Thread: Dresses V 2 pieces for younger ladies..discuss please

Hello all,

So I am 27...size UK 10 and not a large lady but by no means a slim jim either as I have a bit of a tummy....I totally think 2 pieces are so beautiful and sexy and I understand the need to wear them when performing in a restaurant especially. However...I have always leaned towards loving the elegance of dresses especially some Eman ones but have always been discouraged to get one as I am young and 2 pieces look better and I agree but I got my first lovely sexy low cut sparkly galabeya on Wednesday and I dance totally different...have more confidence...can let myself go and just feel ten times more sexy in it then a 2 piece.

Sooooo whats your views on dresses???

If I could find dresses that fit, I would wear them all the time. Sure, I'm 32 now, but it was just as true 10 years ago. There's a lot to be said for being comfortable. I'm sure there are some clients who will insist on a 2 piece, but I've been surprised at how much of a non-issue it has been here. Heck, if you've already got the 2 pieces, if someone tells you they don't want the dress, you can always go back to the 2 piece.

thanks Lara....I dont mean really for 'work and paid gigs' to me yes a belly dancer should be in a 2 piece because thats what people expect and it is more glam..im talking more for staged performances and haflas....i just love being a bit more covered up...not in a being down on myself way but i am in every day life a tom boy more than a sex kitten and I just prefer how dresses feel...i feel ten times more sexy in my low cut fitted galabeya then in any 2 piece i have tried on

I still think the costume should fit the performance style- but there are dress options for just about anything. If you aren't worried about paid clients, go with a dress if it makes you comfortable. I would 100% prefer watching a dancer who is comfortable and dancing her best in what they want to wear than someone wearing what they think they are supposed to wear & being uncomfortable.

A sparkly galebaya/beledi dress is going to work better for a more folkloric style, but there are the more glam dresses available for modern Egyptian style, & Eva Cernik & Artemis both had some amazing Turkish dresses the last time I saw either of them perform- find what you love!

I think the factors to consider are:

- The style of dance you are doing and whether it is consistent with the costume

- What styles fit and flatter your body comfortably

- What the customer expects, within reason (if they have specifically requested a look that makes sense with the performance you have been asked to give)

None of this has to do with age or making an overt effort to project sexiness. These guidelines apply equally to everyone.

I’m about your age, and I bought a dress within the last year and I love it. Dresses aren’t terribly popular in my region, but I began to pine for one after I saw Shira perform in her blue Hanan.

I usually make my own costumes, and I had plans to make yet another bedlah, but I think I’m going to make a dress this time around. I feel more elegant wearing a dress as opposed to a bedlah. I’m probably going to start buying or making body stockings too just because I like how it pulls the costume together and makes it look like a dress.

This last year at our local Renaissance festival, the student troupe I’m in wore ghawazee coats as a layer. It was mostly for warmth, but I got a lot of compliments on our look this year. (I’m actually a teacher, and a mom met with me in conferences just to tell me that she saw us performed and liked our modest costumes!)

I am a total dress convert. First, they are so easy to put on - only one piece to worry about. Similarly, easy to fit without a lot of mods. I wish I could wear all the time. I wore one for my restaurant show last week and I'm so glad because I got a huge family with tons of young kids, and they were dressed quite conservatively themselves, so I expect they were happy that I wore a classy dress.

My body still looks great (i'm in my early 30s) and I could wear two-pieces, so part of me feels like - it's like how I don't dye my hair because I don't have to so why do it before I have to? Part of me thinks I'd be "wasting" my 2-piece wearing years if I started wearing dresses now. But I'd really like to change over my wardrobe to more dresses from here on out.

I like them both-dresses and 2 pieces always have. I love dresses that look like a two piece joined somewhere and find its a flattering look for me. dresses can work with restaurant audiences. I know people who wear them for the second set myself included. people expect to see a dancer in something shiney and dancing thats all. The fact you are the dancer gives em a massive clue!
Dina has some stunning frocks