Harem Pants?

[Kathleen MacLeod]

I want to have an alternative to skirts at faire this year and I was thinking that Harem Pants might be good. I know it's probably not H/A, but I'm going for comfort. The problem is that I can't find them on any of the reputable garb sites I know of! Also, what would one wear with harem pants? I feel like my normal chemise and bodice would look strange, but then what? What about shoes?

Any help would be greatly appreciated  

EDIT: Also, how difficult would harem pants be to make? Is it something that a near-beginner would be able to handle? I used to sew when I was little, but that was always with my mom's help and it's been a lot of years

[Cateyes]

A Choli and hip scarf would look good and be very comfortable.  You could also wear a short chemise and a vest that matches the hip scarf.  There are tons of items on ebay if you wants some ideas.

[Taffy Saltwater]

Metallic sandals or those little embroidered mules would be cute.

[Elennare]

Not quite Harem Pants, but similar, are wrap pants.  They are SUPER easy to make and very comfortable and versitile.  If you know which side of the sewing machine to insert fabric into, you can make them   Patterns are easy to find online, and there's a thread about them somewhere on here.  If you want a slightly more tailored look to them, find a commercial pattern from the fabric store.  Make sure you buy it when it's on sale for a dollar or 2 if you go that route.

I don't think actual harem pants would be too hard to make, either, but they will probably be a bit harder to do.  If I'm thinking of the same thing you are, very full pants with "tight" cuffs, sewing the bottom of the pants legs to the cuffs is going to take some doing.  You'll have to gather the pants, and then make sure it's distributed evenly around the cuff, pin it, and sew it together w/o catching the pant legs in the seam.  You'll probably have to do the same thing for the waist band.  Doing stuff like that sometimes takes me a couple of tries to get right.  Don't let that scare you off if you really want harem pants, though.  Jump right in and give it a shot!  Just be prepared with the seam ripper and ready to re-do it until you get it right. 

There are lots of options on what to wear with them.  Chemise and vest, choli/short bodice, indian-style tunic, bodice w/o a shirt under it...pretty much anything you want that you think looks good.   Don't know how long your chemise is, or what style bodice you have, but if they're comfortable and you like them, try them on w/the pants.  You may be supprised.  I've seen the chemise/bodice worn over pants, and it can look very nice.

Sandals would be cute.  As odd as it may sound, I've also seen this style pants worn tucked into knee-high boots and that looks really good as well.  Can sort of give them a bit of a pirate flaire.

Hope this helps

[Sitara]

Harem pants are exceedingly simple to make and elastic does most of the gathering for you so don't be detoured by that.  Here are a couple tutorials.

http://www.zilltech.com/FAQCostumeHP.html

http://www.shira.net/costuming/cg/pants-harem.htm

[sealion]

Salwar pants are historically accurate and appear to be very easy to make.
http://home.earthlink.net/~lilinah/Rashid/salwar.gif
http://sca.berkeley.edu/garment_pattern/turkish_salwar.html

[Rhiannon]

I wear harem pants under my belly dance skirt some years and other years I've worn just the harem pants. They are really comfortable and I love them. A place that I would recommend you buy belly dance wear is from Fat Chance Belly Dance. I got my choli and my ten yard skirt from them, as well as my harem pants: http://www.fcbd.com/catalog/ Another place that I've gotten my belly dance wear is from Moondance: http://www.moondancebellydance.com/ I would definitely recommend these two sites!

[gem]

You might be having trouble finding them because of the terminology you're using.  Try looking for "bloomers" instead.  Offhand, I know that Ophelia's (www.opheliasonline.com) and Moresca (www.moresca.com) both carry them.  Every year I tell myself I'm going to get a pair of gorgeous Ophelia's sanded silk bloomers... and then I buy another chemise instead! Ha! 

[Rhiannon]

Sometimes harem pants are not listed under that name, particularly with belly dance sites. We belly dancers technically don't call them by the name "harem pants." They are called "pantaloons," because we want to get away from whole "slave girl dancing for the sultan" myth. So if you look at the catalogs on belly dance sites you might have to look for pantaloons (though some sites will have them listed as harem pants).

[Kathleen MacLeod]

Wow, thank you for the input, everyone! I actually discovered wrap pants shortly after I posted this and made a pair yesterday, so I'm set for pants. I'm currently looking through the sites that Rhiannon suggested for something to go with them in the hopes that I won't have to try to make something else myself

I really like the jeweled sandals idea, so I'll probably be going shopping for a pair tomorrow, considering my faire starts this weekend.