Costuming Guide: Renaissance Faires and Belly Dance

Belly dance and Renaissance Faires have a close relationship.

Most faires have a troupe associated with it or hire dancers each year. In fact, my troupe will be dancing at the Upstate Renaissance Faire in September for the third year!

We'll be wearing costuming you'll see at many other faires.

(If you want to design your own historical character, Shira has a great article on that).

These pieces include the 25-yard skirt, LOTS of color, and jewelry hailing from Afghanistan and India.

If you're looking for costuming ideas, follow along for links and inspiration.

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These layered circle skirts are 25 feet in circumference at the bottom layer.

You can also buy 22, 32, and 35 yard skirts, depending on your desired look and movement.

Dancers usually add a second skirt or pantaloons for modesty and extra color.

You can purchase these in cotton or silk.

Suppliers (I have no affiliations and can offer no guarantees of quality)

A quick Amazon search will give you options for the skirts and harem pants. You can also check out these suppliers!

1. Magical Fashions

2. Dahlal: Their silk skirts are sewn differently at the top layer, so you won't have the range of movement of a traditional cotton skirt.

3. eBellyDanceStudio

2. Tops

You have SO MANY options for tops!

If you decide to stick with a Renaissance-flavored theme, you can add peasant tops with a non-boned corset.

This is Emily, one our dancers performing at a Renaissance wedding in 2023 with a peasant blouse and tambourine.

You can choose beautiful, sparkly bra tops with mirrors and layers of jewelry similar to this gorgeous top Melody wore to perform at the June hafla.

She dances the Divine Chaos skirt style, so you can check out their page to be inspired by the skirts and tops you find there.

You can find similar tops on Dahlal and the other suppliers listed above.

Halter tops, cholis, cold-shoulder tops, and belly dance wrap tops are also staple with this style.

I made my own halter and skirt using a Sparkle Belly pattern.

You'll also discover multiple ways of layering tops.

Below, you can see (and purchase!) a layered coin bra and cold-shoulder top from Dahlal.

3. Fascinators

The tribal/Renaissance costuming often includes head pieces, flowers, and fascinators.

You can go with a simple cluster of flowers or get into the highly elaborate custom pieces found on Etsy or other places.

For the crafty sorts, you can find YouTube videos covering incredible DIYs or hair-gardens!

4. Jewelry

Dancer frequently choose heavier, more earthy jewelry for Renaissance Faire performances.

Kuchi pieces and coins are a staple at many festivals (see the example to the left found HERE).

Arm bands, layers of bracelets, heavy necklaces, belly chains, larger earrings, anklets, and more often adorn the dancers at a faire!

You can search fusion belly dance or tribal belly dance jewelry on Pinterest, Etsy, and Youtube for so much inspiration!

Do you have your own suppliers you love or any Ren Faire belly dance troupes you adore? Post below!