The veil is a prop used primarily in American Cabaret style bellydance. Egyptian style dancers will use the veil for the entrance portion of their dance, but will typically discard it rather quickly. Veils are most often made of silk (which is a bit more difficult to "command"), a heavy organza, or other sheer fabrics.

According to a discussion by Yasmin (www.serpentine.org) on the bellydance forum, bhuz.com, the veil was introduced into Egyptian oriental dance as follows:

"It was Badia Masabni who is normally credited with introducing the veil into Egyptian cabaret. She opened her club the year this movie was released, in 1926. Samia went to work for her much later than Tahia Carioka. Tahia was 7 years older than Samia and they both started dancing professionally around 14 - 15 years of age I believe. Ultimately it was Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis that introduced veil dancing into 'ethnic portrayals'. Hollywood just knew a good thing when they saw it."