Ask The Costume Goddess:

1940's Costume

By Dina

Dear Costume Goddess,

In an interview you mentioned that 1940's costumes are easier to make. Could you please elaborate?

--Linda

Dear Linda,

I read an article called "Buying Costumes in Egypt and Turkey" at the Bellydance New York web site. She described the differences between today's standard Egyptian ready-made costumes and the "Retro" trend, reminiscent of 1940's stars such as Nadia Gamal.

If you imagine the glamorous formal gowns of that era with their form-fitting, yet softly draped dressmaking and luxurious fabrics, that is what a "Romantic" style of belly dance costume resembles. It's easier to make, because it doesn't rely on stiff, heavy, all-over beaded, fringed and sequined embellishment, which is very time-consuming and expensive to do. In "Romantic" style, the light-to-moderate beading, fringe or sequins adorn or outline, rather than encrust, the costume pieces. Try watching a campy 1949 Hollywood movie, "Samson and Delilah", for this style of ultra-glamour. Delilah (stunning Hedy LaMarr) has some fabulous slinky skirts, draped veils and panels, one-shoulder bodices, clusters of pearls, and jeweled snoods!

Of course, we can't all be as physically gifted as Hedy Lamarr, but I also think this style is more flattering to most of us, because the costume will not outshine the dancer. The audience will be thinking "beautiful bellydancer", not "chick wearing a tight holographic neon green and orange sequin bikini costume with fifty pounds of beaded fringe and twelve cut-outs".

The drawing to the right shows my version of a Romantic costume.
Drawing Of Romantic Costume

--The Costume Goddess

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