(no subject)

[galadhir]

ugh, I am not feeling great today so I'm having a day off of cycling and weight lifting. It's spitting outside, so I would have normally not cycled anyway. I would have driven to the gym and done the weight lifting, but I have a headache and I feel sick and my limbs and back hurt, so maybe I could just not.

I have lost another half stone, to a total of 3.5 stone, ie 49lb (approx 25kg) and I am continuing with the diet (though I'm eating more and slowing down atm.) It seems more and more likely that by the end of June I will be too small for my nice blue belly dance dress. So, I have been busy combing the charity shops for skirts and making bedlah to wear instead.

The black one is the right size for me now, and I can pair it with a black trumpet skirt and be dramatic. This is the one I was making for the heavy metal solo that we still haven't decided music for.

This silver and African wax print set is uncomfortably small for me atm (and also not finished) but the possibility is that it will be the right size (and finished) in June. I would pair this with a layered white skirt that I also found at a thrift store.

This would require me to buy or make a white power-mesh thingy to cover my stomach, because I am not going out there with my stomach out (I possess a black one already.)

I am however very encouraged by the fact that Soheir Zaki (RIP) seems to have had many different colours of bodystocking which she paired to her outfits, so I have a good role model for refusing to let it all hang out :)

And if the black set becomes too big for me before then, I can just sell it. There are a lot of plus sized dancers out there who never get catered to by anyone, who would probably like a new set.

Doing belly dance costuming on a budget by making it yourself is the way to go if you don't want to drop £200 or more at a time for a professionally made set, and while I'm changing shape it would be stupid to buy anything really nice. The downside is that everything looks very hand-made. The upside is budget, but also that I am learning all sorts of new sewing techniques as I go.

Comments

[watervole]

Heavy metal belly dancing?

Woo hooo!

Congrats on learning new sewing techniques :)

[galadhir]

This lady is the epitome of what we're going for there

Thank you! I'm not very good but you have to start somewhere :)

[beebalm]

I took belly dancing classes through college! Your badlah is gorgeoussss. I wouldn't have thought you were a beginner at making them if you hadn't said :)

[starandrea]

Everything you do is super cool; thank you so much for sharing! (No pressure, ha ha. I promise I will think you're cool no matter what. Just really enjoying the colors and hearing about factors that go into the planning!)

[mistressofmuses]

I'm sorry you aren't feeling well. :( Hopefully taking it easy will help.

Those sets both look lovely! (I'm always partial to black and silver, but they're very nice.)

Professional costumes are WILD expensive. I had a coworker many years ago who did some belly dance, and she also opted to make her own costumes for the most part for the same reason. She showed me a few professionally made pieces and the prices made me O_O . And that was a decade ago, so I'm sure it's even more the case now! Worthwhile to DIY it for the budget reasons alone, but getting to learn new techniques for what you make is also a plus!

[pattrose]

I bet the ones you make are very nice. Good luck with your weight loss program. You're doing very well.