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Like most of the costumes on this site, this was a one-of-a-kind piece hand crafted by an Egyptian artisan. THIS COSTUME CAN NOT BE ORDERED. Will there be more? Individual artisans will occasionally repeat designs, but never exactly and rarely in the same color. It's impossible to say if or when these will show up or in what size or color. YOU CAN'T ORDER THIS COSTUME. Thank you.

Made in Egypt. This is a very, very nice piece. Really high quality work and the colors are wonderful, and to me, the belt is to die for, completely unique. The beadwork is all sequins and glass bead outlines, no crystals or rhinestones, but the main background sequins are a truly beautiful iridescent blue, and the other sequins are either iridescent or holographic -- plenty of sparkle. The color of the skirt and veil is a vibrant, rich aqua/turquoise/ocean blue (the more I look at these colors the harder it is to decide what they are) -- not a light or washed out color (and definitely not neon or obnoxious).

All of the outside edges of bra and belt have a wonderful up and down pattern of yellow and green glass beads (there's a name for them but it escapes me at the moment). The chiffon skirt is not super, super full, and I know that some dancers may want to add a layer underneath to make it more opaque, though for me it's perfectly adequate coverage combined with the belt fringe. It has monofiliment in the hem for flounce/body. Fully cased elastic top, pull on (no opening), with one slit almost to the top. Slit is edged with looping silver glass bead and silver sequin trim.

The belt is a true work of art as well as engineering. Those squares are all actual "holes", they also are trimmed with the glass beads like the edges of the rest of the bra and belt. I was surprised at how well it conformed to my body. It's completely straight, no curve, no darts, but it's not super stiff and seems to easly shape to the body with just slight angling where you fasten it (of course, this may depend on the body). Also, almost any belt can benefit from a short piece of strong elastic sewn in at the top to help it curve into your body; since this belt isn't super stiff this would be especially effective (see tip here).

The bra has halter straps, comes very amply padded (easy to take out, see Sizing, below). The cups are of the tall, triangular variety (as opposed to more horizontal and bandeau-like). However, they are also quite wide -- but relatively shallow. So the coverage of the breast is going to be more a function of the area (as in, square footage) of the cup, as opposed to it's depth. If there is any issue with too much cleavage, these cups lend themselves well to closing up the cleavage by stitching opposite cup edges together down at the bottom of the cleavage "V" (center of bra), to tilt the cups slightly toward each other.

I personally prefer less fringe hanging from the bra; I include a photo showing an example (I either photo-shopped out the fringe or tucked it under the bra; it's all still on the bra). Removing fringe is very easy. This is Egyptian fringe: the fringe is made by individually knotting each beaded strand into a cord, then sewing the cord into the costume. This means that if one strand comes undone, it doesn't affect the others, since they are all separately knotted. It also means that it's very easy to remove the fringe intact (and cut it and sew it in anywhere you want). You are just removing stitches that hold the cord in; after taking it out you have a cord of fringe. So, on this costume you would have to remove the inner lining stitches to get at the cord, which is sewn right near the edge. You'd pick out the stitches holding the cord in as far as you want, cut the cord, secure the end of the thread that you picked out and possibly add a few extra stitches to hold the cord end down (and often people will put some glue on the end of the cord, it is possible for it to fray and have one or two end pieces of fringe come off). Re-stitch your lining down (or if you have no time, ever, like me, break out a few safety pins to hold lining, intending to sew it someday soon; actual result is safety pins stay there for years until you decide to sell the costume, at which time you THEN re-stitch the lining down!)

Accessories: Beaded arm (or ankle) cuffs (with cut outs matching belt), full size rectangular veil (about 106" x 46")

Sizing:
> Click For explanation of sizing, how to apply it to you, also some tips on altering. VERY HELPFUL

Bra: Comes very padded. Simple to remove padding; undo a few lining stitches and pull it out. WITH PADS Should fit range including wide 34 B/C/C+ (tight), 36 A/B/small C (tight). Max underbust = 34.5"
WITHOUT PADS Should fit range including wide 34 D/DD, 36 B/C+, 38 B. Max underbust = 34.5"
Belt: 38". Can be shortened by overlapping about as much as you want, no symmetrical pattern to mess up. However, if you are less than about 34", depending on your shape, you may start having difficulties getting the belt to look nice: if you need to angle the closure slightly to fit your body (most likely by making the top hook and eye slightly tighter than the lower hook and eye), a short amount (up to two-ish, three-ish inches) of extra belt (the overlapped part, underneath) won't be a problem, but a long piece of extra belt is going to continue on that angle and end up showing. Adding elastic as described above may reduce or remove the need for any angling. It's always possible to actually cut a belt to shorten it, but that can be tedious due to the need to tie off or glue beadwork thread ends. But it is definitely possible! and since it is the underneath (overlapped) part you would be cutting, it's hidden, and you don't have to do a perfectly fantastic job.
Skirt Top: Elastic relaxed = 24", stretches to 40".
Skirt length: 38"

Age/Condition: New.

If you prefer less fringe: