Hip belts are VERY common for the tribal dancer. Basically, it's an interesting, usually embroidered, piece of fabric to which is added fringe, tassels, coins, sparkly things (most belly dancers have a bit of a magpie in them - "Women can't resist a sparkly!"), and various other sundries that we pick up. My tassel belt acquires new things on a regular basis: tidbits given me by patrons and patronesses, site tokens that were nice and shiny, necklaces or earrings I wouldn't quite wear but were still pretty...
You'll see these a lot in the SCA. Are they period? The debate rages on. Here's a new piece of info courtesy of angeldmort on Bhuz (see the Dancing and the SCA boards).
...The Gypsies by Angus Fraser. ISBN 0-631-19605-6. Blackwell Publishers.
Page 123, Plate 12: Detail of a Tournai Tapestry, Gaasbeck Museum,
Belgium
This tapestry detail (circa 1500) shows a dancer in Europe, wearing a
fitted sleeveless overcoat, an underdress, a turban... and a belt with "things"
hanging down from it. In the detail, they appear to be more closely
related to the pomanders (or large bells) I see European personas
wearing, however, it could simply be a matter of what was familiar to
the artist rather than what she had actually seen, or something that had
been described to her.
In India they make a type of pompom tassel that could very well be what your picture shows. A regular wool tassel is soaked in hot water and is
rubbed by hand till it is a round felted ball.....
So how do you make one? Get a piece of fabric, a quarter to a half of a yard, that you like. It should be a heavier weight, such as tapestry or damask, to be able to hold all the aforementioned fringe, tassels, and whatnots. Also get the same amount of a light to medium weight cotton/poly fabric for a backing, and some scraps of fabric or bits of wide ribbon for ties.
Measurement #1 will be your hip measurement, minus five inches. Don't forget about seam allowance there. Measurement #2 will be whatever the width you want your ties to be.
The belt can be shaped however you wish, and be as big or as small as you wish. I drew a triangular shaped belt because I like triangular shaped belts. Personal preference. Squares, half-circles, weirder polygons, it's all good. Go with what you like.
Cut out the belt pattern from the main fabric and the backing. Sew them together, wrong sides out, with the ties stuck in place (tucked to the inside). If you can't figure out how to get the ties sewn in so the seam is hidden, just slap 'em on the back. No one's going to see.
Add whatever embellishments you wish, and you're done!