Belly Dancing for Full-Figured Women:

Belly Dance Photo Gallery:
M'shisha al-Fo'awi


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This article is part of a series of articles titled "Belly Dance Photo Gallery." It offers some costume ideas to full-figured women everywhere who would like to learn to belly dance, but are reluctant because they don't know what they would wear.

This gallery features M'shisha al Fo'awi modeling some of her favorite belly dance costumes from her collection. It wasn't easy to drag her into the park for our photo session, but she eventually gave in. Here's what she has to say about it:

"To be honest, I never think I look good in photographs. Shira had to practically wrestle me to the ground to get me to actually pose once I'd agreed to be a part of her "Fabulous Full Figures" series. I'll bet many of you feel the same way. Being tall, as well as round, I'm also quite aware of how silly I can look standing next to the troupe member who isn't even five feet tall (and who I always seem to end up next to in the dance numbers!).

"But you can't let that kind of thing stop you from dancing if you want to dance--or doing whatever it is you want to do. Studies have proven that we are our own harshest critics when it comes to our appearance. Please, ease up and enjoy yourself; don't wait until you're some arbitrary weight or size to nurture your soul."

Pantaloons & Stretch Blouse

M'shisha al Fo'awi likes this costume because, "Not only does it look nice viewed from head on, it looks pretty good walking away, too." This ensemble proves that a dance costume doesn't need to be expensive in order to look attractive. It consists of a collection of pieces that M'shisha al Fo'awi had acquired individually. The idea to wear these items together with each other just came to her one evening.

Mshisha al-Foawi in Pantaloons and Stretch Blouse M'shisha likes the way this costume looks on her because its black color creates a slimmer visual effect. She chose to wear a flesh-colored body stocking because she's long-waisted and felt the contrast with the black top and pants would emphasize the length, creating a narrower illusion. The draped ends of the hip wrap add another vertical line to the overall look.

M'shisha al Fo'awi commented, "A long-long-time friend of mine who has never seen me in costume was present the day these photos were taken. She was quite impressed with how it looked on me. Don't know what kind of costumes she thought I wore, but she seemed pleasantly surprised the first time she saw it."

Would you like to know more about the individual components of this costume and how they were made? Click here for a detailed description. You'll also see M'shisha al Fo'awi's stretch blouse and pantaloons costume from other angles.

Liberty Belle

M'shisha al Fo'awi needed to assemble a red, white, and blue costume to wear for a specialty number involving American flags, Sousa marches, yodeling, and belly dancing. The picture to the right shows what she put together, mostly using costume pieces she already had in her collection.

M'shisha al Fo'awi had made the basic blue harem pants just to wear for classes and troupe rehearsals. They're made of 100% cotton fabric.

The silver tissue lamé skirt consists of three half-circle panels. M'shisha al Fo'awi had made this one to use when dancing with a troupe. Directions on how to make this skirt appear on my shira.net web site.

Mshisha in Red White and Blue

The red vest is made from a glitter scarf purchased from Universal Imports in Saratoga, California. A design of starbursts is outlined in sequins across the scarf. The two corners along one of the long edges were brought into the center of the same long edge and anchored with a few stitches. M'shisha al Fo'awi then just placed her arms through the holes created by this process, crossed the bottom edges at the hip line, and tied a hip scarf over the top to anchor it in place.

The hip scarf is a typical Egyptian rectangular red chiffon hip wrap with red and silver glass crocheted bead strips attached in rows.

The blue top in this photo is a sports bra of a cotton, polyester, and spandex blend purchased many years ago at Target. In cooler weather, M'shisha al Fo'awi sometimes replaces the sports bra with a blue unitard she purchased from Sugar Petals with a flesh-colored power net insert in the midriff.

One of the reasons M'shisha al Fo'awi likes this costume is that it's comfortably cool in hot weather. The cotton sports bra and pantaloons breathe, and the glitter scarf covers the midriff in a way that still allows air to circulate. The day this picture was taken was very hot, and M'shisha al Fo'awi was highly tempted to jump into the fountain. But the ducks were there first!

Here's why M'shisha al Fo'awi feels this costume is flattering for her:

"The red scarf/vest provides quite the up-and-down line. Add to that the vertical lines created by the separations in the silver skirt that reveal the blue pants."

The same friend who was mentioned in the description of the black pantaloons and stretch blouse costume above was also quite impressed with how this costume looked on M'shisha al Fo'awi.

Green Tissue Lamé

With her ivory skin and red hair, M'shisha al Fo'awi looks great in this green tissue lamé costume. Like the first costume shown above on this page, the top and bottom of this outfit are dark, creating a somewhat slimmer visual. Also, the long-waisted pallor and 'belly break' helps in 'lengthening' the torso, making it appear narrower. M'shisha al Fo'awi feels pretty when wearing this one, and once again demonstrates that a costume doesn't need to be expensive to look wonderful.

M'shisha purchased the hip wrap at We3Bellydance in San Jose, California. Accompanied by three additional troupe members, M'shisha al Fo'awi descended upon the store in serious shopping mode. Fortunately, the store survived the invasion and M'shisha al Fo'awi ended up with a beautiful hip scarf.

To see this costume from other angles, click here. The additional pictures include a view from behind that provides a closer look at M'shisha al Fo'awi's beautiful hip scarf, as well as a detailed description of each costume component.

M'shisha al Fo'awi's Gypsy/Rom Costume

For a less glittery look, M'shisha al Fo'awi's Rom-inspired costume provides a sassy change of pace. As with other costumes shown above, she uses the bare-midriff look to show off her long waisted build while the dark colors of the top and skirt provide a slimming effect.

Here's how M'shisha al Fo'awi happened to pull this costume together:

"A couple of years ago, for our annual class recital, I had planned on wearing a pink glitter-scarf tunic and matching harem pants. About 45 minutes before I was supposed to be at the venue, the teacher called and asked if I had anything a little more "ethnic" to wear, because one of my classmates was dressed in that fashion while the rest were dressed like I'd intended -- the like-dressed ladies were performing at another venue later, and therefore decided to just wear the same costume for both shows. She wanted to have a little balance.

"Luckily, I'd seen the ethnic costume at dress rehearsal. So I went to the closet and literally came up with this costume in 30 minutes. I had never thought of it beforehand, but have since worn it a number of times and, of course, have tinkered with it a little bit since the first wearing.

"The point is, I guess, don't rule anything out when you're trying to come up with a costume. It helps if, like me, you tend to dress like it's still the Sixties. Look in your regular closet... maybe you have a piece that you love, but just isn't suitable for your "usual" life and you'd like to wear it more often. Any way you can recycle it into a costume piece you'll love?"

Would you like to see this costume from some additional angles? Click here for more. You'll also find a detailed description of the costume components.

Closing Thoughts From M'shisha al Fo'awi

As you plan your own belly dancing costumes, keep in mind these final thoughts from M'shisha al Fo'awi:

"Find something you feel absolutely fabulous in--something that makes you feel alluring, mysterious, feminine, glamorous--and forget about what 'they' think because, quite simply, if you feel beautiful, that's what you'll project."

PHOTO CREDIT: All photos in this photo gallery were taken by Julie Anne Elliot, 2001.

Related Articles

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

Acknowledgement

This article originally appeared in the Middle Eastern Dance topic area of the Suite101 web site on July 27, 2001. It is reprinted here with permission from the author. Please visit Suite101 to enjoy additional articles about belly dancing.

I'd also like to thank M'shisha al Fo'awi 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.

Counter: since June 3, 2002

 

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