Thread: what to wear under costumes with large cutouts

I have a gorgeous dress that I am planning on wearing at an upcoming show. However, it has two large cutouts (with mesh) in the hip area at the sides so I'm not sure what I do for underwear under the costume.

For reference, the cutouts on the hip are similar to the Eternal Flame dress on Dahlal
https://www.dahlal.com/default.aspx?...1&s1=1153&s2=0

Any suggestions would be great. The only thing I can think of is to replace the mesh with nude fabric instead.

Fleshtone dance shorts. Or fleshtone no-VPL briefs.

Or if you want people not to wonder what you're wearing, dance shorts in the colour of the dress.

You could make a built-in panty by cutting the sides off a string bikini and attaching the connection points (very sturdily!) to the relevant areas of the dress. I'd probably recommend a swimsuit bottom over thin underpants--better to have panty lines than cameltoe, if you can't find a bottom to offer protection against both. Then again, this approach depends on the dress fitting snugly enough to give the proper tension to hold everything in place. If it's loose through the hips, a sewn-in bottom may try to shift while dancing.

Or you could replace the sides of a string bikini with clear or flesh-colored elastic, and keep the two pieces separate.

Looks like the perfect opportunity to wear a mankini to me!

I jest, I jest.

You could try out a pair of knickers with the string sides, to minimise the amount of material on show. It'll still be visible if people are intent on spotting your undercrackers, but it won't scream 'here are my drawers'.

I was wondering if you could try shapewear bottoms like magic knickers, but it looks like the mesh is too vertical for that- that's a very exposed dress!

I would suggest a thong with clear elastic sides like Tourbeau said. You can general find them in topless dance clothing catalogs.

Invisible Strap Thong Panties - Leg Avenue - Thong Panties - Sexy Thongs, Gstrings and Thong Underwear - Free Shipping Available

If you order something like this online, or if you have a strip clubs in the area, you will have a shop somewhere that sells clothes for the dancers, ask for a "clear side thong". I looked in a few places on line and they are hard to find and out of stock, so they must be fairly popular! Know that these will be tiny, but much more sturdy than they look, and can take much more wear and tear than the average belly dancer provides.

Originally Posted by Tourbeau

You could make a built-in panty by cutting the sides off a string bikini and attaching the connection points (very sturdily!) to the relevant areas of the dress.

I was also going to suggest this.

There's an article on my web site with a bit more detail about this: Belly Dance Costuming: What to Wear Under Your Costume?

(Look for the section titled "How to Make Built-In Bottoms".)

Or you could go a totally different direction and sew some Spanx into the underbust area, creating a flesh colored, internal, body stocking. Cut the legs as short as you need. This "undersuit" can be untacked, washed and stitched back in.