Bernadette's costumes :: Dancing dress styles

As a little girl, I spent hours rummaging through the contents of my grandmother’s dressing-up box, draping myself in the fabrics I found there, and admiring myself in the mirror. Now I’m (very) grown up, nothing much has changed! If I’m honest, a large part of the appeal of belly dancing for me has to be the chance to wear the sort of colourful, exotic and often flamboyant outfits I just couldn’t get away with in “real” life.

Here’s a selection of my favourite costumes. My first purchase was this lime green dress. After several years of wandering disconsolately around the souks at Fantasia, unable to find anything that fitted me (I’m quite small in all directions) I finally found this in Kay Taylor of Farida’s (www.faridadance.com) bargain box at the JWAAD summer school. Whoever it was originally made for must have been very small, as I had to add some elastic to the headband before it would fit round my head.

Next are my three – yes, a greedy three! – costumes from Pharaonics of Egypt. I got the red dress and the fuchsia two-piece from Dahlal Internationale (www.dahlal.com), a US website packed with gorgeous things.

They were custom-made in Egypt, based on the measurements I sent to Dahlal, and are amazingly good fits, considering I wasn’t fitted in person. But the turquoise two-piece, which I got in Cairo during a 2007 Charlotte Desorgher / Kay Taylor-organised trip, is just perfect. I was fitted by Madame Amira personally, and the outfit (along with another 3 for others on the trip) was made-to-measure in less than 4 days. Madame Amira is undoubtedly a fashion genius, she really knows how to cut to flatter, and the decoration on her costumes is exquisite.

I’ve performed in each of these costumes, but not (yet) in the next one. Again, I bought this purple dress on the 2007 Cairo trip, from the lovely Hannan. It was off-the-peg and was altered to fit me. This dress creates the illusion of an hourglass figure, and as it doesn’t scream “belly dance”, I almost feel I could wear it as an evening dress.

So, my collection so far includes two of the “Greats”. Sadly, there’s no chance now of owning an outfit by Madame Abla, who died a couple of years ago. But at Fantasia in December I succumbed to the temptation of an Eman two-piece. As usual, this had to be altered to fit - and here it is, back and front!

As a non-professional dancer, do I really need this number of costumes. No, I don’t. But I think of them as objects of beauty, as collectors’ pieces. And just imagine the fun my granddaughter(s) will have one day, rummaging through Grandma’s dressing up box!

Here are my two latest acquisitions, both bought from Pharaonics on my recent trip to Egypt. I'd pre-ordered both from the 2009/10 collection (you can view it on www.pharaonixofegypt.com) so that they'd be part-made and ready to try on when I arrived; and again Amira fitted me personally. I had a free choice of colours - Amira will make up any of her designs in any colour. I deliberately chose two very different styles: the yellow one is very floaty, very 1940's glamour - I feel a lot of arabesques coming on! While the purple one is a modern, innovative design with some quirky features I haven't seen elsewhere, such as the garter. I've decided, I'm definitely a Pharaonics girl - roll on the 2010/11 collection!

The first two costumes (the pink and the animal print) are known as a bedlah, which is the Arabic word for suit. The bedlah has been the “uniform” of the belly dancer for around 100 years. It consists of an elaborately-beaded bra and belt, with a skirt (often the belt forms part of the skirt) and accessories, such as sleeves, anklets and a head band. The bedlah leaves the midriff bare so that the movements in this area can be clearly seen.
The pink bedlah is by Madame Amira, of Pharaonics of Egypt, which is based in Cairo. Many dancers consider Madame Amira to be the leading costume designer in Egypt. A Pharaonics outfit like this one costs $450 dollars in Cairo, but around twice that if you buy it from a middle man, such as Dahlal Internationale.
This outfit was made-to-measure for Bernadette.
The animal print bedlah is from Madame Hekhmat, and cost around £70. Bernadette bought it off-the-peg in Cairo, and it was altered to fit.
A dress is a sophisticated alternative to a bedlah, it provides more coverage, but can appear to reveal a lot more than it actually does!
The third costume (the purple dress) was also bought in Cairo. It’s by Hanan, a top Egyptian designer who uses modern fabrics and has a very recognisable style. Again, it was bought ready-made and altered to fit, at a cost of $300. Costumes by Hanan are available from Farida Dance; they cost around twice as much as if bought direct in Cairo.

 

The last costume (the black one) is a folkloric costume known as a galabaya. Based on traditional Arabic wear, it is considerably more modest than cabaret costumes like the bedlah – though this one does seem to come with a large number of openings! This galabaya cost £45, from Farida Dance.
A galabeya outfit like this one would be worn for the more folky types of dance, such as Saidi (Southern Egypt) and assaya (stick).