Rehabbing Old Costumes Into Something New

I've always loved costumes, which is part of the reason initially that I was drawn to belly dance.  From the beginning I attempted to make pieces of costumes, and tried to make my own ensembles, in addition to purchasing costumes along the way.  That being said, creating a costume from scratch is a huge undertaking and usually takes a very long time to complete.  I've learned from my mom, but also from experimenting on my own, buying patterns and trying to make costumes from inspiration in fabrics and other textiles.

Sometimes if we wear a costume enough to be bored with it, or styles change and it feels dated, it can be a good idea to see if parts of it may be salvageable or even better, if enough fabric remains to change the look of the costume entirely and give it a fresh makeover.

If I'm not entirely happy with the way a costume comes out, I will take elements of it apart and see if I can up-cycle them to a new costume.  I have also inherited costumes from other dancers, which didn't quite fit my style, or needed to be changed in some way.

I took this pink costume, which originally consisted of harem pants (pantaloons), a bra top and a tied skirt (which, unfortunately, consisted of 4 inch strips of fabric, hanging down in a way that didn't flow nicely), and I wanted to make a matching belt and a front/back panel skirt instead.  I wore this costume a few times, but I felt like I could make it look more flattering as my body had changed from the time I originally created it.

I had used the black fringe on another costume, which I was unhappy with, so I removed and re-purposed that to be part of this re-made costume. I had found the flower for the belt from a friend, and I thought it tied in the black lace in nicely, and complimented the costume perfectly.  I loved the pop the black gave the pink, and it was a perfect match for the lace sleeves I had purchased from Mesmera at a belly dance show.