So, I've been designing and creating the belts together with my Mom. My Mom is a fascinating person. She's 70-something, she's a fabulous oil painter (coming from a long line of artists), a feminist, and she might be less than 5 feet tall. Coming from North Dakota, from a German family, and a Lutheran background - well, I'll just say that these things add up. But deep inside her chest beats the heart of a girl who wanted to run away and join the circus. She was a majorette in a town that never had one before - she just made up the baton stuff as she went along. She practiced in her backyard on a little pipe strung from a tree, so she could one day master the flying trapeze.

So these belts are her, coming from those worlds, with those desires, coming to terms with me being a belly dancer and belly dance costume designer. That little artist threw caution to the wind and has so far created some of the most breathtaking professional costume belts I've ever laid eyes on. 

All I can say is this... next I'm teaching her to finish bras. Full on bedlah, people.

In these photos, the bra is by me, and the belt is (mostly) by my mother, Marsie Danielson.