jewels are NOT cheap, in case you hadn’t no-
snagging the costume’s material before storing
ticed!) and buy one that is professionally con-
them, and some girls also put a little sachet or
structed.
even a scented dryer sheet in with the costume
to keep it smelling fresh.
USeD cOStUMeS
MAiNteNANce AND RepAiR
If you’re hunting around for a new costumes
and don’t have a giant budget to splurge with,
Make sure you maintain your costumes regu-
look for bargains in used costumes. An origi-
larly. If a hook needs replacing, or some fringe
nally expensive, “gently worn” costume may be
is wearing out, try to get to the repairs BEFORE
a much better deal than a cheaply constructed
you put the costume away, so you won’t have an
new costume. You can make a used costume
unpleasant surprise the next time you want to
look awesome with a little loving care: hand-
use it! The first rule of advertising is great pack-
washing a costume will make it sparkle again,
aging…and to correlate this to belly dancing,
but make sure you use cool water and do a test
your appearance is basically an advertisement
first to make sure the colors don’t run. You can
for a product- YOU! So make sure you always
make a costume look great again by replacing
look beautiful and polished. And one last piece
fringe in spots ( fringe is usually the first thing
of advice- make sure to give every costume a
to wear out) removing large chunks of fringe to
practice run before wearing it onstage!
go for a more “modern” look, or even adding
different colors of fringe, such as gold or silver,
for accents. Altering the hooks and or straps
ABOUt the AUthOR
will probably make it fit you, and you can also
consider adding on new coins, tassels or mir-
Internationally acclaimed dancer Princess Far-
rors, or re-purposing existing costume pieces.
hana is a confirmed costume addict who has
Think out of the box: cutting off a costume’s
been performing, teaching and writing about
sleeves to make gauntlets, removing a waist-
Oriental Dance for eighteen years. For more
strap to make ankle-bands, cutting up a head-
info on her world-wide workshops and events,
band and creating upper-arm bands, that sort
or her line of DVD’s, please visit www.princess-
of thing. If you don’t sew, have a seamstress
farhana.com
look at the garment and have her do the work!
You also may want to swap out a chiffon veil
for a silk one, or add a different shaped or col-
ored skirt instead of using the one the costume
came with.
cOStUMe cARe
After wearing my costumes, I always let them
air out overnight, or at least for a few hours.
After they dry completely, I store them in jum-
bo plastic zipper-lock bags - one gallon or
two-gallon sizes are ideal. You can also use
the kind of heavy plastic bags that come with
sets of sheets or blankets. This way, the cos-
tumes are easy to grab and pack into a gig bag
on a moment’s notice. If you are a pet owner
(like me!) the bag will protect the costumes
from any inquisitive critter action, as well.
Some dancers store their costumes in stack-
© 2009 NAFOURA Magazine All rights re-
able plastic shelving boxes, too. Many danc-
served
ers roll their bras and belts in a small towel
Copying this article is not permitted unless with
to protect the fringe or embellishments from
written permission by the Chief Editor.
30
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