What makes dressing for a dance different from dressing for another party is: ♦ You need to look good
while moving, not sitting or standing,
♦ You will mostly be seen
from behind.
I was at a dance festival tonight, and since I wasn't dancing I had a good opportunity to see what everyone was wearing. The dances were varied, from Sala to Foxtrot to Tango, and the ladies were of all ages and shapes, and most had put a lot of care into their outfits. Here is what (in my opinion) worked:
Good haircuts:
From behind you can easily notice how someone's hair has grown out unevenly and how they should have gotten a haircut eons ago. If you didn't get a haircut in the last century,
get a nice updo.
Interesting back details:
Low backed, backless and off-shoulder styles look great. So do pretty shoulder straps, hair jewellery, sparkly belts or bows at the waist.
Sparkle and Glow
Twinkles and sparkles with every move ! Ideas: a diamante barrette, rhinestones on the bottom hem of the skirt, a glittery choker. Or even a glittery top or skirt -- what may look over the top in other places, will look great here !
My favourite outfit of the night was a
flared black jumpsuit (could also have been flared trousers with a top) with a glittery diamante belt at the waist. Gorgeous !
If you are not a sparkle kind of girl, silky-satiny fabrics also catch the light wonderfully.
Comfy shoes
Nobody is going to care what your shoes look like, as long as you move good. Heck,
you won't care that your shoes are the loveliest thing ever if after a couple of dances your feet are unhappy in them. I spotted ladies throwing off their heels after a couple of songs and fishing dancing shoes out of their handbags. Except for those who could really (and I mean really) dance in heels all night, most ladies wore low & stable-heeled Mary-Janes, dressy sneakers, dance practice shoes, or (my favourite) black ballet slippers, the kind with criss-crossed ribbon above the ankle.
Stuff that adds movement:
Swingy swirly skirts or dresses. Fringes. Ruffles. Also: patterns that look great in motion, such as diagonal stripes, colour gradient skirts.
Nostalgic styles
Cute 50-ies dresses, polka dots, vintage upon vintage... even very simple outfits created the kind of mood that no jeans + t-shirt can ever match !
What didn't work:
Anything above the knees.
Unless you are a pro and know how to prevent "accidents", or you wear
panties with smileys.
Jeans.
Just not dressy enough. Ok,
maybe if you wore a
perfectly fitting set in a dark wash and with the back pockets at exactly the right height... but a perfectly-fitting set of jeans is even harder to find than a perfectly fitting bra. Go for dressy trousers instead.
T-shirts
Just too casual. Especially with afore-mentioned ill-fitting jeans. Even very simple tops looked way better.
Bad bras:
Totally spoiled that clean line. With my x-ray vision I spotted
armpit rolls, saggy cups and jiggling boobs, all of which could easily be fixed by
wearing the correct size.
Muted colours
In the artificial light they all looked greyish. Strong, vibrant colours totally ruled.
Tangle-able stuff:
At the end of one performance, the fringe of a lady's dress got caught up in the gentleman's trouser button. Don't wear anything that will get entangled in your partner's trouser button.
This was my take from the audience's opinion. I know nothing about style rules for dancing !
That was my first Polyvore set, BTW What would you wear to a Ballroom Dance Party ? What looks good in your opinion ?
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