Quote:
Originally Posted by kharis_UK
Any advice on tying this garment? I believe it ties on in one piece.
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Cut & pasted from my notes from Leila Haddad's workshop, wayback in 1996:
Leļla showed us how to put on traditional Tunisian costume. You start with a shirt and trousers (she wore lace trousers, reasonably close-fitting and full length, but you could also wear little bloomers). Over the shirt, she put on a little bolero waistcoat, fastening at the front.
You take one cornerof the Melya (usually striped or chequered fabric, usually dark, but not necessarily for stage. The length is 5 or 6 metres, the width is 140 or 150 centimetres) and pull it over your left shoulder, holding it so the corner reaches your waist., and pin it to the shirt, waistcoat and bra, to the outside of and below your left breast. Also pin the Melya to the shoulder. Take the long edge of the Melya from the corner behind you, and under your right arm to the front. Turn in the top so the bottom just reaches your feet & the top is level with the bottom of the waistcoat. Leave it loose on the right, & pin it under the first pin on the left. Take in the slack on the right hand side with one pleat and pin (through all layers as before)
[You can have the drape over both shoulders, which is the Northern style. The single shoulder drape is the Southern style & has been adopted as the professionally accepted style.]
At this point you may need a friend to help with the H'zem (the wool strand hipband). You hold the loop end of the H'zem by your left hip, and your friend holds the other end out level with it. She then gathers the rest of the Melya over the H'zem evenly, folding the top of the Melya forward. The friend then brings the H'zem round the back of your hips, with the rest of the Melya. The loose end of the H'zem then comes round to the front and left, is looped through the noose and doubles back to the right hip. Leļla's H'zem has the exact spot marked, and the extra strands are used to tie this loose end of the H'zem. Check you have room for the high steps.
Leļla wears a square scarf folded into a triangle, over her head, and an embroidered, beaded headband holds it in place. The headband has "leaves", strings of large coins, hanging down either side of her face.
She wears necklaces & pendants, and Khol Khal with shakers (the box goes on the outside ankles). She has a chain that hangs from the left and right safety pins & catches up to the centre of the waistcoat. Also big earrings.
I was dresser for Leila in a show the following year, so I was able to re-confirm that my notes were correct.
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