Middle Eastern Dance:
Suppliers of Costuming, Accessories, Instruments

International

Australia

Amera's Palace
12A Enmore Road
Newtown, NSW 2042
phone: 0061-2-9519-4793

"Also, in Sydney, Australia, there is a shop called Amera's Palace... From what I gather, Amera imports her stuff from Mahmoud [Abd al-Gaffar; see listing below under Egypt]..." --Jean Lennane

The Egyptian Bazaar
Ali and Cathy
Brickworks Markets
Thebarton, South Australia

"Ali's shop is open from Friday to Sunday. He is married to an Australian lady and goes home to Egypt every year to collect more stock. Carries a great range of ready made bra/belt costumes (some by Madam Abla), beledi dresses, coin belts and scarves, and egyptian fringing at a very reasonable price." --Lea-anne

Belgium

Boutique Bella
Brabantdam 144
9000 Gent
Belgium
phone: 011-32-9-225-25-05
fax: 011-32-9-225-12-17

"Fabulous, glorious, exotic and *tasteful* costumes with lots of openwork and three dimensional beading. Extremely well made and incredible fit. Also makes some amazing beledi dresses like you have never seen! Write for a beautiful color brochure...costumes are about $400 US for a bra, belt, and accesories; $650 and up for complete costumes." Main branch in Turkey (see below).

Canada

Belly Dance Ottawa-Hull Website

Ottawa Canada belly dance events, shopping, etc.

Bon-Mar Textiles, Inc.
8448 St. Laurent
Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2P2M3
phone: 514-382-2275
toll-free (Canada only) 800-363-2993
fax: 514-382-4661

"Billed as "Canada's Greatest Show Fabric Wholesaler," they supply many of the ice spectaculars in Canada and the U.S. If it's in stretch, they have it. All kinds of lycra, plain and prints (some great snakeskin), Glitterskin..... Largest sequin product supplier in Canada. Accepts mail and phone orders or visit their store. Send $5.00 in Canadian funds for their 18 page catalog (includes many swatches and sequin samples). Accepts Visa and MC, no personal checks. $100 minimum order (Canadian funds). Minimum cut on fabrics is 5 meters. Primarily a wholesaler, but will sell retail."

Don's Hobby Shop Co. Ltd.
612 1st St. SW
Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2P 1M6
phone: 403-262-5717
Contact Person: Don Spicer

"Costume findings and supplies, including feathers (and boas), extensive make-up department, wigs and wigmaking supplies. Also rhinestone sequins, beads, trims, canes, masks, and hats. Accepts mail and phone orders. Will ship to U.S. Catalog is $2.00. Accepts Visa and MC. No personal checks."

Dressmaker's Supply Co. Ltd.
1212 Yonge St.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4T 1W1
phone: 416-922-6000

"Large selection of embroidery thread, buttons and trim (glitter, cord, drapery), rhinestones, beads, feathers, hat forms, corset bones (metal and spiral), tailoring supplies, fabrics, lining and patterns, sequins and trims. Prices can be 1/3 to 1/2 less than downtown department stores on items such as trim. Accepts mail and phone orders. Send $5.00 for catalog. Will take Visa and MC. Will swatch -- you will be charged for a 10 cm. length (full width) of whatever the fabric costs."

Sim-Sim Productions
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

"...Sim-Sim Productions moved from Edmonton/Calgary, Alberta to Toronto last year. Samia, proprietor and dancer, stocked beads, sequines, cd's, tapes, and Egyptian costumes, all from Cairo. She's probably listed under Sim-Sim in either the white pages or under dance or something in the yellow pages of Toronto..."

Egypt

Sakti Rinek
c/o Ahmed Khalil
21 Haret El Alfy
El Helmia El Gedida
P.O. Box 11411
Cairo, Egypt
phone: 011-202-354-0249
fax: 011-202-589-7635 (list her phone # on each fax)

(Her ad) "Dreaming of a costume? Order direct from Cairo, Egypt! Custom made to fit, your color combinations, your input recommended, affordable prices, only half down to order, delivery in 4 weeks, good quality (our designer worked with Madame Abla for 10 years. Need other costuming items; can get those to. Coming to Egypt; give a call when you arrive."

Horus & Isis Company
PO Box 493
Cairo 11511 Egypt
fax: 202-247-7314
Website: http://www.flash.net/~kc110

We manufacture all complete lines of belly dancing supplies in Egypt such as the following: costumes, bra & belt sets, fringe beads, caftans, harem pants & tops, beaded scarves, dresses, tops, gloves and belts, coin scarves, belts, ankle & toe anklets, arm & hand bracelets, headpieces, dancing canes, finger cymbals, jewelry, real & fake coins, scarabs, and much more. We can custom design *any* request. Don't miss the incredible prices and quality. Visit our website and discover other quality merchandise at exceptional prices for merchants, collectors, museum curators, professional & amateur belly dancers, Mediterranean, Egyptian and Renaissance enthusiasts, artists, architects, movie set designers and interior decorators.

Khan el-Khalili Market Area

(From the medance list, courtesy of Ulla of as-Sayf) "Near the center you [used to be able to find] Mahmoud's shop [it has since moved, see below]...if you ask nicely you are led to another shop across the street, which is loaded from floor to ceiling with cabaret costumes, dresses, canes, jewelry, shawls and anything you can desire. You can also buy sequins and materials there, but I recommend that you search out the smaller shops at the outskirts of the Khan el-Khalili district, which are much cheaper on those items."

Mahmoud Abd al-Ghaffar
Al-Azhar, Al-Muski
Khan al-Khalili
Cairo, Egypt
phone: 202-589-7443
fax: 202-390-0357

"For those going to Egypt, these instructions should be enough to get you there unaided (no doubt someone will try to help you anyway). Take a taxi to the Khan--about 4 Egyptian Pounds (EGP) from the centre of Cairo. The taxi driver will scream at you but DON'T give him more than 5 EGP. Get out at the green footbridge you see as you come off the overhead road and into Al-Azhar St. at the Khan. The Khan is on your left, but you will see many other markets on your right as well. Walk over this footbridge and keep walking straight ahead as you come down it on the other side of Al-Azhar St. Take the first road on the right which is about 50m after you leave the footbridge. This road leads you directly into the Khan and has many tourist and local shops on both sides. There are also many alleys going off on both sides, but keep walking about 50m until you reach an intersection with a road of about the same size. (At the moment there are T-shirt stalls on each corner of this intersection.) Turn right at this intersection. Walk another 50m and on your right you will see a very small alley (no entry to cars) which has a bootlace/string/cord itme shop on the left corner. Walk down this alley and 5m on your right you will see a metal gate, beyond which is a small courtyard and building under construction...the SECOND FLOOR is finished and is the new showroom. THIS IS IT. There is a sign for the shop above the gate which says "Mahmoud Abd al-Gaffar Fancy Dress". Happy shopping." --Jean Lennane

El Shawarbi Street

(From the medance list, courtesy of Ulla of as-Sayf) "For music cassettes and dance videos [go to El Shawarbi St.] which is more or less filled with shops for these."

Muhammed Ali Street

(From the medance list, courtesy of Ulla of as-Sayf) "For instruments, check out Muhammed Ali Street, where there are both the "tourist traps" and also the real craftsmen who make wonderful drums and other instruments."

Tunisia

"Don't expect to find two piece cabaret suits there. At least the ones I saw in Sousse were pretty awful. And Mme. Abla evening gowns are quite unknown... (Even if one guy seemed to know who I meant when I explained that the price he was asking was outrageous - for something that's nowhere near a Mme. Abla!)

"Tunisia's easy if you know french. English is not so common. Being fluent in french seems to affect the prices, too." -- Outi

Turkey

Boutique Bella
Fulya Cad. Erse Han No. 3-5 D.16
Mecidiyekoy, Istanbul (note: umlaut on "o" in "...koy")
Turkiye
phone: 011-90-212-272-20-29
fax: 011-90-212-288-36-99

"Fabulous, glorious, exotic and *tasteful* costumes with lots of openwork and three dimensional beading. Extremely well made and incredible fit. Also makes some amazing beledi dresses like you have never seen! Write for a beautiful color brochure...costumes are about $400 US for a bra, belt, and accesories; $650 and up for complete costumes." Also branch in Belgium.

""Costume Row" in Izmir You will need a native speaker to find these places and do the talking for you. The address below are more to help you find the street they are on, rather than provide you with a means of mail ordering. Costume prices are $150 US for the best costume in the shop, complete (bra, belt, LOTS of accessories, useless skirt)."

FIKRUS MODA EVI (note: there's a dot on top of the "I's")
IKICESMELIK CAD. No. 132/101 (dot the "I's", the "C" and "S" have cedillas)
IZMIR (dot the "I")
ph: 12 24 39

ACELYA MODA EVI (cedilla under the "C")
IKICESMELIK CAD. BULAK IS HANI No. 80/5/6 (IS has dot and cedilla)
IZMIR
ph: 484 60 31

(not so hot costumes here)

SOHRET MODA EVI ("SOH" has cedilla on "S" and umlaut on "O")
(no address, but on same street)
ph: 12 22 69

"If you would like to try to mail order a costume from Izmir, I would write to NAMIK (no dot on the "I") SIMSEK (dot the "I", cedilla the "S's"), who runs a carpet hop and is a famous Turkish Classical singer, to boot. He gave me the address of the first place and a friend of his drove me out (you know, conquests of Turkish men aren't all bad!). Namik speaks perfect English, so if you wrote him a letter asking about his friend the costumer in Izmir, I'm sure he'd help you out."

NAMIK SIMSEK
SAKURA GORDES (the carpet shop, umlaut on "O")
NAMIK KEMAL CAD. No. 5 (no dot)
SELCUK (cedilla on "C")
TURKIYE
ph: 0 232 892 6533
has a fax, too, if you ask for the number. also, real nice carpets!

United Kingdom

Hilary Thacker's Bazaar
8 Bellevue Terrance
Edinburgh EH74DT, UK
Phone: 0131 5567976
Email: jds@cocoon.co.uk
Website: http://www.electricfrog.co.uk/pages/bellyd.htm

Hilary's Bazaar stocks authentic Middle Eastern clothing and jewellery suited to belly dancing. Stock includes full costumes, skirts, harem trousers, belts, musical instruments, veils and jewellery. Also sells music, including Hossam Ramzy cassettes & cd's as well as other Egyptian and Turkish tapes, and videos. Full colour catalogues can be obtained by sending cheque or postal order for 2.50 pounds to Hilary Thacker at the contact address above.

Last Modified: 7 Mar 1997