My new teal costume from Damiena!

[ssipes]

Hey, Tedi's fabu husband/photographer did a photoshoot of us today, and I just have to show off my beautifulalltimefavoritefantasysuperdupercool teal costume I bought from Damiena (haven't retouched or done anything with background yet). Thank you Damiena! I loveitloveitloveit!!!

[auraevans]

Looks great! You are even a pretty redhead like Damiena too!!

[Shirin.]

BEAUTIFUL! I loved the last photo especially.

[basina]

Stunning!

[TanyaLV]

verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry pretty! YOu are gorgeous woman!

[songofincense]

Lovely!!!

[sabrinabellydancer]

absolutely beautiful pics. wear it well.

[Asra*]

Hothothot!!! Looooove that costume, fantastic color on you!

[mish_mish]

that really looks great on you--perfect color. you can tell from the photos that you feel comfortable and beautiful in that costume.

[nasila]

lovely!! I especially like the bottom photo....would make a great biz card.

[ssipes]

Thanks everyone for the compliments. Yes, the right costume can really make a girl feel and look pretty, I think.

Here is a dilemma I have: The bra currently has haltar syle straps. I seriously can't wear bedlah with this configuration because of neck problems I have -- to do so would cause me very serious pain and injury. My first thought was to cannibalize the wristlets and anklets to make regular shoulder straps (the neck strap is very thin and not long enough to reconfigure. These would essentially create perfectly matching, very professional looking straps for the bra.

However, after looking a these photos, I like the accessories. On the other hand, the anklets have rhinestones that catch on the skirt, so maybe they look pretty but are disfunctional.

The only other accessory are some chiffon sleeves that are a serious design flaw because they catch on the bra rhinestones. So they are already snagged and impossible to use anyway. I could probably cut them up and use them to ruch and cover some kind of strap made from scratch. But then it wouldn't look quite as perfect as using the aklets and wristlets.

Suggestions? I'm not really sqeamish about cutting up expensive stuff or performing major surgery as you can probably tell.

Sedonia

[kina]

use the accessories to create a strap that goes from the back of the halter, and attaching to the bra strap in the back, like a racer back sports top, keeps the look of the halter, but releives all the pressure from your neck.

and you look lovely

[ssipes]

Originally Posted by kina

use the accessories to create a strap that goes from the back of the halter, and attaching to the bra strap in the back, like a racer back sports top, keeps the look of the halter, but releives all the pressure from your neck.

Thanks, Kina. You know I have been trying that general idea with my great loop set (the halter really is a nice part of the bra design on those), without much luck.

The problem seems to be that the racer back strap needs to attach to two points (haltar and bra band) where two pieces are already coming together, so its like creating 2 3-way intersections. If I attach the racer back strap to one or the other piece of the overlapping bra bands, it pulls those two pieces apart and keeps them from lying flush together, and also pulls the middle of the bra band up because the support is coming from one point rather than being distributed across two as you have with regular shoulder straps.

It also seems to makes the whole assemblage horribly difficult to get into and out of. With my great loop, I can't even try it on by myself as I try to configure the racer back.

Am I making it all too complicated?

Sedonia

[Andrea2]

Hubba hubba! Number three is fantastic!

[khalisah]

I've converted a halter style bra in the way that Kina suggested, in order to get more support for the girls. It wasn't exactly a racerback, though. I sewed the bottom of the new "helper" straps to the bra band about 4 inches on either side of the center back. Then I sewed the top of the "helper" straps maybe 3 inches on either side of the center of the halter strap. I don't think I ran into the two 3-way intersection issue that you described, and it works pretty well if you get them in just the right spot. Hope this helps...

[kina]

you might be, tack down one anklet/wristlet thingie to one side of the both the halter strap and the corresponding bra band (under boob band to be clear), then another anklet/wristlet thingie to the other side. It looks a little strange but once you slip it on, it works.

I'll try to take a pic of the costume that I have that is set up like that, by far the most comfortable bra I have and post it tonight.

[damiena]

Sedonia - it looks fabulous on you!! You definitely have the right "girls" for the bra!!! (Boo-hoo for me!) I say use the anklets to make whatever additions you need to, but not the wristlets - they are way too pretty! Anklets, while pretty, just catch too much on a full skirt to be useful!!! Or, what about making totally new straps using the fabric from the puffy sleeves to cover whatever material you use for the straps and then getting rhinestone chain to match the swirling designs? Also, if you open up the bra lining at the bottom, you will find some extra bead strands that I tucked up inside - the fringe was too wide for my liking with them hanging down. You could use those strands to recreate the matching beadwork. You could taper the straps as they rise up and then attach the thin straps all the way down to the back - does that make sense? I can "see" that design in my head, but describing it is tough! Or you could do the same thing using the anklets for the front part of the straps.

I have also gotten comfy with making major alterations - I reconstructed an Eman and it is now one of my favorites!!

And I love the bottom picture - very glamorous!

[bellydancestore]

Wow.......you look great!)