TeaDance - the spirit of 1930s chic

BY GUEST BLOGGER GEMMA ALDCROFT OF GEEK CHIC

While I was researching for Club Geek Chic's TeaDance (this Saturday at The Racquet Club) I of course went straight to YouTube and typed in 'Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers'. I found this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYHZh-xnqhE&feature=related

It is from the 1935 film 'Top Hat'. Isn't this just one of the most delectable pieces of film ever? The music, the dancing and the clothes make me hanker after a more elegant time, a time when people could talk to each other on the dance floor, when men and women didn't feel the need to down huge amounts of Blue WKD before holding each other close and when gentlemen could look manly rather than 'quirky' or 'alternative' whilst wearing a tailcoat with a carnation in the lapel.

Ok, so Fred Astaire is no Gerard Butler-style hunk (and I am rather partial to a bit of Gerard from time to time) but there is something incredibly sexy about a man who can sweep you around a dance floor like you're made of tissue paper.

And as for Ginger's clothes...well, obviously it doesn't do any harm that she's got a wonderful dancer's body but I think ladies really dressed to flatter their figures back then. How is it that, as in the above clip, Ginger could wear a dress made almost entirely of pink marabou feathers and not look overdressed? The bling back then was somehow more stylish than current fashions like on Katharine Hepburn's famous party dress from the 1939 film 'The Philadelphia Story'...

It's not subtle but it's certainly sophisticated!

I suppose what I'm trying to say is in the 1930s men weren't afraid to be charming and elegant and women could dress in an incredibly feminine way without appearing 'girlie'. Katie Hepburn's character Tracy was actually quite a ball breaker but she never stopped looking like a lady!

So this is what I will be bearing in mind when I decide what to wear for our lovely TeaDance event on Saturday. In order to look like a sophisticated lady of the 30s dress for your figure, keep the bling to a minimum but make it count and whatever you wear, wear it as if Fred Astaire is about to walk in the room, gather you up in his arms and sing "Heaven...I'm in heaven...".

There are still some tickets left for TeaDance at the Racquet Club this Saturday from 5pm when you will be treated to a spot of Irving Berlin and full afternoon tea amongst other things! Go to www.clubgeekchic.co.uk and click on the paypal link to purchase.