Thread: holding up a hip belt

okay, so... for those of us without hips- what do you do? I am not even 'apple' shaped- more like inverted triangle (upside down pear?) my waist is actually 2 inches larger than my upper hip measurement, and gosh darn it if most costumes don't look better with a little bit of bootie!

I'm not quite a chicken legs, but I have no hips to hold a costume up & all my costume skirts trail on the ground behind me 'cause I have no rear either. An old fashioned 'bum roll' works for tribal-y costuming, and I do okay with a traditional belt that can be adjusted to fit, but how do I hold up & fill out stretch velvet & lycra beaded skirts? I've seen padded panties locally, but they all have high waists that wouldn't work with a midriff baring cossie. Suggestions?

What works for me is to get nude colored boy shorts or -- even sturdier -- lycra hot pants intended for dance. (sold as hot pants or boy shorts or booty shorts.) Either way, you want a low-rise or hiphugger fit, of course.

Put on the shorts. Put on the skirt. The top of the skirt should ride higher than the top of the shorts (in fact, they won't be even all the way around). Pin the front, back, and sides together. Take them off and tack the shorts in place with a few stitches.

This arrangement holds up all but the very heaviest beaded skirts on me, and if the shorts cause any 'muffin top' it's hidden below the skirt. I wear a thong or panties under the shorts for hygiene, and remove them when I sell the costume.

Another option would be to sew a body stocking into all your costumes and make them dress-like.

Lara, your the same shape I am. My waist and upper hip are proportions are similar to yours. I use hip and butt pads but get the pads separatly and then pin them to the inside of my boy shorts and pin skirts to boy shorts. That really helps. You can also pin them into body stockings as well. Sew wide elastic into your hip belt and pin belts to yourskirts. Inverted triangle looks better with circle skirts or trumpet skirts. With circle skirts you can tuck some into your belt to help hold the belt up better and make hips look a little wider. Interested in seeing what else others might add.

If the audience only knew what we do to create the illusion..l;,

Originally Posted by Nebula

If the audience only knew what we do to create the illusion..l;,

favorite quote, wish I could remember who said it:
"Natural? Of course they're natural! What could be more natural than little baggies full of rice?"

Originally Posted by Lara L

Natural? Of course they're natural! What could be more natural than little baggies full of rice?"

Love it! ..l;,

Souzan, where do you buy your "tranny pads?" I can't seem to find just the pads themselves - only the padded panties ,r:;

I have the same problem. No hips, no booty.

I only have one heavy beaded lycra skirt. I sewed the zipper shut and used four pieces of 2" thick elastic. I doubled the elastic, two pieces together, and stitched it to the skirt at the very top. About an inch or two below that, I stitched the second set of elastic.

I did not do the zigzag casing thing, I stitched the elastic directly to the skirt, so the inside looks like quite a mess.

Doubling the elastic reduces the amount of give, so it isn't going to "relax" and slip.The second strip of elastic, below the first, is fitted to my hips, it acts like a second waistband or belt to hold things in place.

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

Souzan, where do you buy your "tranny pads?" I can't seem to find just the pads themselves - only the padded panties ,r:;

Padded Panties, Butt Enhancers, and Padded Underwear by Silicone Body

Of course you don't want to pin the silicone pads but they do sell foam pads too that you can pin.

Or you can use something like this with pads sewn in pockets, just that you will have to turn down the waistband so that it doesn't come up so high: Butt and Hip Padded Rear Enhancer Panty

A lot of department store lingerie depts carry padded panties as well. You can even find them in JC Penney's online.

i attach snaps to the skirt and the belt. that's not to keep the belt ON, but to keep the belt IN PLACE. i've had some who otherwise toured around my hips.