Burning my money

Someone on bhuz mentioned Mercedes Maria P. Out of sheer curiosity, I checked her web and decided to custom order the cheapest costume online.

WK said that I am burning my money on something I am not sure of.

Oh well, despite my protesting bank account, I went ahead and voila! Here is my last custom order.

Zero refitting work has been made on this. Though I must say that the bra is hanging dangerously on its own at the moment.

The belt fits like a dream- the length and hooks are just right.

For a Bella, I have to seriously refit the costume to fit me. Mercedes on the other hand, took very detail and precise measurements before embarking on her project- so everything fit!






What I didn't fancy is the 2 revealing slits on the skirt. It bares too much and I can't pull the chiffon any closer to close the gaps.

The raw material used and the workmanship is very similar to Bella.







Of course for 1/2 of Bella's price, don't expect too much tassels and detailing work.




Close-up on bra.





Close-up on Belt


Even comes with the signature Bella's neck lace and arm band.

I have purchased an additional velvet skirt with chiffon insert. That was rather disappointing cause the skirt was too short.

I wore it extremely low and bend my knees for the picture. The chiffon insert in front and back is quite unique though.

All in all, I am pleased with my purchase.

Definitely will get more.

One is not enough

I am probably at the peak of my BELLA addiction. There is no way I can stop at one custom made. For past year, ebay and bhuz have been my source for BELLA and I pay through my nose to buy second hand used BELLA. Now that I finally got BELLA's attention, I need not go through the agony of losing an auction for a 2nd hand BELLA. My 1st custom made had been a roller-coaster. There are moments when I felt that it might not turn out to be what I want or the costume might disappear into the mail or my costume will never be made or... whatever.

The irony is that my gigs are usually stage-performances in a troupe or duet where school costumes will be the standard uniform. No one really appreciates BELLA and strange enough, the one person who noticed BELLA and complimented it with honesty is WK who is not in anyway related or associated to the bellydance community. His exact words, " This costume is nice, unlike the others, the belt fits so well." Well, I have long sold that BELLA costume.

My 1st experience has been wonderful and I am seriously comtemplating on my 2nd. This time, it is going to be fuschia, preferrably with a straight belt.

Sold- Dahlal Pink Costume $160

Dahlal Pink Bedlah - SOLD

I bought this from Dahlal sometime this year and probably performed 5-8 in this set. A simple sequinned costume with lots of shine and glitter! The sequinns are in between pink and purple and colour reflection will vary under different light. Though there is no crystals or AB stones, it is efficient as a show-stealer. The bra and belt has double layer fringe.

Bra : Cup C, underbust 34"

Belt: 2 pieces, currently fit to 36", can go up to 38/39"

Comes with 4 armbands- 2 different sizes. The simple hair band was made by me using velvet. Sorry, that was the closest colour velvet I could find.

Payment by paypal. Shipping worldwide is $35.

Picture from Dahlal. This picture does not reflect the true colour. It is more fuschia than light pink.

BELLA!

I got home on Monday to discover a delivery note. My heart missed a beat and very promptly I was on the phone with the postal service. In less than an hour, I left home.

I travelled for 1 hour to the post office and waited another 1/2 hour for the delivery truck to return.

All for this: Turquoise Bella (and Dahlal Chiffon chic which was sold)

I could not contain the excitement anymore that opened the parcel in the Post Office with a borrowed pen knife, in full view of strangers. Of course, I got weird stares and raised brows from them.



Examine the remarkable workmanship. Worth every penny paid.


The belt always fit like glue.










Here, my Bella direct from Istanbul on me. Love this costume except that the loops looked kinda messy on me and the bra is a D cup, came padded to a C.

So, on monday night, I embarked on my refitting project.

Loops were shorten. Cups were stuffed further and sewn in the middle.


Here, my refitted BELLA.











Bella with Dahlal 2-tier skirt.

Hmm... I need another BELLA.

SOLD! Dahlal chiffon chic $450

SOLD!

I ordered a blue dahlal chiffon chic in March this year and forgot about it since it took more than half a year to make. Meanwhile, I got distracted by a Fuschia Bella on ebay that didn't fit me. So, I requested for custom order from Bella but in Turquiose, completely forgot that I have a blue chiffon chic in order.

Both my costumes arrived today and gosh... the blue is almost similiar and even the style too, with short tassels on the bra and huge AB stones. One of them have to go and I decided that it would be Dahlal chiffon chic.

You may refer to Dahlal website for chiffon chic blue, selling at $649. I have not amended or adjusted anything on this costume yet.

Measurements:

Bra: 31" underbust Cup B/C

Belt : 37" upper hips measurements

Hair band, necklace and 2 arm bands included. Sorry, I have decided to keep the skirt and veil since it goes well with my turquoise Bella.

Price: $450 and I'll pay for shipping worldwide. Paypal only.

I suck

I spent my Sunday reviewing my dance performance recorded on a DVD.

I wished I had done so earlier.

Here is my list of must-change:

Smile - There are moments I would dropped my smile. And that's a no-no. Consistency is lacking.

Arms - My arms made me look like a stick insect. Too long and bony, particularly at the elbow. It is so hard to strike a balance. I tend to bend my elbows to shorten my gorilla arms and in doing so, my elbows stick out awkardly in a sharp angle.



Here, a pic of my awkard arms. ( pic taken at staff quarter in Ritz Carlton)


Framing - Think it is all related. Awkard arms, awkard framing.

Fingers - Strange but I have big hands and long but ugly fingers. Imagine a big hand with long fingers on thin arms. The combination is so wrong. I have to make a conscious effort to close my fingers, spreading them out would make it worst.

Posture - It is time to stick my chest out and lift my head up-- stop looking down at the audience. And core muscle is not working hard enough to give grace and isolation.

The list goes on......

I have miles to go to be seriously considered professional.

custom order

I woke up on Wed morning to see an email from BELLA.

My heart skipped a beat.

True to their promise, they took less than 6 weeks to make my costume. It is ready and all I need is the send a bank transfer which by the way isn't something I am familiar with. I took 2 days to figure out online banking services and finally gave up and called the bank instead-- Urghhh... I need to go to a bank physically to get that done. I am not sure how, since my work barely allows me time to run errand during banking hours. Isn't it easier to pay via Visa? Darn.

While I am stressing myself up on how to get a bank transfer done, Dahlal FINALLY emailed. My custom order is ready. Alright, I need to stress this: this was ordered in March and today is Nov. I am pretty sure I'll never request for custom order from Dahlal again. I went back to Dahlal's page to view my custom order costume and after a long 8 months wait, I no longer feel the excitement.

Stay tune for pictures of my newbies...

I don't need another BELLA....

Let's chant, " I don't need another Bella. I don't need another Bella. I don't need another Bella....."

I hate to announce this but Bella had just listed some new costumes online and for some unknown reasons, they are not snapped up yet. I've been eyeing the white for the 1st half of the day and then kinda had a changed of heart by late noon and decided that Pistachio is more for me.

Whatever.

The truth is , I can't buy. I have successfully sold 4 sets of my costumes, clearing my costume closet for 3 custom-made that would arrive any time this month and I really really really is running out of closet space. Not to mention the big loss I have incurred by selling them low so that I can get rid of them in the shortest time possible. AND, an LV perforated on ebay have been calling my name since yesterday.

NO space + NO Cash = NO Bella

" I don't need another Bella. I don't need another Bella. I don't need another Bella...."

Dahlal sale or no sale?

There was a sale for all pharaonics on Dahlal last month.

That's right, it's a sale. So regardless of whether I truly needed a costume does not count. Sale does not come everyday and you won't know when is the next if I missed this one... so I explored Dahlal in depth that morning and made an online purchase within the next 2 days or so. It's an opportunity not to be missed.

If you think I had gotten myself a set of Pharaonics going at $600, nay...

So much for a sale, I bought Imperial Splendor at full price.

Sigh... tell me what's new.