Thread: Skirts...likes....dislikes

I thought I'd throw this question out......what kind of skirts do you like/dislike and why.
For example, do you like the big 25 yd skirts? Silk skirts? Mermaid skirts? Love them? Hate them? Are they easy to take care of? Fun to dance in? Difficult to deal with?

IMO mermaid skirts are the most flattering on almost every body-type. Plus wrinkles are not an issue. Skirts that start to flare near the knee, including tapered A-line style, work well for troupe costuming. I love silk but not silk skirts, to me the wrinkles are unsightly and I have no desire to iron that much silk. Full skirts are OK but not always flattering. I find massive cotton gypsy skirts distracting, the volumes of fabric draw my focus from the dancer.

For raqs sharqi I like fluffy skirts, lots of fabric, multi-layered, and usually love whatever Ansuya is wearing. I also love some interesting prints, and gravitate to light and bright colors rather than black, dark blue, etc. I also like tribaret looks. No tight fitting spandex, modern Egyptian, or ATS looks for me.

I also do gothic fusion and usually go with black, silver, gold, indigo blue, metal, and mirrors for that.

I had made a silk skirt a few weeks ago. While I was very pleased with it I didn't like how it wrinkled so quickly.
I like the point about the big skirts distracting from the dancer. I never thought of that before but I think it is true.
I do love mermaid skirts. I think they are a very flattering type of skirt for different body types.
One of my favorite skirts is the first one I made. It's burgundy colored organza with black trim (1 1/2 circle). I love the way it catches the light and shimmers. And I can tuck it into my belt for a different look.

I think different skirts suit different dancers and different styles well. I love Arabesque style skirts on me and I like the way they move when I dance.

I would also love to have one of the Sahar type costumes with a more A-line type skirt. Skinny stretchy skirts that cling along the thighs look AMAZING on some dancers but bad on me for the most part. And most Mermaid skirts look DIRE on me. Bad bad bad.

Did I mention that they look BAD?

(I put a lovely L Rose mermaid skirt on with my Great Loop and looked in the mirror. My arse looked as wide as a tractor trailer in it, but I thought maybe I was just having an insecure moment. So I went to show it to my very honest BF who said, "You arent actually going to wear that, are you?" I have since sold said skirt to another dancer who looks AMAZING in it.)

I like them all! Big, slim, ruffled, layered, curvy, silk, all of them....love, love, love.

I love the arabesque skirts as well, and vintage foofy ones that have more material in the back and less in the front.

I've yet to find a mermaid skirt that looks good on me as they tend to highlight all the worst parts of my toffee apple form (long legs, big belly, no waist).

A-line skirts in taffeta or velvet with a nice deep slit work for me, as do chiffon circle skirts with an edge tucked up. I'm all about creating the illusion of length over girth!

I love tiered tribal skirts, but I tend to save the really big ones (20yd or more) for dances that actually involve the skirt as a prop, because they're so bulky and can dominate a dancer.

I like most of the skirt styles and agree that different types work best on different body types, and also with different costuming styles in general.

One thing, though, which I've said before but I don't mind repeating: I hate miniskirt costumes. I just think they look kind of absurd. Don't like them on Dina; don't like them on anyone.

I don't like the mini skirts either. They just don't look right to me.

I'm a skirtaholic love love love so many different styles..personally the lycra ones don't do anything for me and I like a lot of shaky stuff on my belt so I tend to gravitate towards mermaid skirts and circle skirts..I enjoy Ansuya's costuming choices as well, I love the layered look..

I like skirts that allow ease of movement ..spinning, floor, etc

I like the classic fuller skirts, too. I think trumpet skirts look nice on many dancers, but I don't believe they look equally good on everybody.

I can't picture myself in one of those modern costumes that look like a piece of fabric wrapped 75% of the way around a pair of hot pants. I'm not crazy about miniskirts, but I feel they can sometimes work with a modern, sha'abi vibe. I don't usually like carwash skirts--no matter how much they're embellished, they always look kind of cheap and ratty to me.

I love them all. Big fluffy ones, slim sequined ones, A line with a slit, mermaid skirts that spread out when you twirl. Sparkly, shimmery, silk, giant cotton tribal skirts. They all have their place depending on the venue and type of show.

The only ones I don't prefer on my self are the tiered fluffy skirts because I think they visually shorten an already vertically challenged dancer. But on tall dancers I love to see the layers. And I really don't prefer a mini-skirt costume on a raised stage

Favorite? Big, huge, "Gypsy" or similar. Heavier ones make for GREAT spinning, but may or may not flow well for skirtwork. Lighter ones usually flow well for skirtwork, but may or may not do well for spinning.

A certain dance sister of mine has a home made that is gorgeous, weighs a ton, spins like a dream, and flows well too. I've told her "It *will* be mine!". Her reply: "I can take you out!". And she could - so it (the skirt) isn't mine after all! I need to copy it...

Mermaids are "ok", but I really like the feel of a large skirt.

Originally Posted by sabrinabellydancer

And I really don't prefer a mini-skirt costume on a raised stage

Uh, yea!

Zorba I used to have a large 'gypsy' skirt must have been 25 yards, i was at a Dave Matthews concert spinning in wide circles, once that thing was twirling had i jumped I would have been airborne :)

I don't like carwash skirts either..I don't mind the multi panels in that sequined rayon fabric, those are nice because when you spin the panels are weighted and they separate..really nice when you have a skirt or flashy harems underneath

but the look of them..nope don't like them, they make my ass look big and I have a helluva time finding a belt that all those separate tails will fit under ..I think they add un-necessary bulk to butts and hips and yes I agree I think they look like..too outdated?

I made a few of them in silk and wasn't happy..the silk isn't weighted enough to spin nice it looked like something in a little girls wardrobe

I love mermaid skirts for myself. I have kind of narrow hips and they seem to give me more of an hourglass look. I also think they make me look taller (that might be wishful thinking!)

I really don't want to derail this thread, but the dumb male here would like to buy a clue...

I realized that when I call up a mental picture of mermaid, tulip, and trumpet skirts, the same image comes to mind with perhaps slightly different hem treatments. Can someone explain or point me at some pix that show the differences?

Also - a "carwash" skirt brings to mind a pleated "longish mini-skirt" or a (pleated) "short tennis skirt". Or is it one of those
short, short, short tight skirts such as would be made from a pair of short shorts? Or something else? Or both?

The costume Goddess has a how to on mermaid skirts. Basically a mermaid skirt has a ruffle at the bottom.

A tulip skirt is pleated at the top.

The trumpet skirt flares like the mermaid but works with the seams, the "Princess-seamed mermaid skirt" at the bottom of Dina's instructions is one way of doing a trumpet skirt, the other is to cut the fabric so that it flares at the seams instead of inserting godets.

A carwash skirt has strips of fabric that come straight down like those barriers you drive through in a car wash. Here's an example of one for sale to dancers.

Thank you. Obviously, I was clueless about tulip skirts - and carwash skirts! I had thought the latter was something these buxom young gals wear at charity car washes, which usually leave little to the imagination. But knowing what they are, I've seen a few - even on males!

Thanx for the edjudimacation!

i like the kind of mermaid skirts that hugs only the bum and flare out from mid thigh. very flattering for me.

don't like metallic skirt because i sweat a lot and the metallic might fall off.

don't want to try silk skirt because i think the silk will stick to my sweaty legs.

my favourite skirt is this one here, thinking of asking someone to make the skirt for me. it's flattering for me and it's fun to dance in it.

Originally Posted by wingaki

don't want to try silk skirt because i think the silk will stick to my sweaty legs.

This used to be my worry, but the silk skirts from Eman have a lining, so the silk shouldn't stick to your legs!

Originally Posted by zorba

Thank you. Obviously, I was clueless about tulip skirts - and carwash skirts! I had thought the latter was something these buxom young gals wear at charity car washes, which usually leave little to the imagination. But knowing what they are, I've seen a few - even on males!

Thanx for the edjudimacation!

You're welcome. I heard of carwash skirts for the first time less then a year ago myself and had to go look them up. I had no more idea what they were then you did!

I really like "princess seamed" mermaid skirts (as explained by Dina on the above mentioned link Dina's Bellydance Costume Galleries).
Preferably all in the same material. I am not a fan of chiffon inserts.
And I don't like to have a different material on top and bottom.
Even though one of my favourite costumes used to have that - actually this was one of the reasons why I sold it after some years.

It kind of cuts the legs in half. I could theoretically afford it because my legs are really long, but still...

I really love this cut, tight around the butt and then flares out:


One thing I think should really be avoided is a skirt that's open right in the middle. A slit should always be on the side / over one leg. If it's in the middle, there is just too much danger of flashing your underwear (hopefully in a matching color ).

I love the skirts with ruffles that have come into fashion recently, they add a lot of movement:


MEISSOUN

Originally Posted by meissoun

I actually like this - a LOT. But then again; Meissoun, you'd look good in anything!

Thanks
I really used to love this costume too... It's a SIM of course!
I wore it many times. The thing I like best about it is the top with the sleeves - I am having something similar done right now. Will go and pick it up in Istanbul in 3 weeks!

MEISSOUN

Yea, those sleeves totally rock!

I adore 25 yards skirts, but I hate making them. The troupe I'm in wore them the last two years, and they’re not too cumbersome. They’re easy to wash and dry as long as the fabric is prewashed before assembling. (My husband dripped turkey grease all over me at last year’s Renaissance festival, and everything came out – thank goodness!)