Thread: Elbow bands? What can I get away with?

I'm adjusting a new costume to fit me. And due to my somewhat recent physical activities (it is probably the aerial dance) I've bulked up a little in my upper arms. I'm don't want to have to go to the trouble of enlarging the armbands...but tell me, wearing them at the elbows...I don't know, does it just look wrong?

attaching photo. - what do you think?

Attachment 33568

I have the urge to tug them up higher when I look at the pic...

The costume is striking!

wow...just looked at that photo I posted, a portrait of my life right now - my pile of school notebooks looming large in the foreground, my shopping bags in the background, not to mention the bags of scrap fabric I pulled from the closet to adjust my costume. The edge of a sword and cane off to the side. All the chaos of my space with me dressed like a princess with bedhead and no particular place to go.

Originally Posted by NazirahDances

I have the urge to tug them up higher when I look at the pic...

The costume is striking!

I may be in denial...anybody have some scrap white lycra?

Higher is definitely better, I'm afraid

LOVE the costume!

i'd be distracted during a performance if you were to wear the armbands at the elbows. i'd be wondering when they would slip lower or slide all the way off.... and wouldn't be able to enjoy your lovely dancing....

It doesn't look "OMG, what is she doing?!" wrong, but maybe it's a little odd. I think I would be worried about them either getting bunchy and uncomfortable in the elbow joint or slipping down while dancing. How much work would it be to shrink them to wrist size? I'm not sure the fringe wouldn't be problematic that low on the arm, but if you were taking them in, maybe you could flip them so the fringe was at the top, or even take the fringe off?

If you wear them on your elbows, the added stress from so much motion might ruin the cuffs. Perhaps too much stretching and bending? If you can add on to them, it would probably be best. It's a beautiful costume!

If that were my buffness, I'd adjust them so I could scootch them up and adorn it.

Would you care to share the story of this new (or new-and-improved) costume? It's ringing some bells. :)

Originally Posted by Suzana

If that were my buffness, I'd adjust them so I could scootch them up and adorn it.

Would you care to share the story of this new (or new-and-improved) costume? It's ringing some bells. :)

The story? It is the replacement for the other one that kept coming back to me. This one is better, still not up to my imagination...but I think that might be completely unreasonable for me to expect anything to rival my imagination. It is pretty though, in its own way.

As much as I want to say "no, it looks great!", it would distract me from the dancing and from the gorgeousness of the costume. And I agree with a previous post, I wonder if the added strain of the bending and straightening would over-stress the bands.

I agree with the previous posters but I just wanted to say that the costume is the bomb! Fantastic!

lovely lovely costume!

how about wearing them on your forearms? the bigges part of the forearms that are below the elbows? i prefer to wear my arm bands there (the thin kind) but i don't have ones that look like yours so don't know how that would look.

if you wear at your elbows the things will be worn out quickly.

hmmm, would safety pins be enough to make them small enough for wrists?

I don't have white scrap lycra, but I do have some black liquid lame in my scrap piles.

Originally Posted by resullivan

hmmm, would safety pins be enough to make them small enough for wrists?

I don't have white scrap lycra, but I do have some black liquid lame in my scrap piles.

That's what I was thinking. Turn them into wristbands.

Those are lovely upper arms. But I agree that the bands need to go either up or down. I vote up.

or... just take them off. They are not a requirement for wearing. Just because you HAVE something- doesn't mean you must wear it.

I'm not a huge arm band fan anyway (say that 5 times fast) so thats just my not so humble opinion- but where they are would be distracting for sure.

And LOVE the black/white combo- really really beautiful!!!

hmmm...I like having arm bands because I feel like they even me out, I'm a bit of a pear.

I fussed about with them and I'm not feeling a forearm or wrist placement. I guess laziness is not an option. I think I need a staff of personal professional seamstresses with mad skillz on hand to help me out with all this stuff. :-) Sigh, a girl can dream.

I wonder if Joanns will have white lycra?

<3 <3 <3

Originally Posted by shems

I wonder if Joanns will have white lycra?

<3 <3 <3

Quite possibly. I have found some in their "bathing suit" section in the past

Originally Posted by resullivan

Quite possibly. I have found some in their "bathing suit" section in the past

Thanks Lorelei!

I see nothing wrong with it. Note Didem's in this video:

Originally Posted by Darbla

I see nothing wrong with it. Note Didem's in this video:

I also saw it last day and thought that it didn't distract me from the dance, but was it because she's also wearing cuffs?

Originally Posted by verohazade

I also saw it last day and thought that it didn't distract me from the dance, but was it because she's also wearing cuffs?

Alimah is wearing this same kind of thing with a costume in a DVD I have, and no wrist cuffs. The bands at her elbows are her only arm decorations.