ok, here are a couple ideas i'm toying with / attempting to put into action.

how about shells instead of coins? i'm putting this one into action right now. everywhere you'd normally put a coin, put a shell. and i'm not talking only cowries. nature made so many lovely shells, go out and use them!

idea number 2: feathers! as above, those things are lovely! but harder to place in a costume, i find.... but you could use, short black ones around the bra/belt for example...

idea number 3: also doing this one.... in with the feathers and shells (this is a "nature" themed costume, lol), replace any beads by semi-precious stones. i'm in the purple/blue/greens so went mostly with amethyst, lapis lazuli and malachite. but i also have some garnet and i think you could use that as a main color and add others too!

for swags, there are so many possibilities! one i find is rarely used is, rather than something heavy, use a piece of veil-ish material. there's a lot of nice, semi-transparent fabrics that are of one color, and that reflect another color. i have some here that's turquoisish, and reflects in red.... i think it would look lovely in a costume!
and there are so many different ways of setting this up in a swag....
or, you could also use lace-ribbon as swag. maybe sew a couple shells on it to add some volume.....

there are so many things you could do!! :)
hope any of that helps ;)

Basha,
By *swag*, do you mean drapes or loops?

Hi Basha, have you looked in the pictures of the Triberet Belly Dance Tribe?

tribaret.tribe.net/

how about Tempest's corset bra pattern
www.meddevi.com/tempest/corsetbra.html

I used pearl swags on my cab costume:

people.tribe.net/taran/pho...72bb1ac68b

I didn't do any beading... the fabric came that way. The pearls were just xmas swag. :D

It's not really tribaret, though...