A troupemate of mine and I will be chorographing and performing a duet at our student showcase in May. The song we've chosen is a drum solo - something rather complicated and upbeat - and the name of the song, loosely translated, means "Feline Predator". We've decided that leopard print costumes would be appropriate.
Trouble is, I don't own a leopard print costume.
Now, as much as I'd love to order a beautiful Turkish leopard-print Bella, I just can't afford $900 for a costume right now. As a student dancer, this costume will likely get used once or twice a year, at most.
I can, however, order a leopard-print skirt and gauntlets, and then wear a black bedleh with it - affordable, versatile and classic.
I don't own a black bedleh, either. So that's where we begin.
As an amateur, I like to have lots of simple, classic pieces; bra/belt sets and skirts that can mix and match. As a troupe member, I don't have full control over my costume choices. Many of the pieces I have are troupe costumes. For the most part, I only perform with troupe mates, so from a practical standpoint, I don't waste money on stuff that can't be worn with what I have already, or that wouldn't compliment my troupe mates' closets. At the same time, anything I do buy or make should be nice enough to wear solo!
So our costume pieces are simple and classic - we all have silver or gold bedlehs (bra/belt sets). We have red, pink, blue and orange skirts. Most of us have black skirts. One of my personal costume goals is to eventually have a bedleh to match each skirt.
Black is my next choice for bedleh, to match my black skirt, and as part of my leopard ensemble.
Back to the leopard - I've come up with a design for the whole costume. Those of you familiar with Pharaonics of Egypt would recognize the bedleh as similar to a Great Loop costume, but that wasn't my intent when I sketched it out. I just wanted something that would look luscious and professional. Something classic and simple. Something that was multi-purpose. I like looped swags of fringe and this is what I came up with.
Coming up: my plan of attack, assembling the materials and costume design theory
Trouble is, I don't own a leopard print costume.
Now, as much as I'd love to order a beautiful Turkish leopard-print Bella, I just can't afford $900 for a costume right now. As a student dancer, this costume will likely get used once or twice a year, at most.
I can, however, order a leopard-print skirt and gauntlets, and then wear a black bedleh with it - affordable, versatile and classic.
I don't own a black bedleh, either. So that's where we begin.
As an amateur, I like to have lots of simple, classic pieces; bra/belt sets and skirts that can mix and match. As a troupe member, I don't have full control over my costume choices. Many of the pieces I have are troupe costumes. For the most part, I only perform with troupe mates, so from a practical standpoint, I don't waste money on stuff that can't be worn with what I have already, or that wouldn't compliment my troupe mates' closets. At the same time, anything I do buy or make should be nice enough to wear solo!
So our costume pieces are simple and classic - we all have silver or gold bedlehs (bra/belt sets). We have red, pink, blue and orange skirts. Most of us have black skirts. One of my personal costume goals is to eventually have a bedleh to match each skirt.
Black is my next choice for bedleh, to match my black skirt, and as part of my leopard ensemble.
Back to the leopard - I've come up with a design for the whole costume. Those of you familiar with Pharaonics of Egypt would recognize the bedleh as similar to a Great Loop costume, but that wasn't my intent when I sketched it out. I just wanted something that would look luscious and professional. Something classic and simple. Something that was multi-purpose. I like looped swags of fringe and this is what I came up with.
Coming up: my plan of attack, assembling the materials and costume design theory
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