Thread: Does it bother you when...

You see tribal and fusion bras that still have the original straps? It bothers me to death when I see oriental bras with original straps, but I find I really don't mind when it's a fusion one. Maybe it's because I'm too busy looking at all the other "stuff" they have on.

I DO find that no matter what kind of style of costuming is happening, if the bra isn't at least covered on the cups, I go crazy. But that's different. Even if a bra is covered in a simple lace or decorative fabric that match the original straps (and of course is followed up with decorations), I really don't mind.

It does make me curious though when I see it in professional shows. Do you see it in professional shows where you live? I mean strictly fusion or tribal styles, with bras still carrying their original straps. I wonder if it's just an accepted thing (for the most part).

Yes, I see it a lot, particularly amongst fusion dancers and it doesn't matter how much stuff (or what kind of stuff) is stuck on. At best it looks like they couldn't be bothered to finish making their costume, at worst like they're dancing around in their underwear.

I can't really say I've seen much of this, but if I did, my reaction would be pretty much the same as Emma's.

No matter what the style of dance is: Deal. With. Your. Straps.

The only instance where this is acceptable (to me), is if your straps will be covered by a vest.

Tip: if you don't to replace the straps, adjust them, sew them in place and then cover them.

Yes it bothers me and it's super, super tacky and plenty ugly as well. Skinny straps look silly with an ornamented bra. I was taught it was a big no-no along with performing in a jog-bra.

We fight with our ballet students constantly about bra straps showing. Most performing dancers at least wear clear bra straps so they aren't so visible under their leotards.

HOWEVER-it has become fashionable in general to let the bra straps hang out of our outfits and we buy special fancy bras so they can "peek" out of our outerwear- in the old days we used to worry about them showing and safety pin them back into hiding or sew little special ribbon loops with snaps to hold them back.

But I'm an old fart .

Yes, it irritates me no matter what style the person is doing. I have seen people billing themselves as professionals doing this, and it was with a local fusion troupe. I don't know that it's more acceptable in the tribal/fusion community overall as when you see people like Rachel Brice, Zoe Jakes, FCBD, etc., they don't have lingerie bra straps. I think it's the sign of an amateur no matter what style is involved. It's also not good for the life of the bra, as once decorated the bra weighs a lot more and the skinny lingerie straps don't hold up well.

Replacing the straps should be something even an amateur seamstress should be able to fix, so I feel like there's not much reason for it. I confess that I did this with my very first costume bra, but I always wore it with a choli or vest to hide the lingerie hardware.

I have seen it in a local hafla, and to me it looks as strange as it would look to be wearing a bra and panties to the pool instead of a bikini!

Yes, it bothers me just as much. And it's not just the straps, I get bothered when there's no attempt to cover the bra. But you can't say anything .

ETA
I mostly see it at local haflahs, at student level. But I have also seen it among so-called "professional" troupes, and it just makes me think, if you're so g.d. professional, why aren't you investing in decent costuming?

I get super peeved by uncovered straps, no matter what style. Uncovered straps & lingerie bras covers with trim but otherwise "undisguised" with fabric covering look like underwear, not a costume.

Man! I guess I'm a special case then

Now that I think about it, I suppose I'm only "ok" with it because I see it in local haflas a majority of the time. I see students or local hobbyist troupes dancing and notice the straps, but give them benefit of the doubt because it's a private event and they are only there for fun. When I consider my own students though, I wouldn't dare let one of them go out on a stage in a non-reconstructed-straps bra. It is interesting though seeing these reactions. Maybe it's a regional thing? It's very common in this area, at least for haflas. I can say I have yet to see an uncovered strap at a Ren Faire. Perhaps I just became a bit...de-sensitized to uncovered straps on tribal or fusion costuming. When I saw the uncovered straps in the professional show, I was taken aback because, like most of you said, I made the connection of bra straps = not professional.

The other issue is that the elastic straps generally do not support your breasts enough while dancing, so you have the potential of a jiggle fest. Not what we are trying to achieve in belly dance!

{{{HUGS}}}

Another old fart here, too. I was taught to always replace or cover straps if using a lingerie bra as a costume base.

I was also taught not to let my bra straps hang out of my regular clothes, and it's a "look" I dislike. To me, it looks slovenly.

It bugs me to the point of when one of the girls I dance regularly with warns people who come to dance with us that I'll tell them off and than teach them how to fix there bras! (that and using hot glue)

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact the ready made tribal bras (and belts!) aren't very easy to come by, and when they do a lot of the time there the lingerie bra with coins/whatnot sewn to them or there not very well made. Coupled with the fact that a lot of people don't know how to sew.

I'm actually working on a "tribal costume basics sewing workshop" because its such a problem here (teachers are do this too here!)

The basics of covering a bra and replacing the straps are pretty straight forward and not that different between tribal and oriental, although tribal can be much more creative with the straps. I agree that most people no longer sew and this makes it a challenge, especially for hobbyist dancers who really don't want to put the time into their costumes. Not that this is a real excuse, just an observation.

Somewhere around I have instructions on how to cover a bra and replace the straps. I know others here do as well.

{{{HUGS}}}

It bothers me regardless of style, but I see it a lot for Tribal Fusion dancers too. I see some beautiful and extremely talented dancers, and it just looks like they didn’t bother to finish their costumes or they forgot their shirts entirely! Sometimes I have seen regular old bras, and other times I have seen extremely elaborately decorated bras, but they’re still just wearing their bras.

I can’t understand why someone would go to all the trouble of decorating a bra to make it a costume but won’t bother switching the straps. What will they do when the straps wear out? It’s a lot harder to fuss with straps after the top is decorated than before, so at the very least we can appeal to the dancers’ time-saving desire.

Referring to my other thread about "respecting the stage"... uncovered bra straps and back webbing display a blatant disrespect for the stage.

I've been known to scold vendors at belly dance events for selling these half-finished bras. That's where the problem starts.

It annoys me, but I am more annoyed that vendors sell these bras - Moondance has some "tribal bras" that are very clearly lingerie bras.

I'd rather see a sports bra with a coin bra over it than an "embellished" lingerie bra.

I was once (about 5 years ago) at a hafli a few hours away when I saw a Tribal fusion dancer do a drum solo; it was pretty good and I complimented her. When I saw her unfinished bra, I just assumed 'student' and probably 'student without a real teacher'. Turned out she was a dancer of quite a bit of professional that others considered professional. With a bra that still had the adjusting sliders showing?!

Screams rank, frikkin' amateur to me. You took the time to put everything else together-get a vest of cover the straps.

(and if you have to wear a bra under that little shirt-then your breasts are not of the type that should be wearing that little shirt. Wear something a bra fits under. And that comes from someone who didn't wear a street bra until she began sagging in her 40s.) (yes, I'm grouchy)

I agree with the rest of you ladies.... I do not like the bra straps showing either! It does look tacky... but from a logistical view... those bra straps wear out quickly and if have spent hours making your bra and didn't replace the straps you will need to either trash the bra or re-do the bra in a month or so anyway... so my feeling is: do it right the first time, and you won't spend so much time repairing later.

Yep I've seen a lot of pretty cups with crappy straps, mostly students at haflas.

I think it makes the dancer look lazy and careless. It looks like they didn't bother to finish their costume because they didn't care.

It annoys me when I see a vendor selling a decorated lingerie bra with the original straps intact. I was shocked the first time I saw a bra like this on etsy with a triple digit price tag. For that kind of money I'd expect nice straps! But vendors aren't the problem, they're just a symptom. If dancers stopped buying bras with lingerie straps, vendors would stop selling them.

The biggest part of the problem is teachers and troupe leaders who allow this. If more teachers and leaders prohibited exposed lingerie straps, fewer students would buy them, and those that did anyway would have fewer opportunities to run around with lingerie straps exposed.

Why do teachers & leaders allow lingerie straps? The usual answer I hear is "Oh, they're just students, they don't need professional quality costumes" My answer is they still need *decent* costumes, and it's super easy to replace or cover the straps.

And yet another part of the problem is professional costumers who publish how-to material saying it's ok run around with exposed straps. There is a book about how to cover bras that goes into detail on covering the straps and offers different strap ideas, but on the back cover features a tribal bra with clearly uncovered lingerie straps, and another lingerie bra with just a bit of black lace and tassels tacked on.

Between examples like that and vendors selling bras with exposed straps, it's understandable that some teachers and leaders may not realize that exposed straps are tacky.

Now I am talking only about dance costume bras. Street fashion is something different

Maybe it's partly a difference in aesthetic with the tribal dancers, like having armpit hair is okay with some.

I'm not so bothered by it on students and in ATS/group costuming. Many of the dancers I know don't sew at all, so the thought of messing around with the bits that keep their boobs in place really doesn't appeal. I can totally understand that!

My first tribal bra I cut off all the straps and replaced them with grosgrain ribbon and d-rings, only to end up with something that flipped straight off my breasts and under my chin the moment I lifted my arms! Even now, with a fair bit of costuming experience behind me, I still tend to leave the bra band on my tribal bras (usually hidden under black stretch fabric) because my band size fluctuates throughout the month. I can't blame other tribal dancers for deciding that a plain black T-shirt bra will do the trick for performing with a student troupe.

I do turn my nose up a bit when I see cabaret dancers in underwear bras though, not least because it's often the fancier, lacier, 'undressed' type bras.

I don't know if she still does it, but when I first started dancing, someone was selling cabaret bras at events that were literally just unpadded lace bras (nipples ahoy!) with curtain trim tacked to the top of each cup. Even as the babiest of baby bellies, I knew this was a bad, bad thing.

Most of my old bras have lingerie straps completely covered with sequins, and their original backs completely covered with sequins, but I've moved to non-stretch strapping in recent years as it doesn't wear out the same. We were taught to transform a lingerie bra into a costume bra without cutting off the stretch straps, but never to leave straps etc unembellished or unfinished. This was a time and a place where it was not possible to buy costumes, and people did what they did. There's a difference between leaving the straps in place, but heavily embellished, and leaving the tags on and having really obvious bra back hooks showing instead of hooking the bra on its smallest setting, and maybe having a decoration on top of it.

The first dancer I ever saw wearing an obvious lingerie bra as a costume piece was a tribal dancer, and she and her students would often wear lacy bras under a sleeveless wrap choli-type top. I had gained the impression that wearing deliberately exposed lingerie was a tribal fashion.

I've got a duet costume coming that's made from a black microfibre bra with one exposed strap, and that strap is the original. I'll probably cover it eventually but considering that the entire costume is black with some bright accents, and it's to be worn on a very big stage in a very big theatre, it's not going to look particularly outrageous, especially given that swimwear and "fashion" clothing these days often use an adjustable lingerie-style strap. I think it would be worse if it wasn't black.

I'll tell you one thing for nothing: costume bras made from lingerie bras with their original side and shoulder straps intact may not last but BOY are they comfortable.

It does bother me - and I didn't realise how bad it looked until I saw an entire troupe performing with only the bra cups covered and decorated - they ALL looked like they were wearing their underwear from the back.
A lot of the made in China bra's done have decorated shoulder straps.

I cover the straps by making a tube that the original elastic strap including slider goes into so that the shoulder straps are still adjustable.

Id suggest covering the whole thing even if you are wearing a vest - I performed at a show once and forgot about my uncovered straps and removed my vest because I was hot. Not a good look and its very clear in the photos.

Yes, seeing exposed neck strap and back webbing of lingerie bra presented as "costume" has always bothered me. I've heard this referred to as "cheater" bra; meaning "only the cups need to be decorated with coins as vest covers straps". I agree with posters that a large part of the reason is that despite info and costume workshops out there many dancers simply do not have the sewing skills to replace back and neck straps of a lingerie bra; let alone cover the bra cups with fabric which is what we dancers were trained to do "back in the day".

Many dancers don't realize that it is important when making a costume bra to get one cup size larger in a lingerie bra, because once side/back strap webbing is cut off, that bra is going to be very skimpy looking even if covered with velvet or some other material. It's better to pad up bra cups than have a bra that looks skimpy.

Granted, the process of replacing lingerie straps is tricky; the new straps will be sturdier but have to be placed exactly in correct places and angle to prevent cups from gaping or worse, riding up.

All this being said, it is not only that lingerie straps look tackily unfinished for a costume bra, they simply wear out very fast and then have to be replaced anyway as elastic gives out even if vest is worn over lingerie bra.

And it actually seems kinda weird to me that a dancer would even want to perform in public in a costume that is clearly a lingerie bra; even the most unsophisticated general public audience can tell; hello, dancer is wearing underwear bra, not a costume so . This unfortunately reinforces impression that belly dance isn't a "dance art form" before the dancer does even one hip drop!


Sorry about my soap box, but it is not about how much money is invested in a fancy costume, but it needs to look finished and uncovered lingerie straps are a big no-no in my book!

Removing and replacing straps is not expensive and doesn't have to be time consuming. A reel of Gros Grain ribbon is about $3.00. Add a decorative ribbon on top of that for another couple of dollars. Make it satin ribbon if you are going to bead it. this can be done on a sewing machine. Ask a dance sister if you don't own a machine.

I can't condemn students out of hand. Most simply don't know better. And their teachers aren't necessarily sharing info. many of them also don't know better, unfortunately. The best *we* can do is to keep info out there, offer classes and workshops where it's appropriate, and set a good example.

{{{HUGS}}}

I understand the reluctance to chop apart bras or remove and replace straps - but it's quick and easy to cover them with ribbon or trim. Even inexpensive stretchy sequin trim looks better than lingerie straps. The back hooks are easy to hide with an applique.

Originally Posted by Zumarrad

Most of my old bras have lingerie straps completely covered with sequins, and their original backs completely covered with sequins, but I've moved to non-stretch strapping in recent years as it doesn't wear out the same. We were taught to transform a lingerie bra into a costume bra without cutting off the stretch straps, but never to leave straps etc unembellished or unfinished. This was a time and a place where it was not possible to buy costumes, and people did what they did. There's a difference between leaving the straps in place, but heavily embellished, and leaving the tags on and having really obvious bra back hooks showing instead of hooking the bra on its smallest setting, and maybe having a decoration on top of it.

The first dancer I ever saw wearing an obvious lingerie bra as a costume piece was a tribal dancer, and she and her students would often wear lacy bras under a sleeveless wrap choli-type top. I had gained the impression that wearing deliberately exposed lingerie was a tribal fashion.

I've got a duet costume coming that's made from a black microfibre bra with one exposed strap, and that strap is the original. I'll probably cover it eventually but considering that the entire costume is black with some bright accents, and it's to be worn on a very big stage in a very big theatre, it's not going to look particularly outrageous, especially given that swimwear and "fashion" clothing these days often use an adjustable lingerie-style strap. I think it would be worse if it wasn't black.

I'll tell you one thing for nothing: costume bras made from lingerie bras with their original side and shoulder straps intact may not last but BOY are they comfortable.

Yup those are my experiences, too. I was taught we NEVER wore anything "lingerie-like", the rule was, is it "outer wear" or "under wear". In other words, would you wear it over your under wear or under your clothes? I guess that dates me, because I learned these rules before Madonna horrified the civilized world back in the 1980s by exposing her bra strap in a church on a music video. After that, bras were "underwear only" no longer :)

The first girls I saw actually performing in lingerie bras with decorated cups and exposed straps/back were actually cabaret dancers, and the troupe leader excused it with the "They're just students" excuse, and to be fair, it was at a family & friends only event.

The first time I saw Tribal Fusion dancers with exposed straps and backs it was on a near professional troupe. Some of the dancers also did burlesque, so I assumed it was an intentional decision and a fashion statement of some sort. But no, the truth was, they just didn't have time to cover more than the cups, and decided it looked ok because the bras were black.

And yeah, I agree the bras made on regular bases are so much more comfortable.

Yes, seeing exposed neck strap and back webbing of lingerie bra presented as "costume" has always bothered me.

What if all the webbing and underwire seams etc are already covered with microfibre when you get the bra? There are a heap of bras in that style. Does that count, or does it count only if somebody told you the wearer bought the bra that way and didn't cover it herself?

Many dancers don't realize that it is important when making a costume bra to get one cup size larger in a lingerie bra, because once side/back strap webbing is cut off, that bra is going to be very skimpy looking even if covered with velvet or some other material. It's better to pad up bra cups than have a bra that looks skimpy.

I don't know about that. If your breasts don't fill the cup the bra is too small anyway, regardless. And if you are big you're not going to cut the side structure of the bra off anyway. I already have to spend at least $50 on a costume bra base and must pick through the racks to find the rare E in the right styles; if I went up a cup size I'd be in specialty shops and paying $120 or more, because you can't buy an F cup in a normal shop.

Removing and replacing straps is not expensive and doesn't have to be time consuming. A reel of Gros Grain ribbon is about $3.00. Add a decorative ribbon on top of that for another couple of dollars.

I'd love to be able to have one of those bras, but they simply are not supportive enough for me. I need sides, so when I replace back webbing it's a real sewing job, with left and right sides, stiffening, etc etc.

In My Day, small busted girls did not replace the back straps, but they cut out the webbing and beaded the remaining straps. Not massively long lasting but very pretty.

My feelings about lingerie bra straps and backs blantantly "un-costumed" are pretty much the same as garter pants and semi-burlesque costuming we see more and more of at haflas and shows. We work hard to dissaude the harem fantasies that many members of the general public have. To have dancers on stage (or even worse 3 ft away in a restaurant) wearing essentially lingerie seems to simply perpetuate the stereotype.