Booty-Shaking, Pop and Lock, All-Night Dancing: What to Wear.

Plugging into Electro-Funk 80's music turned me into a dancing machine. One 11-hour night, I tore up the dance floor with my dance partner of two first names - Billy Freddie. For a fund-raising Dance-A-Thon, with only 10-minute breaks on the hour, we unleashed all our uninhibited moves: the bird, the smurf, and a dance all our own that looked like rotating and spanking ourselves... sometimes we moon-walked. Slow-dancing was not our cup of tea. When Billy Freddie and I danced, we meant business and we burned calories. It's only fair though - to admit that my key to success on the dance floor that night must be attributed to the jumpsuit.

From experience, it was evident some dances didn't fit the look of a skirt or dress. Heels were out of the question for this kind of dancing. Big, jumbled piles of heels always grew on the outskirts of the dance floor.

Your realize, if you aren't new to exercise, that perspiration is a part of energetic activity. If you dance fanatically (acquiring a great pore-cleansing sweat), then you cool down very quickly and chill. To burn the midnight oil and showcase all your best moves, you need clothes that move with you, without constricting, and without looking bedraggled after a few hours... and a jumpsuit met all the requirements.

A girl in the dorm loaned the loose-fitting jumpsuit to me. It was made by Esprit I think - of either cotton or a synthetic parachute-type material. The neck was wide and the sleeves and legs narrow, but long - so that I could roll them and they stayed in place. It was sand-washed olive green and buttoned up the front.

With the jumpsuit I wore red pointy-toed flats (also borrowed... and by the way, it's a good idea to have a change of shoes if you plan to dance 11 hours, because your feet will appreciate the switch).

Double-belts were in style at this time and I wore my red one loose and low. Enormous red plastic earrings were probably involved - but I'd like to forget those.

Billy Freddie's dance-steps were familiar to me and he knew mine as well. Frequently one of us would invent a new move - the other would notice and try it out.

By 5 AM only one other couple still danced. We stopped, they danced a few minutes more.  I trotted back to the dorm and slept thirteen hours.






On a quest to pinpoint this type of jumpsuit, I found a 1985 Simplicity Esprit sewing pattern 7007 that seems very similar. Of the same cut are Simplicity 6394 and even a vintage Pierrot costume by Advance.

Simplicity 6394. Ditch the tie-dye, add a loose belt, roll the cuffs, you're ready to dance all night.

Ultimate jumpsuit freedom.

Want a little music to send you into jumpsuit dancing mode? Here are three links:

• Morris Day and The Time - The Bird (with video, so you too can learn some wing-flapping moves).
• The Egyptian Lover - Egypt Egypt.

• These Boots Are Made For Walking - Lee Hazlewood/Nancy Sinatra original remixed by BrianPOP 2008.

The first two songs fit into the dance/pop/proto-electro-funk/rap/hip-hop/breakdance category and the third is an amped-up retro remix (with original 1966 film footage featuring as much energy as I had that 11-hour night).

Rosanna Orlandi: Intelligent Beauty.

Rosanna Orlandi photo by Leslie Williamson for Dwell July/August 2012.

Rosanna Orlandi's eyes peer at me through those spectacular shades as I flip-flip-flip through the pages of Dwell magazine.

Rosanna's look was unlike any other look. I had to know more about the owner of those eyes, who wears big silver cuffs - and I discovered... this explains the look... Rosanna was once a knitwear designer, but has for more than 10 years now turned those incredible eyes to assessing and selecting works for her Milanese design gallery Spazio Rosanna Orlandi.

What do they seek, those eyes of Rosanna? "Honest" designs, according to The New York Times. (Julie Lasky, April 25, 2012)

In a How To Spend It article, Rosanna reveals: "... I never think consciously from a commercial point of view. Something catches me because it’s amazing. I fall in love and I have to touch things. I’m always curious, always learning. When you feel that you’re constantly learning, you can only improve.” (Jenny Dalton, Jan.6, 2011)  Orlandi's gallery selections do indeed seem to be one-of-a-kind and sometimes upcycled - leaning more toward functional art - catering less to commercially-driven manufacturing.

"To add humor to a home", Rosanna tells The Wall Street Journal, "you have to have courage in your choices.... You have to be daring and find things that make you say 'wow'". (Jackie Cooperman, Sept.24, 2011)  Orlandi's own look is proof that the right amount of daring is wowing and her advice might easily apply to fashion as well as furnishings.

Listen to Rosanna, as she invites you into her design gallery and speaks of the useful and very-often artful works of her design "family" - here.
(Above video link from crane.tv "Spazio Rosanna Orlandi's Magical Space" at youtube)

Hime Lolita Marie Antoinette: Chanel at Versailles.

Imagine Marie Antoinette, healthy and unscathed, frolicking into an eighteenth century time portal and landing upright in 2013. Unbiased by any sensibilities but her own, she might immediately gravitate toward Lolita fashion. Of the various Lolita styles, the Hime or Princess Lolita, the Sweet Lolita, or the Country Lolita would align with her tastes.

Without having to search farther, Marie Antoinette could slip right into one of Karl Lagerfeld's Chanel Cruise 2013 ensembles and carry on with life - this time in some pink trainers, to quickly run from danger.

Chanel Cruise/Resort 2013 at Versailles. Image Vogue.com runway collections.

Interested in Lolita styles, read more here. For more Chanel Cruise 2013 see this Vogue link with Sarah Mower collection review.

Marie Antoinette, artist unknown. Museum of Fine Arts Boston collection.

Looking for other Lolita/Chanel Cruise 2013 references, I noticed the blog Hello Tailor had also made the connection and provided a youtube link for the actual fashion show. It's especially grand to see Karl Lagerfeld appear at show's-end - waving, blowing a kiss, assessing his admirers and regally strutting to the beat. Here's the youtube link.

Clothes Looking for a Script: Comme des Garcons Fall 2012 RTW.

See this Kawaii Kakkoii Sugoi blog link for full-length videos of Rei Kawakubo's Comme des Garcons Fall/Winter 2012/2013 Men's and Women's Collections, then contemplate with me.

First of all, I think Kawakubo's clothing literally creates thought. That cannot be said for all designers. No matter what your opinion of these collections, I believe you will notice you cannot prevent yourself from thinking strong thoughts about what you see on Kawakubo's runway.

All Flat-Stanley and paper-doll references aside, some of the womenswear coat shapes have a fresh appearance and lend the models a youthful look. Seeing the models present the womenswear, I felt some of Kawakubo's looks were at times inspired by Tavi Gevinson, then later by the paper-cutout artwork of Matisse. I could easily visualize the "dress-within-a-dress" silhouette looks being minimized to figure-flattering styles.

Despite the practicality of offering a place to rest one's hands, the pannier extensions of Kawakubo's Fall 2012 collection would present a predictable kerfuffle when worn through airport security - not to mention difficulties in the daily office cubicle. These are designs requiring a certain place, a certain time, and a certain mode of transportation. Imagine wearing one of the pannier dresses, riding a bicycle - in a gust of wind... off you'd go, like a kite.

Rei Kawakubo Comme des Garcons F/W 2012/2013 RTW. Image from Collections at Vogue.com.

Or, in the instance of the above garment - a gentle breeze might send the wearer pirouetting prettily, whirling like a maple-seed helicopter.

The shiny metallicized dresses seem like an excellent idea - maximum effect bling. Think of all the bandage-sized night-on-the-town dresses that exist - not much bling for the buck. Kawakubo's shiny dresses are big, startlingly-shaped, and shiny. If you didn't have time for the videos, there's a link to the Vogue runway collections here.

But to see the inspiration for this post title: Clothes Looking for a Script, you really should see the Kawaii Kakkoii Sugoi link above. Rei Kawakubo's Fall 2012 menswear inspired me to imagine a short movie script. Here it is:

Ministers of Music - Happening perchance to discover a trunkful of items stored on a Hollywood backlot, contemplative time travelers find solace in assembling eclectic ecclesiastical ensembles. Donning their diverse "thinking caps" the ministers of music find they have a prediliction for crewel embroidery, Chanel wool,  and cabbage rose chintz. Offering services free of words, the ministers of music stroll, contemplate, and meditate their next destination.