Last month we picked up some excellent tips on vintage hair and make up from the Someday Sweethearts. This month we’ve got a second installment of vintage style for you from one of our lovely local dancers–Kieron Finn! Kieron has been a fan of vintage fashion since he was a teenager, starting with mod 60s fashion and then moving on to earlier eras. For a lot of people it’s lindy hop that inspires an interest in vintage fashion but for Kieron it was the other way round.
Breaking News Keds Are Legit!
I definitely learned a thing or two speaking to Kieron, the biggest being that canvas plimsolls are 100% authentic footwear for dancing lindy hop! They’ve been around since 1916 and were what Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers wore initially to practice and perform in. So wear your cheap plimsolls with pride and stop worrying that they don’t go with your outfit! For more details I’ll refer you to this excellent post on Swungover.
How to Dress for the Savoy
- If you want to find inspiration for clothing tips, search the internet for photographs of what people actually wore and find a style that suits you.
- Wide legged chinos with a cuff and double pleats are an accurate and practical vintage style of trousers. The pleats give you movement room and the wide legs assist in ventilation.
- Button braces look more authentic than clip on braces. Hot tip: If your trousers don’t have brace buttons, all you need to do is sew 6 buttons on the waistband.
- Waistcoats are traditionally worn with the bottom button left undone.
- If you wear a tie, wear a tie clip, in between the 3rd and 4th shirt button.
- Single breasted suit jackets with the traditional 3 buttons follow a similar rule for being buttoned, starting from the top, working down, the rule is “sometimes, always, never.”
- If you want to stick to Savoy Ballroom rules, suit jackets are to be kept on, as a mark of respect for your dance partners. Note: this is an extremely warm option.
- If you can’t hack it with a jacket, it’s good manners to wear an undershirt if you are wearing a shirt without a jacket or a waistcoat. This helps to minimise sweat transference to your partner when dancing.
- Shirt sleeves, if they are rolled up, should be rolled below the elbow.
Where Kieron Shops for Vintage Duds
http://www.chestercordite.com
Makes very good quality clothing, especially his repro spearpoint shirts.
http://www.froggywentcourting.co.uk
Has a great line of knitwear, accessories and caps. He always makes sure he gets his items made in the uk.
https://simonjamescathcart.com
Is worth checking out for his regular 50% sales. There’s no point paying full price. The polos are good for dancing, but only at the sale price.
https://www.saintsavoy.com/en/
These make amazing dance shoes in male and female styles. They are quite expensive, but very good and with good vintage styling.
Swing Dance Leeds 