Auralynne's guide to buying Gypsy SkirtsLet's face it, gypsy skirts are expensive. I had to pine and drool for a while before I was able to afford my first gypsy skirt. When I finally did manage to get one, I paid around $90 including shipping. My skirt was black, made of extremely floaty cotton, with a 20 yard hem. The first question to ask yourself is what kind of dance do you intend to do? Do you actually want to do a gypsy skirt dance where you whirl and twirl the skirt? You'll notice that the skirts on ebay say "10 yard gypsy skirt" up to about "20 yard gypsy skirt." Do not buy a gypsy skirt unless you know the number of yards. If it isn't listed, ask the seller. This number, however, does not refer to the yardage used to make the skirt; instead it refers to the length of the bottom tier. To do gypsy skirt dance, you need 17 yards at minimum! If, however, you just want a tiered skirt to wear under your tribal costume, and don't care if it isn't extremely full, a 10 yard will work just fine.
It aggravates me lately to go on ebay and look at gypsy skirts. There used to be true gypsy skirts on ebay. Now I see lots of 10 yard tiered skirts, but no true gypsy skirts. Here's my bone of contention - if you ask me, a 10 yard skirt isn't a gypsy skirt! You cannot do gypsy skirt dance in it, therefore it is a tribal skirt rather than a gypsy skirt. You will notice I offer both kinds of skirts (or I intend to eventually.) I call my 18 yard skirt a gypsy skirt and my 10 yard skirt a tribal skirt. I just have this thing about misleading my customers... ;-)
Okay, to clarify. Yes, you can technically do gypsy skirt dance with a 10 yard skirt. You'll notice several of the pics on ebay show someone doing gypsy skirt dance with a 10 yard skirt. You'll also notice the skirt rides up to their knees. Here's an explanation of why this happens: If you have a 17 yard skirt, you can take both sides and pull them up to your head and still have a fold or two hanging in front and back. Thus while doing whirls and twirls with this skirt, there is enough extra fabric that some will still hang while you are whirling and twirling. If you have a 10 yard skirt and you pull both sides up to your head, the hem will raise to your knees, and the folds will be horizontal instead of vertical! Translate that to gypsy skirt dance, and there isn't quite enough fabric for the twirls, let alone some to hang and keep you from looking stupid. If you still feel a need to argue with me on this, just take a quick look at my sketches below and tell me which looks better...
Okay, I've ranted, I've raved, and I've made my point. I'm happy now! :-P
Guide to buying Hipscarfs |
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