If any of my readers are belly dancers looking for a new costume, boy, do I have a designer for you! Soucha is his name, costumes are his game and, naturally enough, he's from Egypt. Very few of his things are even remotely wearable. Many of his things would not have looked out of place in ads for the show "Cabaret." They looked right out of the Weimar Republic 1930.
Everything is very sheer, see-through, and cut-out. He seems to want women to wear black one-piece bathing suits with long, floor-length, very sheer tulle skirts attached to the bottom of the suits. Where would these outfits be worn? I have no idea.
He did have two dresses that were pretty and wearable. Both were black. One was a pleated short cocktail dress and another was a long, black strapless gown with a bow at the waist and the knees. Lovely.
There is a Lebanese designer, Dany Atrache, who is very talented. His clothes are pretty, feminine, and very wearable. He showed a lot of bright colors such as sky-blue skirts with beaded creme bodices. He had one stunning yellow backless number. He showed a group of bright orange dresses, which made me want every one.
Atrache's bride, who ended his show, lost her train as she was walking out. I digress, but this was so endearing, I must tell you about it. The models were so young. In the first, Egyptian show, the clothes were so sheer, the models were practically naked. As one young thing approached the ravenous bank of photographers, she covered her breasts with her hands. Another young model had to hike up her bodice because she was so thin that it kept falling down. Still another was wearing a dress that was so long that she kept stepping on it with her dizzyingly high platform sandals. After a few steps, she'd stop and then continue.
This brings me to another point. Why do the models have to be so young? I don't expect them to be chic grandmas, but couldn't they at least be of legal drinking age?
I'll give you more designers and gossip in my next column.
Miriam Silverberg is a freelance journalist and owner of Miriam Silverberg Associates, a boutique publicity agency in Manhattan. She can be reached at silverbergm@mindspring.com.
