Fabulous Full Figures:
Leyla Lanty, Part 2

by Shira

This article from series titled "Belly Dancing Costumes: Fabulous Full Figures" is Part 2 of a showcase featuring Leyla Lanty It offers inspiration to full-figured women everywhere who would like to learn to belly dance, but aren't quite sure what types of attractive costume options might be available for their lush curves.

A Madame Abla Costume

If you're new to the Middle Eastern dance scene and have never heard of Madame Abla, then it's time to begin your education! Madame Abla is one of a small handful of elite costume designers who make costumes for the top stars of Cairo's dance circuit. She speaks no English, only Arabic. So any dancer who wants to acquire a custom Abla creation needs to make arrangements for someone to translate. A typical feature of Abla's costumes is the asynchronous line, as you can see from the placement of the appliques on the bra and belt of this outfit.

These two pictures, both taken by dancer/photographer Jenza Maya (Suzanne McNeil), show Leyla modeling a bedleh that Madame Abla custom-made to fit her. "Bedleh," which means "suit" in Arabic, is the costume commonly seen in nightclubs and restaurants both in Egypt and the West, consisting of a bra, belt, skirt, and optional (outside of Egypt) body stocking.

In describing this costume, Leyla says:

"When I saw the skirt for this one among the samples in Madame Abla's atelier in Cairo, there was no question that I would order it. She and her assistant Mdme. Tewheeda, custom made this costume to my measurements.

"The most remarkable part of ordering this costume was the measuring process. Mdme. Tewheeda did not use a measuring tape. She laid her hands on my body over my street clothes at the crucial locations. She reported to an assistant what the measurements were as she put her hands around my upper arms, along the front, back, and sides of my midriff and hips and put her "cupped" hands, one around each breast!! A few days later, when I came back for a fitting, the body suit, made of two layers of netting, with built-in hard-cup bra and a big zipper up the back fit like my skin! I was really impressed!"

Leyla's Fiery Orange Bedleh

Here is another bedleh from Leyla's collection of made-in-Egypt costume creations. This photo by photo by Marcia Morris Conklin, a dear friend of Leyla.

When I asked Leyla to tell me about this costume, she said:

"At the Pharonics of Egypt atelier in Cairo, I fell in love with the bra and belt in orange with fuschia and red-purple rhinestone, bead, and sequin embellishment. I ordered the beaded orange skirt and sleeves to go with it. Included were a set of ankle bands beaded to match the bra and belt.

"When I went in for a fitting, Amira, the designer and owner of the atelier, looked at me in the costume and expressed disapproval. She asked one of her assistants to get a spare orange strap and one of the ankle bands and fix a waist band for it. When this was done, she moved across the room, took one look, and smiled broadly. Yes! this was the look she wanted. I never ever would have thought before this that putting a thin band around my waist in a bedla would be at all flattering. Voila! Much to my surprise, with the waist band I had a waistline!"

The Sparkly Paillette Dress

This dress was designed and made by Mahmoud Abd el Ghaffar at his atelier "El Wikalah" in Cairo. The photo was by Leyla's dear friend Marcia Morris Conklin.

This dress is a stage version of the everyday dress of most Egyptian women, the galabeya, a type of caftan. It's a T-shaped dress with a large triangular scarf tied around the hips and a matching triangular scarf tied around the head. Leyla uses it for performing a folkloric "country" style of dance.

Here's what Leyla has to say about this dress:

"At Mahmoud's atelier, I saw a model for this dress on a hanger on the wall. I fell in love with it even though it was in a color that was definitely not for me. I ordered it in blue with multicolored paillettes.

"Showing his attention to quality, Mahmoud specified that even a simple T-shaped dress must be made to my measure. So, his tailor, a very sweet woman who really knows her craft, immediately whipped out her tape measure so she would be able to cut it as close as possible on the first try. A couple of days later, I returned at the appointed time for the fitting. The chiffon dress fit perfectly.

"After another couple of days, I returned to find it had been transformed into a dazzlingly sparkly paillette dress for dancing. She had also made two matching scarves for my hips and head. This is a style of costume which I think would be flattering to any type of figure."

Pink Lace Dress

This pink confection was designed and made by Mahmoud Abd el Ghaffar at his atelier "El Wikalah" in Cairo. The photo was taken by dancer/photographer Jenza Maya (Suzanne McNeil).

The components of this lace dress include a built-in bra and a separate, detachable hip belt.

Here is Leyla's description of how she came to own it:

"Mahmoud had several models for this gown in his atelier in several colors, but none in fuschia, which was what I wanted. I asked him if he would make it in fuschia with gold sequins and beads and he said "Sure!" His lady tailor took my measurements, shouting them through the closed door of the fitting room to her business partner, her brother. Two or three days later I came back for a fitting which showed that some adjustments in length were needed. About a week later I came back to pick it up. It fit perfectly and looked gorgeous."

Leyla is partial to this dress because it seems to be revealing a lot more than it really does. The clean vertical line from neck to hips presents a figure-flattering effect. The sequin and bead patterns also contribute to the vertical line. The other major feature which doesn't show well in this particular photo is the very full skirt which flairs out whenever she twirls.

Red Hagallah

This dress was designed and crafted by Mahmoud el Ghaffar at his atelier "El Wikalah" in Cairo. The photos were taken by Leyla's dear friend Marcia Morris Conklin.

Another Cairo costume from Leyla's collection, this hagallah dress is a stage version of a traditional dance dress from the western desert area of Egypt.

This one is a slightly modified version of the black and green hagallah dress shown in Part 1 of Leyla's photo gallery.

Leyla wears this dress for folkloric style dance, which often includes dancing with the cane. In Middle Eastern tradition, a cane is considered part of traditional masculine garb. A woman wouldn't use a cane for any purpose other than assisting her in walking if she were unable to walk without it. A woman dancing with a cane is saying "I can dance with this masculine item in public!" It is a sassy and flirtatious dance.

Turquoise & Black Dress

Here is another elegant costume that was designed and made by Mahmoud el Ghaffar at his atelier "El Wikalah" in Cairo. The photo was taken by Leyla's dear friend Marcia Morris Conklin.

When asked why she likes this dress, Leyla replied:

"This dress is another case of love at first sight. I love this dress because of its simple lines and beautiful turquoise floral sequin and bead embroidery."

This dress was designed to be worn without a belt, but Leyla's hip and other measurements can vary as much as an inch or so as time goes on. This prompted her to make a very narrow black stretch sequin belt to secure the hip line on days when the dress fits too loosely for her hip movements to show without a belt.

Photo Of Leyla Lanty

Red Melaya Leff

This playful ensemble was another creation from Mahmoud el Ghaffar at his atelier "El Wikalah" in Cairo. The photo was taken by Leyla's dear friend Marcia Morris Conklin.

This dress was designed specifically to be used for the malaya leff dance, a saucy, sassy, "street" dance from Alexandria. The malaya leff is really the name for the very large rectangular black veil which the dancer wears completely wrapped around her body over the dress when she enters the stage. As she dances, she takes one end and then the other off and twirls it around, drapes it over one shoulder or arm and then the other, and so on. It's the dance of a young lady who, under the guise of "going out shopping" is out looking for men with whom she can flirt and maybe marry.

Here's how Leyla describes it:

"This dress is 'off the rack' except for the bodice. It fit my hips and my height, but the bodice was too small. 'No problem', they simply opened the side seams, removing sequins and beads as necessary, inserted a gusset, then added back the decoration plus an extra flower or partial flower as needed."

Although Leyla no longer has this particular dress, she still considers it a flattering style for nearly every body type, including hers. So, given that she felt it was flattering, why doesn't she have it any more? Here is her story!

"Immediately after buying the dress, I arranged for a private lesson with Raqia Hassan, one of Cairo's top teachers, to learn malaya leff. It was a lot of fun to learn, but after returning to the States, I found the extremely saucy style of this dance, often including gum chewing and some extra large moves, to be not very comfortable for me. It just wasn't my style. That was obvious in the puzzled looks on audience members' faces each time I tried to perform it. I've since sold it to someone who can handle the style much better than I."

If you're interested in additional costuming ideas for full-figured belly dancers, additional articles on this web site you may enjoy include:

Leyla Lanty, Part 1. If you have a passion for Egyptian-style costuming, and you enjoyed seeing Leyla's costumes on this page, then don't miss Part 1 of Leyla's photo gallery!
M'shisha al Fo'awi. M'shisha al Fo'awi of Santa Clara, California shows beautiful costumes that she has assembled from inexpensive components.

Asifa el-Bah'r, Part 1. Asifa el-Bah'r takes a creative approach to costuming, exploring eclectic influences rather than the same "made in Egypt" look that so many people choose.
Asifa el-Bah'r, Part 2. For ideas on affordable costumes you can make yourself, here are photos of Asifa el-Bah'r modeling additional costumes from her collection.

Acknowledgements

This article originally appeared on the Suite101 web site, in the Middle Eastern Dance category, on April 6, 2001.

I'd like to thank Leyla Lanty for agreeing to participate in the Fabulous Full Figures Photo Gallery and demonstrating that there are many good costume options available for plus-sized belly dancers, including those who wish to perform Egyptian-style.

Fabulous Full Figures: Leyla Lanty, Part 2