no shopping for you my dear.

[dancingleaf]

I should NOT be shopping.

However, .... I am looking at this beaded belt on this website.

The plus is that it is a CANADIAN website, Canadian prices etc.  

I'm wondering what this style looks like in person.  And what it would look like with the new L.Rose set that I still don't have in my hands yet.   I was thinking ... white would be kind of cute.

Anyone seen something like this in person?

Also - she carries double slotted zills at a decent price. I could order a few sets for my students & resell them....

Comments

[philady.livejournal.com]

Many of my friends have those belts. They are very cute and very sparkly! Lots of movement, too. I wouldn't say they're particularly professional looking, but they're good for haflas and student troupe costumes. I'd get one for myself if I didn't already have too much hip swag. :)

[philady.livejournal.com]

This page takes a while to load, but wait for the photos to show up and then scroll down toward the bottom. There's a vendor I knew in Chicago that sells those same belts, and her photos show them much more clearly.

http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/kk35/nilajacalicogarden/?start=all

[dancingleaf.livejournal.com]

much better photos. & I appreciate the input.

At the moment I have a gold coin necklemann's
http://www.flickr.com/photos/92633827@N00/2575016339/

& the rest of my costumes are all home made. I don't normally go in for the sequin & sparkly look.

My budget cannot stretch to a pricey pro costume at the moment - hence the investment in the L.Rose, a versatile compromise I had hoped ... just trying to figure out a way to give it some *BANG* ... I can't wear the gold coin every time

[philady.livejournal.com]

The dancers in the Twin Cities have expensive taste. Many Level 2's have Neckelmann's or other bra/belt sets, and many level 3's have costumes by Hanan, Pharaonics, Eman, Sim Moda, etc. A few even have Bellas. It probably "helps" that Dahlal roadtrips up here every month or two, showcasing all her costumes from Egypt. Plus there are a ton of teachers and restaurant dancers, who sell their old costumes to their students.

I thought it was normal, until I lived in Chicago and Des Moines. I did see a fair number of baby bellies in Chicago with sparkly costumes, but not as many as you see around here. The restaurant dancers in Des Moines wore circle skirts, choli tops, and coin scarves....which would get a restaurant dancer shunned 'round these parts! It's interesting to note the regional differences.

I really need to get more ambitious about making my own costumes. These piles and piles of fabric aren't going to sew themselves...

[dancingleaf.livejournal.com]

-in my area - there are no local restaurant hosting dancers. none.
-I've been told that if I want to dance as in, perform - I have to organize my own evenings/haflas. So I do, twice a year... I host my September Open House & a February event, for myself & my students.
-I get invited to the high school occasionally.
-I want my students to know I have a professional appearing costume.

& yeah - with Dahlal a frequent visitor in your area - good yes, access to awesomeness. bad yes, depleted pocketbook.
I'm not as tempted to buy something $$$ not knowing how it would fit. Plus next to zero performance opportunities.

[tama-grey.livejournal.com]

&hearts your icon!

[tama-grey.livejournal.com]

A local teacher/dancer has a yearly event called Mudd Slide and Purple Camel Bazaar where everyone sets up tables and sells off old costuming. Dahlal and other pro vendors drop in. It's WAY too easy to spend lotsa-lotsa moolah. "belly dancer's garage sale" some folks call it. One helluva good way to pick up nice stuff cheeeeeep. I'm already hearing my wallet groan, and it isn't until February!

[tama-grey.livejournal.com]

One of my teacher's has a belt like that. It's really fun and I've often wished I had one, too. I like it cuz it gives movement in class without lots of noise.

[philady.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've got a closet full of sparklies, and the depleted pocketbook to go with it. Eeep!

I feel very fortunate to live in an area where there are lots of performance opportunities. The Guild of Oriental Dance hosts open stage festivals every month. They're either in the theater at The Cassandra School, or every few months they're in a restaurant. And anyone can sign up to dance. And there is one school that hosts a hafla every month from November through April, and two other schools that each host haflas every 2 or 3 months. If anyone hosts a big workshop, there's usually a hafla that goes along with that, plus there are troupes that put on shows and haflas, and there are more than half a dozen restaurants with dancers every weekend. Dang, when I put it all together, it's no wonder I missed dance so much when I was living in Iowa. They had even MORE bellydance stuff going on in Chicago--so much you could probably find a performance opportunity almost any weekend of the year--but I'd say that the Twin Cities has isn't too shabby. You should move here! LOL. Though if you're learning more toward tribal and/or fusion, you'd be better off in Chicago. There's not a whole lot of that going on around here yet. It's catching on a bit, but it's hard when there are one 1 or 2 good teachers to teach it, otherwise people have to travel to take workshops to learn that style.