Looking for ideas on how to alter a beaded belly dance bra? Have a vintage costume that needs an upgrade? In this post, Chani, our alteration expert, will show you how to alter a beaded belly dance bra top seamlessly and make it fit you! Enjoy 🙂 This is a vintage costume I bought on-line many, many years ago. The… Read more →
Updated in October 2020 Struggling with belly dance bras gaping around the top edges? Your bra looked fine before you got on stage….but you’ve got gaping bra cups by the time you finish your performance. Gaping bra cups is one of very, very common bra problems. The worst part of it is that it really takes your audience’s attention away… Read more →
Let’s talk about plus size belly dance bra fitting today 🙂 Last year I asked in Sparkly Belly’s Facebook group: “Calling all plus size dancers…. Do you have any costuming tips?” Even if you’re not exactly “plus size”, but if your cup size is over D, you probably encounter a lot of challenges with belly dance bra fitting. As you… Read more →
Looking for ways to hide your upper arms and back? Many dancers write to me and tell me that they want to hide their upper arms and back when they dress for their belly dance performances. But a lot of solutions out there can get boring after a while, and finding a pretty solution, not compromise, can be hard. 🙁… Read more →
Earlier this year, I shared my Plus Size Belly Dance Costuming Guide which became a very popular post on Sparkly Belly. 🙂 One of the tips I included there was what I call the “Belly Drape” – It’s a design created with fabric that drapes from the bra and provides light coverage over the top of your torso. It’s really easy… Read more →
Have you seen gathered fabrics used to decorate dance costumes or formal dresses? That might be pleating or ruching. Both of them add colours, textures and such elegance to costumes and dresses, and it can be an easy way to decorate your costumes. But it can be tricky to create the look, especially when you’re working with… Read more →
I wanted to start off the new year with the most common costuming problem that belly dancers have – gaping bra cups. Our body goes through changes, but most belly dance bra cups are not so flexible. And most of them are heavily decorated, so cutting up the bra cups is too much work and you may wreck the beautiful… Read more →
I’m so excited to publish this post today, because… I have one of my all time favourite belly dancers, Zahra Zuhair, on Sparkly Belly!!! A couple of months ago, I stumbled upon her YouTube videos where she was talking about creating your own signature style of dancing, which was really, really good and helpful. So I immediately emailed her and… Read more →
What is the #1 costuming challenge I hear from Sparkly Belly readers? It’s fitting. Fitting costumes, finding the right size and right length, scaling patterns, not sure how to alter etc… But there are many tricks you can easily use to create much better fit! So over the next few posts, I’ll share with you the Perfectly… Read more →
Last week I announced that the enrolment to my online Belly Dance Costume Workshop (BDCW) is opening on May 22, 2016. I’ve been receiving messages and questions from excited dancers 🙂 If you have questions about the workshop, feel free to email me at mao@sparklybelly.com. I’m happy to answer your questions, and it’s great to know what you are wondering… Read more →