Thread: Looking for advice for when Im ready:

I've posted on here that I'm just about to re-begin belly dancing...but some day I would like to treat myself to a real belly dance costume...even if I only wear it for myself and get some pictures taken in it. I was just looking for any advice in that area.

I am short...just under five-four...and measure 38DD-28-38. I normally take a size 8 on the bottom and a size 16 shirt and jacket in American sized street clothes. My clothing style is pretty conservative and plain....jeans, plain T-shirts or button down shirts with tennis shoes or simple flats for casual wear, dress slacks, heels and solid or pinstripe dress shirts for office wear....and I dress in black, white, and shades of brown. I have auburn hair, very dark brown eyes, and fair to medium, very golden skin.

What styles flatter that type of body? What colors flatter that type of coloring? I also have very poor body image and don't find myself attractive, so a more "conservative" style would probably suit me best.

A gold great loop bedlah and a copper teal or dark green mermaid skirt and gauntlets might look very nice

Wine, Copper, Hunter Green, and Teal would all be great colors on you!

From your description of yourself, I'm thinking you've got a Dolly Parton figure, (which sounds fantastic to me!)

Even if you dress conservatively in your personal & professional lives, doesn't mean you can't go wild in your dance life. If you favour an Oriental style of dance, then you could wear a beautifully beaded baladi dress, to give your body a longer line. Maybe something with a mermaid skirt effect, to balance the magnificence of your bust. I'm a bit taller than you, but with the same sort of issue (large bust, relatively small hips) and this dress is very flattering, because of the drape, which connects the bust & hips

^^ that's a super cute dress!

Thanks everyone...now I know what types of things to look for when I go to buy a real costume.

Dolly Parton...lol...not quite...but I do have one of those figures...I dress conservatively because if I try to show anything a little too much comes out on top and it looks vulgar.

Good point on the dancing....it might be a place to be a little less conservative.

A gold, brown, bronze, or copper bedlah would look great on you. You could wear it with with a gold, red, caramel, or ivory skirt.

With a figure like yours (sounds divine!), you will want to invest in a lot of jewelry. You sound worried about looking too naked in a dance costume - when you add enough of the right kind of jewelry, you will instead look ornamented and rich! Look for necklaces that have a big triangle shape - this "fills in" your chest area. Buy big rings, or wear lots of little ones. Search out elasticized bracelets that you can wear on your upper arms, as well as bangles or cuffs for your wrists. Find something sparkly to wear in your hair, and don't forget the earrings (I always forget, I'm bad).

Finally, remember that a belly dance costume is just that- a costume. It shouldn't look like your every-day wear. It will look different, and you will feel different wearing it. And that's OK!

Another small tip is that you might wait to see what kind of bellydancing you end up doing. Some costumes are better suited to particular styles. For example, if you end up doing a lot of Turkish-style floorwork, then you wouldn't want a sleek, Egyptian-style costume with lots of beading because it'd be impossible to kneel in.

I would also recommend two websites: bellydancestore.biz, which is searchable by size (Yay!), and kingofthenile.com, which has very reasonable prices on custom costumes (they make it to your measurements). I just bought a costume from King of the Nile and was extremely pleased.

If you want to be a little more covered up, but you still want a two piece costume rather than a dress, you can buy a matching color or skintone body stocking from Sugar Petals website.

For color ideas, try going to the formal wear department of a local store. The rich fabrics and colors will most closely match what you will see in the costumes. Try some on or hold them up to yourself in a mirror to test what the different colors and fabrics look like.