These days, the traditional belly dancebedlah is going out of style. Modern Egyptian costumes still havethe embellished bra, but it's more likely the hip decoration will beapplied directly to the skirt, not on a separate belt.
However, if you're a beginner lookingfor your first costume, a bra and belt set is still likely to be yourbest bet. Why? Because as a beginner belly dancer, yourperformances won't be solos for a long time ' you'll be part of atroupe. And when you dance in a troupe, you'll need to wear what thetroupe wears.
What a troupe wears will vary fromschool to school. Some belly dancing instructors will set highstandards and insist their dancers wear professional belly dance costumes ' butmost are realistic, and allow their students to wear more economicalalternatives. A common strategy is to set a color or a fabric forthe costume, and allow their students to organise their own costumebased on that color or fabric.
That's where a bra and belt set comesin ' pick one in black, white, gold or silver, and you can createmany different costumes by adding a skirt and armbands in differentcolors.
Do be careful when choosing yourbedlah, though. At some stores (and online) you'll often findbedlahs with no measurements. That doesn't mean they're all the same'standard' size! I found that out the hard way, when I tried onone belt in a store, then decided to buy a different one withouttrying it on. When I got it home, the belt was several inches tooshort! Unfortunately the shop is in Egypt, so I can't return it 'so now I have a bedlah I can only wear one half of!!