Vintage Dancing: 20th Century – Page 2 – The Quintessential Clothes Pen

Here we are, a third and final installment of posts related to my recent Titanic-themed weekend. You can read more about my tea gown and matching hat as well as my evening gown in previous posts. I think I’ll limit my commentary to captions. Here we go!

The weekend began with a casual Steerage Ball with a light and charming atmosphere.

Saturday afternoon was a formal tea to relax after a morning dance workshop.

Fabulously dressed people were all around!

In lovely whites, a staple of the Edwardian wardrobe.

There were picturesque photo opportunities, of course.

And the men were just as fabulous looking as the ladies.

The weather was lovely and some people took the opportunity to talk a walk outdoors.

While others took advantage of a less strenuous opportunity for enjoyment indoors.

Saturday evening was a formal dinner and grand ball.

And after dinner, danced the night away to live music.

There was a balcony and staircase that added serious elegance to the room.

Of course, a girl must rest sometimes, and why not with a fabulous fan? The room did get quite warm.

This backdrop was just lovely, and so perfect for pictures!

At 11:40pm (which is when the ship hit that ill-placed iceberg) we took part in a moment of silence to remember those who were lost followed by a haunting final waltz to the melancholy melody which was the last song played by the band as the Titanic sank.

On Sunday, I was able to wear my 1913 walking suit and hat on the Museum Stroll. I wore the blouse and skirt to the Steerage Ball, with a wonderfully simple, yet very Edwardian coiffure, but of course I didn't get pictures of that... oops. There were fabulous outfits all around, but it was difficult to get pictures given that we were spread throughout a museum!

All in all, a lovely weekend full of fabulous clothing, beautiful music, and wonderful dancing. What a recipe for amazing memories!

63.121.15a-c 0002 — Evening Ensemble designed by Elsa Schiaparelli 1938

A few posts ago, we took a look at Bolero and Zouave jackets from the mid-19th century and Bolero jackets from the 20th century: 1900-1909. While I was looking at images related to those posts I found a few amusing boleros from the mid-20th century and decided to share those with you as well!

Let’s start here: with this evening ensemble designed by Elsa Shiaparelli at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. My first thought about this was something along the lines of the following: “The dress has a lovely shape. What’s the abstract embellishment on the bolero?”

63.121.15a-c_detail 0001 — Gymnast bolero designed by Elsa Schiaparelli 1938

Well, look carefully at the Bolero picture. It’s decorated with gymnasts!

63.121.15a-c_back 0001 — Evening dress by Elsa Schiaparelli 1938

Here’s the back of the dress without the bolero over it. Such lovely lines. In the picture on the right, you can also see the texture of the dress fabric. It’s difficult to discern what it is. Looks to me like it might be a jacquard or watermarked fabric. Do you have other ideas about what the fabric is?

This next bolero was designed by Balenciaga in the 1940s. Its style is much more traditional than Schiaparelli’s gymnast bolero. The beading and other trimming on this Balenciaga bolero is exquisite!

1946-1947 Balenciaga Bolero — Balenciaga Bolero 1946-1947

The Oxford English Dictionary includes these quotes regarding boleros in the definition. They are good context for the style and use of boleros in women’s clothing during the mid-20th century.

1941 ‘R. West’ Black Lamb I. 407 The boleros the women wore over their white linen blouses.

1968 J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet 35 Bolero, a short jacket reaching to the waist, worn open over a blouse‥sleeved or sleeveless‥worn by Spanish dancers and bullfighters.

I’m including this final bolero just for fun. I can envision it with a slinky black bias-cut 1930s evening gown with a low cut back… It even has a matching belt! This bolero strongly reminds me of the style of Ginger Roger’s dresses in her videos with Fred Astaire. I’ve also included just a few fun pictures of Ginger’s fabulous dresses below so you can see her general style. Beautiful!