If you are looking for a city that has it all: culture, nightlife, great food, unlimited shopping - especially for Oriental dancers - you need to go to Istanbul! This article is the result of 28 trips to Istanbul - I am addicted to this city and travel there once or even twice a year. Istanbul has been home to some of the best designers and makers of Oriental dance costumes for many decades.
This alone is a good reason to fly there. Better go there long enough so that you will have some hours left for sightseeing inbetween all the shopping.
Addresses and links are listed here. If you would like to see what costumes from Legend, Sim, Bella and others look like, you can visit my gallery. By the way: Istanbul has an excellent tango scene, one can go dancing in at least one Milonga every night — and get reasonably priced tailor made dance shoes.
Read more about this here. And if you don't want to go to Istanbul alone: You can hire me as a guide for your shopping, dance and culture trip. I wrote a guest blog about What to wear in Istanbu l.
And I have been interviewed about Solo female travel in Istanbul. Sometimes I spend over an hour in a shop to see and try on everything. Most sellers also offer to adjust hooks and straps to your size, so you have to go back a few days later to get the costume. Some shops can also be found in the Spice Egyptian Basar and other places. Nearly all of the costume stores have a website. All costume shops and designers can make tailor made costumes at no extra costs.
