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Originally Posted by danidance
Yellow and black and can be interesting but it's a hard color combo.
And this bird motif? why? WTF? I think Eman needs to take a deep breath. Or rein in anyone who might have come on board to help her be more "creative" (not saying that's so but this is so odd).
It's hideous. But, what is Dahlal thinking putting it on their site?
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As a long-time admirer and now vendor of Eman Zaki costumes, I thought I would chime in here. Eman is a couture fashion designer in the world of belly dance costumes and that's what sets her apart from the other top costume designers. In fact, she gets much of her inspiration from fashion magazines and couture runway shows-probably why I love her so much. I admire her ability and willingness to step completely out of the box and stand by her 100%. And I'm saying this not because I vend her costumes, it's actually because of this reason that I vend her costumes. I've only been vending for the last 2 months and I've been wearing her designs almost exclusively for the last 2 years. Now I love Bellas, Pharonics, and Sahars as much as the next dancer but Eman is a creative genius. You have to give it to her, she comes out with designs that weren't even a concept before. The gold pharonic from years ago is example of that.
When I received the bird-inspired costume, I presented it full-well knowing that it would elicit a very strong and mixed reaction and was fully prepared for it. I also knew that this costume would not be for every dancer. It's for the dancer that can for example rock a pair of Chanel sunglasses during a performance (Marcela
) and pull it off. It's also not the costume for the average hafla, festival, or even restaurant gig. This costume takes thought to pull off, the right dancer, music, venue, accessories (isis wings), etc. There's nothing wrong with that though. Why shouldn't we have costumes out there like that? It's not a vulgar costume, the fit is AMAZING, and it's bound to get people talking:) I actually ordered one for myself in a different color and have several other pending custom orders for this same design for other dancers.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with discussing costumes and even criticizing them, when it's done in a constructive way. I wouldn't wear every costume that Eman has made, because I can't pull every one of them off and some just don't appeal to my own personal style. But when it gets to the point where dancers now feel intimidated or self-conscious about stepping out of the box because of fear of a thread that may be started in an online bellydance community or when there is discussion of reigning in someones creative process whether it's Eman or any other designer, I think that's wrong.
Shaunte