Belly dancing costumes are so glamorous!

Last night I received my first belly dance instructional DVD in the mail and I spent some time trying to imitate the dancers. Fairly quickly, I realized how out of shape I am and I felt totally awkward compared to the beautiful and graceful women in the video. Belly dancing is harder than it looks!

I am pleased with the DVD, which is the Bellydance superstars introduction to bellydance, that I purchased from dancingrahana.com. It seems reasonably easy for beginners to follow. I really enjoyed myself, but I was glad that no one else was watching yet!

I'm not sure if I'm ready yet to invest in a costume. I'm still looking at my options, and trying to decide which ones I might want to get and how much to spend. Simplicity patterns also has several good bellydance costume patterns that I might start with. These pictures are from http://store.egyptioan-princess.com.

Bebaroque Tights

Aren't these the coolest tights you've ever seen? Thanks to Susie at the Style Bubble blog for posting about these great tights. Although it is an English company, I believe that Americans can buy these at mytights.com. Prices are steep though, between $40-$80. According to Susie Bubble, they are long lasting.

John Galliano fantasy dresses

These are dresses from Christian Dior's spring 2009 collection. They were designed by John Galliano, with 17th century Dutch painters serving as the inspiration. Although I would have no place to wear this type of dress, I can appreciate the fact that Galliano believes that we all need some fantasy to escape from bad economic news. I totally agree. Here in Ohio it's cold and gloomy and I'm finding myself looking for fun things to do to keep my spirits up. Escaping into the world of art and design is the best drug for me.

Dance away those winter blues!

I've decided to try learning to belly dance while I'm stuck inside the house on these snowy days. I ordered an instructional DVD online at dancingrahana.com, and bought a Simplicity pattern at Walmart in order to make my own costume. I've dated a guy from the middle east for several years now, and I thought it might be fun to perform for him as well! The costumes are really beautiful and sexy. Maybe I want to learn the dances as an excuse to wear the costumes! I was inspired to do all of this after watching an old movie from India called Kama Sutra, which was a sexy movie targeted to a female audience. I would highly recommend it!

Jason Wu designed Michelle Obama's gown

I never noticed this designer, but I'm sure he's getting more attention now that Michelle Obama chose to wear his gown for the inaugural balls. I think that she made a pretty good choice. I also looked on style.com and found some dresses from his spring 2009 ready to wear collection. I love the pretty colors and feminine shapes.

I like Athleta clothes!

I got a catalog for this company in the mail a few days ago. Even though I've never heard of them before, I would like to order almost everything! I really love the flowery designs. They are meant for atheletic women who want more stylish clothing. I'm not really a great athlete, but I do tend to stay pretty active. These clothes also make me feel anxious for warm weather to come! Unfortunately, its like zero degrees today in Ohio, so it seems like it might be a long time before I can wear this kind of thing.

Emanuel Ungaro pre-fall 2009 is my kind of style

I really like this guys style. The casual suits with the colorful graphic designs are similar to what I like to wear to work. All the shapes are great and somewhat unexpected.
These photos were taken from style.com.

JUMP shoes are unusual and stylish

Looking for something unusual and stylish? Check out these shoes by JUMP that I found on Zappos.com. I'm thinking about getting the ones that look like they have patent leather spats!

Flowery spring dresses for Spring

It looks like the designers have looked at fashion magazines from the early 70's for inspiration for spring 2009 fashions. I like these maxi dresses from Nordstrom.com, but they don't fit very well with my small-town rural Ohio lifestyle. They look more like something one would wear in a beach town or in a tropical country. They remind me a bit of the flowery dresses that women wear frequently in Malaysia.

American Visionary Art Museum

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit Baltimore Maryland for some shopping and sight seeing. The most interesting place I went was the American Visionary Art Museum. The mosaics pictured here are on the outside of the building. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take pictures on the inside.

This was my kind of place! The gift store was outstanding, with all kinds of kooky jewelry and gifts. A lot of the art was by what they call "outsiders" which usually means that they were self-taught and not affiliated with any art school.

I highly recommend this place to anyone going to Baltimore!

Moschino Spring 2009 Collection

I found a lot to like in Moschino's Spring 2009 collection. The bright colors, crazy sunglasses, feminine dresses and platform shoes, all made me wish I had a spring garden party to dress for! Where are the lace gloves?

Naeem Khan has beautiful asian style

Yesterday when I was surfing the internet I discovered the Spring 2009 collection of designer Naeem Khan.

I wish that I could wear something like this without looking totally out of place!

These dresses remind me of when I lived in Malaysia, and many ladies wore beautiful silk dresses everyday, and did not look out of place.