Thread: post pregnancy costuming advice needed

my baby is due 14 march.

i have my first gig for dancers planned for early june, and my first GP/Commercial gig end of june... early, i dont know. this is my "job", and i hope i will be able to dance again by then, teach etc. we'll see. if i am not well medically for some reason, i can always cancel

anyway.

my current costumes still almost fit in the hip department, i havent gotten much bigger there... my boobs have exploded from a E75 to a G or even H75.

i've been told that plus breastfeeding they'll stay that huger size for at least a while?

so when do i get new costumes for these gigs? as the old ones sure wont fit again by then in the bra department? the commercial gig is three sets, and i can were a galabeya for one of the sets, but need more typical bellydance wear for the other two. i also have one costume that was made to measure for me at around 4,5 months pregnancy that will probably fit, but i need at least one more set of sparklies...!

custom ordering (and at that size...) take so long. i've looked around on swap meet and some vendors but most of the large size bra's i've seen i DONT like... or the whole costume is made for people a lot larger than me, or they also assume a huge rib cage. or they are like super encasings covering everything...

i have a small ribcage with two porn star boobs glued on presently... i dont mind cleavage.

so i was thinking of ordering a bella made to measure, with the current size bra, but the "old" size hips??? with some room for readjusting in the belt ?

I was very lucky and found a stretch velvet, choli style Abla that was still totally blinged out enough to work for pro gigs. I think it's the one in my profile pic, but I'll have to look once I hit submit :)

I've been through 4 pregnancies and am still nursing the last babe, but we're past a year, so the ladies are starting to shrink. Honestly, the roughest part for me was simply not being a consistent size. I used dresses more than usual, because even my hip size was not the same from one week to the next- so I'd definitely start looking for something extremely adjustable and/or forgiving. Otherwise, I was adjusting the hooks pretty much the night before performances when I needed a bedlah (troupe requirement!) to make sure everything was as up to date, size wise, as possible, and it is a headache.

Stretch velvet, I tell you! and unless you get really lucky on the swap pages, I do think ordering now would be a good idea!

Can't go wrong with a two-piece belt with a little wiggle room. I seem to remember my chest being largest in the first month or two of nursing, so you may be larger yet, and don't forget you will need to fit nursing pads in there in case of leakage. Scary prospect, custom ordering something expensive with a changing body, but I imagine your size won't come up for swap every day, so I wish you luck.
If I had danced shortly after delivery, I would have wanted a belly cover, as it takes a little while for the skin to shrink back after the belly deflates. May be something to keep in mind, some bodies bounce back faster than others.
Congratulations to you!

PS- I have a turkish two piece belt that laces up the sides, kind of like some of the tribal belts do, so very easily adjustable and would be perfect for post partum. Can send you pics for ideas if you're interested.

I had similar issues when my little one was born - she came mid of november and I had my first gigs 2 month later mid of january.
I had 2 costumes I bought during pregnancy as my bra size went up from 80C to 80D. When starting dancing again I was another 2 cup sizes larger due to nursing and needed 7cm more in the hips (as I gained pretty much weight in the end and had 10kg extra).

I went for 2 very simple Paganinis I custom ordered as my "nursing-costumes" and wore them until I was able to squeeze into my old costumes again.

Bella has some nice little sets in the tailor made section for under 300 Euro with bra, separate belt and skirt, I would go for something like that. The market for reselling will be quite small (except other pregnant dancers - this is where my costumes then sold;-))

oh, i even have a madam abla set where the top is not a proper bra... hmm! will see if i can still squeeze into that. it might be a little too folkloric for the gp gig, but might be perfect for the for dancers gig, yeay.

if anyone wants to send me pics of what they did!! yes please.

emotionvzw at gmail dot come

sha-ri, yes, i think i'm going to do a trip to bella (my students want to go anyway) and order a bra and belt set from them in my current sizes, with some extra wiggle room in both bra and belt

and i had the idea of ordering like a "saidi" outfit, trousers with a belt, and more a "top", a little like my raks pro troupe has. sharifwear has some great stuff. anything i can put my own bra's under but is fancy enough. (that's the hard part, i dont want to look like i'm in cheap student gear, it needs to be on the pro end)...

and yes, if i'm not happy with the belly, i'll go for a net. but i really hope the stomach skin will bounce back. as soon as doctor gives the all clear i'll be working out/dancing and hopefully get fit again soon... i dont have to start day job up again, in that period, so apart from taking care of the baby and myself, i luckily have not other repsonsobilities for a short while... i dont think i could/would want to manage going back to work soon fulltime. but because of that i DO need to start up the dance business again sooner later than later...