m is bl ue ey e s @misblueeyes - Tumblr Blog

abrandjeans-blog

chipsandbeermag

salvador dali “queen of the butterflies” 1951

ciadmitti

omgthelolempire

Brutal

Source: https://imgur.com/V0OvUHi

bellydanceclassics

Vintage photograph of Nagwa Fouad.

bellydanceclassics

A colored portrait photograph of Taheya Karioka.

vintagebellydance

You don’t see so much of her costumes, but these headshots really show her makeup, and create a great sense of mood for bellydancer photography

playfuloakdance

vintagebellydance

Hey guys! It’s Monday! Do you know what that means?

Why yes! It’s theme week! And have you guessed the theme?

It’s the Eye of Dawn, Mata Hari!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mata_Hari

While a burlesque dancer more than a bellydancer, (In fact, the exotic dance she claimed to import was from Java, and not the Middle East) Mata Hari has been photographed wearing ornate costumes that look very similar to modern bedlah. While her act did involve flaunting her body and stripping, the cultural implications of her dance elevated it to a more ‘respectable’ status. Her dancing does appear motivated more by a love the art than the salacious - she was the contemporary of artists such as Ruth St. Denis, dancers that began looking to the East for inspiration.

Quotes of her include:

"My dance is a sacred poem in which each movement is a word and whose every word is underlined by music.“

and

"I am a woman who enjoys herself very much; sometimes I lose, sometimes I win.”

But enough about that! Look at the costumes!

There’s the jeweled bra, often paired either with a belt, or with a scarf tight tightly around the hips. There are the ornate headpieces, all rhinestones (some may in fact be real jewels) and shiny. Margaretha Zelle created a complete character in Mata Hari through her costumes, and costume habits. For example, in her performances, she stripped down to a flesh-toned bodysuit, and never actually removed her jeweled bra (a way to hide the fact her breasts were not as full as she liked). Though motivated in part for practical purposes, this helped create the character. The characterization she did through her costumes is one of the reasons her image has been used by dancers.

Every day this week, I will be featuring pictures of Mata Hari, as well as those of costumes inspired by her.