered. As if legs were bad. I happen to love the Vintage slit-up-to-your-belt look with artistic tucking so that little actually shows. And yes, this generally requires multiple skirts.

I completely respect someone who wants to be covered. Much of the time, this is my choice as well. I like big 3 panel skirts with complimentary or contrasting colour.

here is an example:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlDG8nUmZMY"]YouTube- Raqs Britannia 2007 tahira of Los Angeles[/ame]

{{{HUGS}}}

I LOVE layering my chiffon skirts sometimes I will wear 3 Arabesque skirts at once or layer under the Bellas skirts that have leaves handing down. Leyer is soo effective and you can play with heaps of colour combos-it can make one bedlah look like a different costume every time!!

Originally Posted by baadrobot

I used my chiffons in a variety of ways. But my favorite way is to wear 3 or 4 at a time in complimentary colors in rows.


In this video I am Wearing 1 pink 1 purple 1 teal lined up in a row front and back and then a black liner. I often wear 2 chiffs and tuck the underneath one up into my belt one corner from the back and one corner from the front of the skirt to form drapes on each side and then the outer one hangs as is. Some times I just wear 1 chiff and a pair of harems old style. You would not want to wear just a shear chiff on its own w/ out harems or a liner of some sort. We used to wear a shear with a panel skirt over the top too. In my "Plaka" floor work video I am wearing silver lavender and teal w/ a silver bedlah. Very pretty.
Have fun with them use your imagination the combos are endless..g.:

this looks awesome, it looks like 1 skirt. what do you mean you line them up in a row?

Im trying to work that one out as well?? Looks very effective-but how do you get all the colours to show??

Correct me if I am wrong, but each of these skirts is 2 panel and the panels slide freely on their own waistband. She then scrunches each panel to be opposite one another and then lines them up so that each panel takes up 1/6th of the waist area. then is goes Pink, purple, teal, pink, purple, teal. . . And she has an additional skirt underneath for modesty.

{{{HUGS}}}

Oh Dear I will take pics so you can understand. sorry It is a beensy bit complicated . I will post pics loves
Andrea

Step one Place your center color on first. Back veiw

Step 2Place your second color on and extend the edges over the first one for coverage. Place the panels right on the front and left on the back looking forward. Back view

Step 3 Place your 3rd skirt on and extend for coverage on the left in front and right on the back. step 3 back view

In this case I had to use veils because I have no more skirts left but as you can see if the front and back of your skirts are separate, you can place them in layered rows as I have shown to create different color combinations
I hope this makes sense and your belts should accomodate this as long as you pin

Andrea

[QUOTE=tahiradancer;557826]Correct me if I am wrong, but each of these skirts is 2 panel and the panels slide freely on their own waistband. She then scrunches each panel to be opposite one another and then lines them up so that each panel takes up 1/6th of the waist area. then is goes Pink, purple, teal, pink, purple, teal. . . And she has an additional skirt underneath for modesty.

{{{HUGS}}}[/QUOTE
yes there are 3 layers of skirts but they are only overlapped in 2-3 inch sections. Given that and the force of my turns I decided on a raised stage that I would prefer to have a liner to cover any bits that might show un-beknownst to me. And Tahira I was not making fun of you, I just didn't understand your question dear. I didn't know if you were joking or not and i wanted to clarify that with you so I didn't step on any toes love.
This is a handy way to get volume and color!
Andrea

aawww, I see. that's great!! my skirts are sewn together at the waistband, not freely like yours.

Ohhhh! I see! Thanks for posting the pics! My Bella skirts are made like that but the Arabesques are not. I can still get 3 colours showing when I do mine :) A great idea for the furture when I purchase those type of skirts :)

Any recommended sources for those two-panel skirts that the panels slide around? I'm sewing challenged.

Baadrobot, love the clip. Thanks.

Originally Posted by Darbla

Any recommended sources for those two-panel skirts that the panels slide around? I'm sewing challenged.

L Rose can do it, or you can also work with a local seamstress. Panel skirts are pretty simple to sew, so I've just started working with a local seamstress to tackle the sewing stuff I'm not comfortable doing on my own.

Originally Posted by ozma

Baadrobot, love the clip. Thanks.

Agreed. That is a really cool look!

And if you're really clever and coordinated, you can grab two different colors of underlying layers (with zills on!) hold one in each hand and spin for a really cool effect. if you really want to go vintage.

And I doubt I can still do it-but now that I'm thinking of it I may have to try!

I'm wearing a sheer chiffon skirt with slits in this video, but I'm also wearing very long fringe.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VfwqD8Ez6U&feature=related]YouTube - Norma, Detroit Belly Dancer, Live 11-7-98 Part 5[/ame]

Its funny, I have never owned a chiffon skirt that did not separate. I guess since I made most of mine that I did not know about the MFG'd types. I have seen a few that were all one piece. I have owned a few Egyptians that were straight style beaded numbers. I sewed for some dancers that had all of their Egyptians converted so that the skirts were separated from the belts for versatility. That always made more sense to me.
Interesting
Andrea

I have one Mdm. Abla which had an attached skirt. The costume was so dirty when I got it that I took it apart and washed it, replacing the lining and never putting the skirt back on. I do intend to add a waist band to the skirt so I can wear it. But over all, I dins attached skirts to be sami-problematic because, on top of everything else, as baadrobot says, you can't slide them and artful tucking is a challenge.

{{{HUGS}}}}

Coverage is, IMHO, a personal choice. Personally, I'm a bit of a prude. But, I've seen some gals with extreme exposure and it looked good on them. I think the most exposed dancer I saw wore one chiffon skirt. The panels were sewn to the waistband in a fixed position - with 5" gaps between front and back panels!

Two skirts are nice and will show a bit of leg. If you're dancing on a raised stage or doing lots of floorwork, I recommend pants because they provide better coverage.

I know it's old fashioned and out of style, but I like the look of a chiffon skirt over a tissue lame skirt. Now on it's own, lame is kind of garish, but hidden under the chiffon it adds opaqueness for coverage and livens up the chiffon.

I like to make my circle skirts (any fabric) with elastic waistbands in a casing so I can pull the slits apart to show off pants or an underskirt, or pull them close together for less exposure.

I love wearing chiffon harem pants underneath my sheer skirts... I don't like showing a lot because I have skinny legs, so I prefer to cover them up!

Another reason, it's because I strongly advertise my shows as "family friendly" and many of the ladies that have hired me in the past to dance for their husbands and sons, have asked me if my costumes show "too much leg"
They did not mind the bare midriff, but they did have a problem with legs... it works for me!