Long bunch of costuming questions

[Anahit_Karyan]

I'm looking for a new costume! I want to get either a bedlah or a bra-and-skirt combo, preferably for under $250 for the latter or under $200 for the former. I am not a professional, so if I buy a very expensive costume, it will NOT pay for itself after a while. Dance is purely a money hole for me. :) I've been looking around and have found a few places online where I can custom-order costumes for these kinds of prices (mostly the bedlah). Dancing Rahana, Isis Exchange (I've heard both positive and negative things about them, and am slightly ambivalent without discounting them entirely), Pyramid Imports, etc. I want to minimize the chance that I'm going to order a custom-made costume that will disappoint me, so I've got some questions about what to look at in a costume and how it will fit. Any help anyone can offer will be appreciated.

1. Some bras I've seen have cups that are more separate, some are more together. I imagine the closer-set ones are more cleavage-y. Does one of these two types of bras look better on a larger-breasted woman? Does one give more support? I'm not looking for minimizing, of course, but I also don't want to look tacky.

2. Some bras have halter-style straps, while some have regular bra-type straps. Is one kind easier to adjust? Is one kind more comfortable? More secure?

3. I've seen (and admired) bras that have sort of collars attached with straps running either vertically or at an angle between the collar and the bra. It occurs to me that depending on how the bra fits and where the breasts are placed while in the bra, these straps could either lie flat against the chest or look sort of weird. Has anyone worn a bra like that? Do they tend to look ok? Is it easy or hard to adjust those straps if they don't lie right?

4. If a bra is fringed on the bottom all around, rather than having the fringe hang from the middle of the cup or just at the front center, and you don't have a long torso, how long is too long for the fringe? I know that enough fringe like that can disguise the waist and make one look sort of blocky.

5. I've seen belts that are simply straight across on top and bottom, belts that are sort of V-shaped in the front, and belts that have a sort of diamond shape in front (with a peak on the top and bottom), What is most flattering and likely to fit best for someone whose hips are relatively small in comparison with their waist? Which lends itself best to adjustment?

6. Let's say your hips are small but your thighs aren't. Still, your general shape is more top-heavy than bottom-heavy. You're wearing a skirt, either a simple circle or a straight skirt. Is longer or shorter fringe on a belt more attractive, or is it simply a matter of personal preference?

7. About fit: when you custom order a bedlah, is it best to give your exact body measurements, or to allow a little extra? How much extra, if so?

Thank you again for taking the time to read this and answer my questions!

--Anahit

[shimarella]

Someone else will probably take the time to answer your questions step-by-step but if you are looking to order a custom costume, some of these concerns are best answered by trying on these different styles in person if you can. Every dancer's body and dance style is different. If you can get yourself to a workshop or someplace where a vendor sells costumes, you should try some of these things on and see for yourself.

[Anahit_Karyan]

Originally Posted by shimarella

If you can get yourself to a workshop or someplace where a vendor sells costumes, you should try some of these things on and see for yourself.

Wish I could. I hate buying any clothes without trying them on. I don't know of any events near me in the near future where there will be vendors. Also, I have a suspicion that there wouldn't be many non-plus-sized costumes to try on that would come in a DD cup. I think it would be hard to get an idea about what kinds of styles would look good, if I couldn't try something that fit reasonably well.

--Anahit

[Ainsley]

I can't answer all your questions, but I thought I'd take a shot at a few:

2. Halter styles are often easier to adjust, as you usually only have to move one hook to get the right fit. In a costume with regular bra straps, you might have to detach both at the back and take them up to get the right fit. It's also often a good idea to move them in to a V or X-formation so that they're less liable to slide down off your shoulders.

It's normally not too difficult to convert a regular strap style to a halter style, if you prefer it. You detach the straps, cut them down to size, then attach hooks to the loose ends or sew the straps together. Keep in mind, though, that, if you have a large bust, a halter style may put uncomfortable pressure on your neck.

4. To me, 2-3" fringe can be pretty and is especially flattering if you have a long torso. One of the Sim Moda ads on this site pictures a pink costume with short looped fringe all the way around the bra. You might see if it will come up on the right-hand side if you refresh this window a few times. I think anything longer than 3", however, is foreshortening on most body types.

5. Part of the issue of fit depends on whether the belt attaches in one or two places. V-shaped Turkish-style belts normally attach on both sides, so it's easier to tilt them to get the right fit, whereas straight Egyptian-style belts normally attach on only one side, making them sometimes more difficult to adjust. The fit of these Egyptian-style costumes depends on how well the back of the belt is cupped: if it's not sufficiently cupped, the belt will gap at the waist. Some low-end ones aren't cupped at all, and you would have to do some serious sewing (cutting, darting, rebeading) to get a good fit. I had to do that with one of my belts, and, while it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, the process did take a while.

In the end, it's a matter of personal preference. Many people prefer the V-shaped Turkish-style bedlehs because they're easier to fit and adjust. Personally, I think the Egyptian straight-edged styles are more flattering on me, and I dislike the way that the scalloped edges on many Turkish-style costumes often bend outward and gap at the waist.

I hope some of that was helpful to you!

[nasila]

I think V-shaped belts are flattering on most, and rib cage fringe flattering on almost no one. If you have DD cups, you don't want to be wearing a halter (stresses the neck). If you're going to order a costume bra from Egypt, order the bra size VERY big as they tend to run quite small. a DD/E friend of mine tried to order the right cup from Isis and after 3 attempts at way-to-small fit, she had to give up and ask for her money back (which is she's still waiting on). I would suggest measuring your breasts (I know it sounds weird but best way to get a good cup fit - height, width, and depth!) and sending the measurements when you order. Good luck!

[micamica]

I only have a second, but I will answer the first couple of questions, I am also sending you a private message. For a DD cup, you definitely want to avoid the halter straps!! You probably wont notice it while dancing, but if you have to stay in that top for any longer than 15 minutes or so, your neck will really start to ache. Because you need a certain amount of tension to "keep the girls in check" this style can be very problematic for larger chested women. This can be eleviated though, by a top that has a choker style necklace strap with straps running at an angle between the bra and necklace strap, with straps in the front and back. For a DD cup, I prefer the seperating style bra, otherwise I just seem to have a bit much of the VAVOOM thing going on, you know? Maybe this works for professionals, but not for the family style student shows I am in =) It sounds like we are built a lot a like-if you want, reply to my private message and I will send you some pics of me in costume-I have some that work and others that did not.
Nikki

[tahiradancer]

As someone who is a DD and relatively normal hip size (currently 38, usually 36 but working on it) I agree that it is more diffucult to get a costume which is the proper size but not impossible. Kinda like shopping for that bikini, sometimes it's simply easier to buy a one piece and have done! ;-)

Now that having been said, I agree with Viv that halters are more secure than over the shoulder BUT when you are large busted, this will also cause soem neck strain, so the answer is to add straps. If the costume is a halter, add shoulder straps. Many dancers find that a crossed back is the best compromise.

I personally would go with a bra where the cups are set a little closer together than apart. While not TOO close together. The reason for this being that, while yes you are cleavage-y, you are generally more secure and your breasts will not be moving (as long as the cup is big enough.)

As for the mesh or lattace work over the chest attached to a collar - this is tricky. Because, as you speculated, chances are you will have to adjust the individual straps inorder for it to lie properly. Costumes are measured for soem mythical dancer who soemtimes has odd measurements. Hence the sholder straps which measure 20 inces long EACH! Sometimes. So it is sometimes diffucult when not a 'standard' size to get a costume with these kinds of details which doesn't need serious work done on it.

As for the fringe question - If you get a bra with lots of fringe and you don't like it, feel free to take it off. I have done this on several which had fringe all around and it worked well. In my experience, being short waisted, fringe on the cups should be only barely longer then the cups themselves and belly drapes should not be very wide. but that is the aestectic which I feel looks best on me.

Belts can also be a challenge. As Vivi said, Turksih belts are great because they are two pieces and they are more easily adjusted. BUT because they have wiring, scollops, etc, they are also a little more fragile. Now the nice thing which is happening is that there are a few Egyptian designers who are adapting the two piece design. (I have found that this is also very old skool American Cab. I collect and wear vintage costumes. Several are built on the one piece to wrap around and a big center piece. this allows you to adjust your costume symetrically AND you have the great hug the butt feature.)

One note on Pyramid Import costumes - and this is my personal experience. I did not find the bedlahs to be very flexible. In otherwords, I found them to be very diffucult to adjust to my size. they were stiff, heavy and a little unweldy. And when I tried to tilt the cups. I lost about one square inch of beads, which should not have happened. It was an overall frustrating experience which lead to my three year search for the perfect gold costume. I now own 2.


{{{HUGS}}}}

[*maria*]

can't answer all your questions, but I can tell you what works for me.

I am a D cup, medium D. Large C. Depending on the cut. I personally prefer halter style bras, and often convert most of mine to halter.
Why? Because it give me nicer cleavage, and much more support. The drawback is that it can be tough on your neck because it's holding the weight of your breasts, but for my breast shape, it looks much much better halter style.

My advice is to go to a local costumer and try on different styles, if you can do so, this way you have an idea of how things look.

[Bellydancingcaroline]

About the thighs. It might look good if you go for a mermaid skirt, one the nips in a tiny bit at the knee, and then has a mermaid section centre back of the skirt. It needs plenty of room around the thighs, and when it nip in over the knees a tiny bit, it will make you look more balanced. No dramatic nipping in, just a nice cut.

[kina]

Hi,

Since you're in Ma, I would highly recomend that you go to Shadia Tohme, who will custome design and create a costume that will be flattering, sturdy and comes with a lifetime guarantee. Not your lifetime, the costume's lifetime, so even if you sell it, the person would be able to go to her.

Shadia is a talented designer and very skilled at creating designs for top heavy dancers, reference Chantelle, Zemira, Aliza, dancers all local to you.

You can also pick her brains while she is designing for you so it become the type of learning experience that you are asking for. :-)

[samsied]

Hi Anahit,

My first bedlah was a custom order from Pyramid Imports. For the most part I am satisfied, but have some issues with it (if I knew then what I know now). My favorite thing about them was, you can order the bra and belt in separate sizes! The belt was easy and came exactly as requested (no adjustment required), so I will focus my comments on the bra...

For overall versatility whoever you order from, you may get more mileage from a bra/belt than bra/skirt. Then you can vary the look with different color and shaped skirts, pants and a balady dress so if you don't want to spend much on costumes this may be the way to go.

>2. Some bras have halter-style straps, while some have regular bra-type >straps. Is one kind easier to adjust? Is one kind more comfortable?

I like the look of halter straps buy if you are larger than say a d-cup this can get uncomfortable (literally a pain in the neck!). I have a halter style costume bra with little straps that run down the neck from the halter to the chest band. From the front it looks like a halter and from the back more like a "racers back". This is very comfortable, but the same bra before I attached the straps was not comfortable.

>4. If a bra is fringed on the bottom all around, rather than having the fringe >hang from the middle of the cup or just at the front center, and you don't >have a long torso, how long is too long for the fringe?

The bra I ordered from PI as it had long fringe all the way around. It looked awful! I ended up removing most of the fringe--but that was easy to do. Just take a seam riper and carefully open the lining. You will see the fringe it on a little tape and is easy to remove. I just left some in the middle. The fringe is nice and sturdy as I have had this for a few years and had no significant bead loss.

>7. About fit: when you custom order a bedlah, is it best to give your exact >body measurements, or to allow a little extra? How much extra, if so?

My bra took a lot of work to fit even though it was custom... Maybe mine just went wrong, but I ordered my regular bra size. What I received were cups slightly too big that I had to pad and a ribcage exactly the size of mine. If I were to do over, I would add a few inches to the ribcage so I have room for two sets of clasps instead of just one hook (for more security). I would probably go down one in cup size as well because this does look out of proportion (I am guessing their cup sizes run a little large). Of course the straps are very long and you will most likely need adjust them.

Obviously the best would be to custom order from someone local who can measure you if that is an option! I don't know about the other suppliers you mentioned, but would love to hear about them.

[Nepenthe]

One thing I've found is that I actually fit into a smaller size than I would have ordered. When I try on costumes, I don't ask for a D, but I fit myself into these bra cups anyway. Perhaps with a bit more cleavage, but if secured properly, it fits. I've never had a costume malfunction yet (and I love deep hip circles).

That's what helps about going and trying them on. I think the next time there's a show with vendors in Boston would be the holiday party Dec 2nd at the holiday inn that Za-Beth is putting on. You could also sign up to dance too if you wanted to.

and welcome to bhuz! :-)

Oh and I that I did own a bedlah from Pyramid Imports. My main complain was gapping on the belt and too much fringe on top (on the cups and on the band!). I did find a full D-cup there but I found the cups made my breasts look even bigger. However, I sold it to Erzulie who is smaller than me overall as a person, and it looked good on her. I think you tried it on at one point? The upside of Pyramid Imports is that the bras and the belts are sold separately, so you can get your size. The downside for me was that I never got mine to look good.

love the tips on haltars on this thread! I wonder if the haltar neck is why my posture always looks like I'm closing in and hunching - it's probably really straining myneck and shoulders to hold those babies up. I'm going to look at some of my bedleh and see if I can add some additional straps or convert the haltars into regular straps.

[wigglewhiz]

1. I don't actually like the cups that are far apart. I have no experience with them, but I always worried that they would be more likely to allow the girls to slip out of the middle! I'm small-to-average (B/C cup), and my bras are heavil padded. If they were too far apart, I'd worry about nipslip. So I prefer the close-together cups.

2. I find halter straps HURT. But almost every single one of my costumes is a halter configuration. I don't have enough strap to make any alterations (the came as a halter), but if I did I'd make them cross-over back. All the pretty shape of the halter, with none of the associated neck pain. IF you ever go the custom-designed route, you can ask to have this configuration. I sure will in future!

3. Um... I'm not entirely sure what you mean here - but I do have a bra that has a strap detail running diagonally from one cup over the opposite shoulder and back to the other side of the bra in back. It can lie oddly when the bra isn't fitting right, but when the normal fixtures (neck, ribcage) are moved to make the bra fit right, it sits fine. I imagine moving that strap would give me a lot of trouble, though!

4. My personal taste is to AVOID all ribcage fringe. Just a central piece of fringe (not too long... down to the navel is too long in my book, it should be no longer than the marrowest point of your waist, I feel) is MUCH more flattering than the all-round fringe. Ever quite short all-round fringe can be HORRIBLY unflattering, although of course it depends on your body type.

5. I wear lycra skirt-belt costumes, which means all of them (in the main) make a straight line across the body. I'm quite curvy, and very soft in the mid-section after having lost a lot of weight. I find this style actually suits me best, and the V-shape (usually flattering for all!) makes my soft streched skin "pooch" out over the V. NOT a good look for me! Remember to angle the fasteners slightly on straight belts to avoid the gapping at the back - I'm particularly bubble-butted and this was always a problem for me. Will never go back to firm belts!

6. Fringe length is, I think, a matter of taste. I don't like long fringe - I find it distracting and I think it's more prone to breakage since it bears more stress. Long fringe also look particularly odd to me on petite dancers. I love fringe, not into no-fringe costumes so much - but I don't like it too long. That's just me.

7. I've always been measured rather than GIVEN my measurements, but generally I think you should give your true body measurements. The costumier can then decide whether a particular style needs to be cut smaller, larger, just the same, etc etc. Maybe I have too much faith in costumiers.

[wigglewhiz]

... I'm such a gasbag!


I ordered two plain bedlah (in bellydancer's neutral, gold and silver) from Pyramid Imports. They were pretty good, sturdy plain starter sets and not bad for the money. They needed a bit of work to remove the wall o' fringe around the ribcage, but that was easy to do.They DID have slightly unnatural boob shape though - and I think this would be more of a problem for bustier gals. I've also had friends who found that their larger cup sizes (which you pay extra for) were NOT anywhere near big enough, and they were *very* disappointed. Just thought I'd mention it since you were thinking of going there!