Fabulous Full Figures:
Leyla Lanty, Part 1

by Shira

One of the wonderful things about belly dancing is that it's an exercise form that works for bodies of all shapes and sizes. Some workouts are fine if you're already well-toned and fit, but can lead to injury for those of us who want to get into shape but aren't there yet. Aerobic dance and jogging can put stress on the knee and ankle joints. Ballet is impossible for women with "mature" figures. In contrast, belly dancing provides an exercise starting point suitable for even the most challenging bodies.

Many women with baroque bodies have contacted me to ask whether there are any costume options out there suitable for their voluptuous figures. They hesitate to show as much skin as their slimmer sisters, yet they would like to participate in the many benefits this dance form can offer.

In the "Fabulous Full Figures" series of articles, I'll feature photo galleries of graceful, talented dancers with abundant curves who have found flattering fashions for their full-figured physiques. I approached individuals whose sense of style has impressed me, and invited them to submit photos of themselves to provide inspiration to others with similar body types. The only guideline I gave them was to select photos of themselves wearing costumes that they believed looked great on them with their body types.

In this installment, I've chosen to showcase Leyla Lanty who dances in the San Francisco, California area.

A Colorful Baladi Dress

In this first photo, Leyla is dancing in a black baladi dress with vertical stripes of multicolor metallic threads and gold sequins and beads and long, voluminous triangular sleeves.

Photo by Marcia Morris Conklin, one of Leyla's dear friends.

This costume is a baladi dress, so named because of its association with folk dances of the country people. When used as an adjective in Arabic, "baladi" can be translated as "country" or "of the folk".

Leyla wears it when she's going to dance in the Egyptian folkloric style of people who live in the southern part of Egypt around Luxor known as "The Sa-id". The costume is similar to one type of everyday woman's dress, but adapted for the stage with diaphanous fabric, a lower neckline, open seams on the sides of the skirt and considerably more embellishment.
Photo of Leyla Lanty

Here's how Leyla describes this costume:

In 1994, in Cairo, Egypt, this costume caught my eye and then almost jumped off the rack onto my body. I bought it from its designer, Mahmoud Abd el Ghaffar, at his atelier El Wikalah in the old market area of the city known as Khan el Khalili.

I especially like this style of costume because it presents a smooth line, with the emphasis on the vertical, which is beneficial for me because I am just under 5 feet 4 inches tall. This one caught my attention because of the use of colors and gold beading as well as the sumptuous sleeves. I keep on wearing it because of the many compliments I receive on how good I look in it every time!

Orange, Gold & Black Sequinned Baladi Dress

This photo of Leyla modeling her dress was taken by Marcia Morris Conklin, a dear friend of hers.

Leyla herself made this dress, after discovering the wonderful material in a fabric store. She bought enough to create this baladi dress modeled after ones made in the Middle East.

The crocheted shawl with the matching orange paillettes used for a belt was made by Fatima of Sacramento.

Here's what Leyla has to say about this one:

I made this dress when I was 50 pounds heavier than seen in this photo and it looked wonderful then. This is another of my costumes which always brings many compliments each time I wear it.

The Catsuit

Photo taken by Carl Sermon of Reel Sound and Light Theatrical Production Company.

In this photo, Leyla models her black "catsuit" with fuschia, turquoise, gold beading and cutouts.

When I asked Leyla to tell me about this costume, here's what she said:

About 5 years ago, in Cairo, I had this one made for me by Amira al Kattan the owner and designer at Pharonics of Egypt. I was at her shop looking at her ready-made displays and fell in love with this one. It is custom-fitted to my body right down to the bra cups!

I love it because it's just a bit outrageous and because it is both revealing and covering at the same time. It evokes either enthusiastic compliments or stunned (or is it disgusted?) silence from those who've seen me in it. It's a cabaret style, used for modern nightclub Danse Orientale.

When I saw the costume, I was not at all sure that such a style would be good for me. However, Amira, the designer, assured me it would. From previous experience with her designs, I trusted her "eye" for design and sure enough, she was right. I love wearing it because it evokes such strong responses and because I know it looks good on me.

The Hagallah Dress

One day when Leyla was performing at an outdoor show, an anonymous audience member shot a whole roll of film of Leyla and each of the other performers. When the show was over, he gave the film to the dancers! Here are the photos he took of her performing in her hagallah dress.

Another creation of Amira of Pharonics of Egypt in Cairo, Egypt, this costume is based on a folkloric costume from the western desert area of Egypt. The original folkloric style is made of opaque fabric with a wide ruffle around the hips made of contrasting opaque fabric. This is the stage or nightclub version which would be worn for doing the dance of that region of Egypt.

Working with a foreign costume maker can be interesting, because often they make assumptions based on their local knowledge, and even if we know about those assumptions, we don't always remember to tell them the stylistic differences we want for performing in our own settings!

Here's what happened when Leyla ordered this costume:

In Egypt, dancers, with the exception of big stars, must keep any slits in the skirts of their costume either at or below knee-level. When I put in the order for this costume at the Cairo atelier, I forgot to remind them that I wanted the slits in the skirt at the side seams above the knee for use in America. By the time I realized that they'd made it for use in Cairo, it was too late to have it redone. So this is one of my most "demure" costumes.

If you're interested in additional costuming ideas for full-figured belly dancers, additional articles on this web site you may enjoy include:

Leyla Lanty, Part 2. If you liked Leyla's "made in Egypt" style of costuming as shown on this page, then you'll enjoy seeing additional items from her collection in Part 2 of her photo gallery.
M'shisha al Fo'awi. M'shisha al Fo'awi of Santa Clara, California shows beautiful costumes that she has assembled from inexpensive components.

Asifa el-Bah'r, Part 1. Asifa el-Bah'r takes a creative approach to costuming, exploring eclectic influences rather than the same old "made in Egypt" look that so many people choose.
Asifa el-Bah'r, Part 2. If you liked the costumes on this page, here are photos of Asifa el-Bah'r modeling additional costumes from her collection.

Acknowledgements

This article originally appeared on the Suite101 web site, in the Middle Eastern Dance category, on March 23, 2001.

I'd like to thank Leyla Lanty for agreeing to participate in the Fabulous Full Figures Photo Gallery and demonstrating that there are many good costume options available for plus-sized belly dancers, including those who wish to perform Egyptian-style.

Fabulous Full Figures: Leyla Lanty, Part 1