2. Belly Dancers wear a fancy bra and belt and very little else, with a jewel in their navel.
The bra and belt costume considered the stereotypical "belly dancer" may not be a middle eastern
creation at all. Some contend that it originated with the stage productions of Oscar Wilde's play
of "Salome" in the early 1900's. The basic silhouette of vest and skirt was translated into a
skimpy ensemble of beaded bra and skirt. These actresses were too pretentious to do any
version of a real oriental dance, but nonetheless, the image became fixed in everyone's mind.
When the movie era began in Hollywood, Rudolf Valentino and a bevy of beauties helped
perpetuate the stereotype even more. Wherever and whenever it originated, the costume has
come to define the stereotypical belly dancer. Dancers all over the world wear some version of
this costume if they are performing in a night club or on stage, but it is a long way from the tribal
and folkloric dancing which began it all. In Egypt it is illegal for dancers to appear in public with
their stomach bare, so they often wear body nets or long beaded dresses. Due to strict Egyptian
laws, it is even illegal there to do "floorwork" as done elsewhere.

The modern "cabaret" style of bra (also called "bedley" in some circles) and heavily decorated ,
beaded and/or bejeweled belt is a truly modern innovation. It features a bra, often decorated
with glass beaded fringe or coins, and a belt worn at the hip line over a skirt. In ancient times no
woman would have been seen in public with a skirt at the hipline. The only dancers who had a
bare middle, from the waist only, were the "nautch" dancers of India. I am excluding the ancient
Egyptian dancers pictured on tombs who apparently danced naked, and the ancient fertility cult
members who were bare-breasted. The women probably danced in their everyday clothes which
would more likely have been some sort of caftan, sheer or not, with perhaps a vest and/or hip
scarf added. Turkish women probably would have worn large harem pants (shalvar) from the
waist, not the hips. The Turkish Ottoman woman would have also added a side-split coat or vest.
Thus you have the costume of the Egyptian Ghazawee which were seen in the early 1600's.
Since they were in reality Gypsies who claimed to have come from Persia, it follows that they
didn't necessarily wear what the Egyptian peasants wore.

The "Jewel-in-the-navel" is definitely an American fantasy invention. According to "Morocco"
(Dancer/Scholar Carolina Dinicu Varga), it was started by Hollywood costume designers in the
1950's because of their strict "morality" code. Their costumers put a jewel in the navel to cover
it up from the censors. It has nothing to do with the tradition of the dance, and few American
dancers every wear one. (By the way, if it's done at all, the costumer's secret is to use gum
arabic, and not glue.)

The ultimate in costumes is the thobe, where the costume IS the dance. The thobe is a sheer,
heavily embroidered caftan which is vastly wider and longer than the wearer. Many of these are
made in India and come in wonderful bright colors. The dance involves manipulation of the
thobe, since it is necessary to pick it up in order to walk.
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