Fashion and fitness unite with the symbiotic duel purpose of bangles.  Bangles and wrist cuffs are a beautiful and melodic fashion statement that can be worn at the office, a night on the town, and when you go to your local gym and sign up for that belly dancing class. Belly dancing gained notoriety in the United States at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. The style was criticized at the time for being too explicit due to the dancers not wearing corsets! The belly dance costume, typically the ‘bedlah,’ is used to enhance the dance by creating a musical accompaniment through attaching a belt to the skirt and fringe to the bra made of beads, sequins, crystals, and medallions. Wrist and arm cuffs are worn along with bangles and drop earrings as a common fashion accessory.  The bangles along with the beaded belt will add the swish and clink of percussion to the dancer’s movements. The range of belly dancing styles grew through the 1930s after women immigrating from the Middle East found work dancing at cabarets. Though originally based on Egyptian and Turkish movements, the American style soon developed its own variety by 1987 and became known as the American Tribal Style Belly Dance (ATS) and is a blend of African, Middle Eastern, and North Indian techniques. The belly dancing costume comes in a wide variations of colors with different ethnic elements being added based on the many variations of belly dancing styles found.  The advantages of learning belly dancing includes increased muscle tone in both the upper and lower body, improvement in flexibility and if you learn to dance with the zills- the small finger symbols, you gain increased dexterity in your fingers. The Middle Eastern culture puts a higher value on yellow-gold jewelry and as gold has always been genuinely valued as a sign of prominence you can find gold bangles such as these Van Scoy bangles in most traditional dance costumes.

What better reason to enhance your fashion collection than to get in shape and look good while doing it?  Any other time wearing jewelry to the gym will garner some strange looks. The multi-purpose bangle and wrist cuff can follow you into the office too and people will gaze enviously as the bangle works great with a business suit or just a collared shirt.

At the Van Scoy designer, Metal Marketplace, mix and match your metals with gold and silver to really make the look versatile with any wardrobe such as these gemstone bangles or sterling silver and yellow gold bracelet with interchangeable amethyst, blue topaz, or citrine cuffs from Van Scoy. So, whether you’re dancing to stay fit or completing a professional ensemble, the bangle and wrist cuff is a fashion must for any lady’s wardrobe!