Thread: Help! How did you adjust your costumes if you danced pregnant???

I'm 4 months and I feel like my costumes make me look like a stuffed sausage, not a pregnant person. I'll be dancing in our show the last weekend in April--at 7 months.... How will I make anything fit???

Please share what tricks you used. And, did you wear your cossies under belly. If so, how'd you keep from tripping over your skirt in front? How much did you have to adjust your belt (roughly, in inches)?

Bras and belts are your friend - I changed sizes so drastically that I ended up getting a new bedlah to fit my expanded hips (and boobs) and then made a skirt that was shorter in front (so it could go under my belly) than in back. This pregnancy I used a very stretchy pharaonics costume (with a separate belt again) so I could roll up the front of the skirt when I danced at 5 months. I *just* performd at 8 months pregnant, and made a simple beledi dress for the performance.

Just like we talk about how too much cleavage and too high skirts can become a distraction for the audience, your new figure is another possible distraction. If your intention is to be seen as a "pregnant woman who happens to be a dancer" instead of a "dancer who happens to be pregnant," then this is not an issue for you, and you can wear whatever suits your tastes. OTOH, if you want your audience to see your dancing first and foremost, and your pregnancy second, then it becomes more important to have a costume that fits your current contours and not one that sort of fits if you don't look too closely. This also mean that you may want to avoid very shiny, pale, lightweight fabrics that make your new contours more conspicuous. That's not to say you can't wear anything but black, but rather that a beledi dress made from a mid-value color in a medium-weight fabric will be less bulgy looking than one made from, say, a thin, liquid-look white jersey. The other thing is to keep in mind that a lot of people are squeamish about protruding navels on pregnant women, and depending on your body, how high you carry, and whether you're an innie or an outie, you may find some costumes give you a more attractive profile than others. Whatever you decide, the bottom line is fit. It's simply not professional to look like your clothes are going to pop at the seams or that you've improvised an obvious workaround to something that wasn't tailored to the current shape of your body.

Sure, Tourbeau, I agree with much of your response, and I wouldn't get on a stage looking unprofessional (at least, certainly not intentionally). That said, no matter how much I wish I did, I don't have a big budget. So, given what I have to work with, I was hoping for some ideas (like lilya provided) to try and extend the life of my current wardrobe. Perhaps when 7 months rolls around I'll find that I have to find a way to put my hands on something new or borrow from a friend. Alternatively, perhaps with some creative alterations I can make what I have STILL look professional and fit well.

As for innie/outie--well--you can be a flat bellied dancer and have an outie. You can be a non-pregnant full-figured dancer and have all sorts of issues that some folks may be "squeamish" about. I have one friend who is terribly squeamish about very thin dancers. I personally have plans to wear netting at 7 months with any 2-piece costume I might choose to wear, for both the support and in the event of an outie (which freaks me, personally, out).

I have heard wonderful things about Great Loops on preggo dancers. Do you have one of them? I can definitely see why this might be a nice costume choice. They have that really nice "dip" in the front of the belt, rather than a harsh V or a straight line. That could be a really flattering look on your new belly curves! And they look great with a beledi dress if you want more coverage.

Baladi boutique has a bunch of bra and belt sets that are two piece and have a nice dip in the front... crazy fun/durable/full fringe too! I got mine second hand and it's pretty well put together. Baladi Boutique Bra And Belt Sets: Table of Contents

I wore a great loop towards the end of my pregnancy. It did fit pretty well, aside from on top, where my newly-growing rack was no longer fitting as well. However, I resolved this by getting an L-Rose u-top as well as wearing a body stocking (it helped hold the girls up in place). The LRose U Top had the added bonus of hiding my body stocking top.

L. Rose was a godsend. I was able to buy stuff from them and I can still wear it now because I just wore it below my tummy during pregnancy.

At 8 months pregnant, I performed (too bad there's no vid - I was HUGE) - and I wore a Dahlal "Saidi Jewels". The cool thing is that they are so stretchy - I can still wear it now - it's just a lot longer because I'm not filling it up with belly.

I'll ask two troupemates. They danced pregnant more than I, and they'd have suggestions.

I performed at 6 & 8 months along and 6 weeks postpartum. When I was 6 months I wore a belt I borrowed from a friend (I only had two belts at the time and they couldn't expand very much and this lady was a little bigger than me) and a velvet half top that matched my skirt. My girls get quite large when I am pregnant so a regular dance bra just didn't feel comfortable. I was in a groupe piece and all the other ladies were wearing bedlahs and I didn't want to just wear a hip wrap. I wore the belt under my belly. I did have to roll the front of my skirt a little more than the back.

When I was 8 months I would not have been able to keep a beaded skirt or a dance belt up. The belly was getting pretty big and I was starting to drop. Though I did still dance with a bare belly. It was a solo so I could be more flexible. I had a very nice silk skirt, harem pants and wrap top that I had gotten at We3 and just tied (and pinned ;-)) on a hip wrap.

When I was postpartum I wore a beledi coin dress. To be honest I was more self concious shortly after the pregnancy that during it.

Congratulations and have fun "belly" dancing.