What type of costume shall I wear?
There are of course many styles of costumes to choose from, Turkish, Egyptian and Lebanese being the main designs around today.
The non professional dancer. This of course has a lot to do with budget and own personal choice. There are of course many places to find costumes; a holiday to Egypt or Turkey you will certainly find one. Remember of course to haggle greatly as the price of these costumes from a street vendor or bazaar may be a great deal more than what they are actually worth and you may end up paying more for a very simple one in Turkey than through an agent in the UK who ships them in from Turkey or Egypt.
The Professional and semi Professional Dancer. If you are semi professional, budget does of course need to be taken in to account. However, if you are aspiring to be a professional dancer then I would advise on spending as much as you can afford. If only the really good dancers can afford the best costumes, then by having a not so good one tells the world that you are not so good. It is true to say that the better the costume the more impact this will have. Do not, however, buy all the latest designs and put yourself in to debt unless the money is going to come back in to cover the cost. If you can afford to spend money on costumes then I would say do it as the pleasure to yourself and your audience is immeasurable.
If you are professional then it is essential that you have very good costumes and, if wearing shoes, they are in good condition. I am amazed at how many scuffed shoes I see on dancers, which does give a very bad impression.
When I first arrived in the Gulf I had three or four costumes from Turkey and a couple from Egypt. I was immediately informed by my Agent to get new ones and to spend money on them. I took her advise and did not regret it. In fact it was essential. You can't dance any better* but the impression we give an audience counts for a great deal.
*some costumes can of course give greater emphasis to moves. Glass beads as opposed to plastic beads make quite a difference. Whenever I was extremely tired and did not feel as though my hips could move any more, I always wore one of my glass beaded costumes as they did seem to do some of the work for me! Having said that the majority of my costumes are made from plastic beads but glass is better.
Basic styles
Egyptian style belts are usually straight belts around the hips. See pink costume on home page. I find these to be the most effective as far as showing the moves are concerned but if you have any excess weight on the abdomen these belts show little mercy.
Turkish belts are a lot more flattering in that they are generally "v" shaped. The two points sitting almost on the waist which covers the abdomen to a certain extent. However, I do find that they do not show off the moves as effectively as the Egyptian style belt.
Lebanese belts. Lebanese belts sit around the hips but are not straight across like the Egyptian ones these belts appear like waves. These belts are perhaps the best of both worlds as you get the effectiveness of the hip shape but the waves do manage to cover a number of bulges here and there. I usually wear one of these when I have put on a few pounds.
Please note that Turkish designers design Egyptian style costumes and vice versa as well as Lebanese. Therefore you can now get an Egyptian style costume from a Turkish designer and a Lebanese style costume from an Egyptian designer. Basically they all copy each other now. These would now be considered to be very outdated.
If you are not a professional dancer and belly dancing is just your favourite past time do still get a costume as a costume takes you into another world as soon as you put it on. A costume makes you feel, sexy glamorous and alive and does wonders for your self esteem. You'll derive so much fun from having one, don't deny yourself. It is sheer escapism and we all need to remove ourselves from reality once in a while!