lindyhop – PPMeow!

Swing Fever!

Thursday is the NEW Friday after all….sooooo when this invite popped up on #TVS calendar and then again on Facebook, it was clear that I needed to be in attendance.

Swing Fever! is an authentic 1940’s themed dance party that will transport you back in time to a defining decade in history. This epic evening of entertainment featured a stellar live band, dance performances, classic cocktails, delicious war-time grub and more. It is a non-profit event, where all of the proceeds raised from Swing Fever! went directly to the Royal Canadian Legion and the Humber Business School.

The Great Hall apparently is where many of the scenes from the earlier season’s of Bomb Girls was filmed. It really is a beautiful venue!

Now, I’m still a total novice/beginner and don’t really know HOW to swing dance (only been to TWO officially lessons so far). Lucky for me there were complimentary lessons from the Toronto Swing Dance Society. Plus, a ton of strong Leads on the floor who patiently taught you steps and made you look good on the dance floor (special thanks to David and Joy for twirling and dipping me!) 🙂

The Pickup Swing Ensemble, featuring Toronto’s most talented musicians, performed classic tunes of Glenn Miller, Count Basie and more!

There was a specific Dress Code for the evening: Vintage! 1940’s glam, tea dresses, stockings, victory curls, allied uniforms and utility clothing.

I had my heart set on wearing my recently purchased hi-waisted polka-dot pin-up skirt (that I was yet to remove tags from) and since I finally got a pedicure to show-off my pink toes, my navy & white peep toed heels. This was sort of pushing the specific time period a bit, so I was determined to study YouTube and get my hair into proper Victory Rolls if it killed me!

These were taken AFTER I got home from the event… I was dead tired and sore from all the dancing. Notice, my faux bangs stayed intact! What a fab night!

For 1940s Hair & Makeup …. I checked out this YouTube vid to help me create a more authentic look for the night.

Then I realized, I should probably look for some makeup tutorials for BROWN SKINNED faces 🙂

Buuuuut since this was a Thursday night… it meant that I was rushing after work to get to LHRevolution Swing Lesson, then walked home to shower and change for this party. I ended up having limited time to really apply the teachings in these vids. (I sadly, also forgot to put a flower in my hair for the evening and pearls around my neck too…sigh) 😦

I did however, use Pin-Up Look #4 from this Beginner’s Quick & Easy Vintage vid instead!

The hair results below – Faux Vintage Bangs:

Overall, it was a fantastic night of dancing and fun! My feet, legs and hips are all so sore this morning, but I’m still smiling – totally worth it! 🙂

Here’s a few shots with some TVS-ers and fun-new people I met last night:

How I Got The Look:

High-waisted polka-dot pin-up skirt from Your Big Sister’s Closet

Navy & white peep-toed heels, from Naturalizer

Giant pearl earrings, vintage (gifted to me); Extra long pearl necklace from Toronto Vintage Clothing Show (forget which booth)

Yellow cotton tee from Reitmans

Swing Dancing

You may have read about how broken hearted I’ve been since my BollyFuze classes were no longer offered downtown. And although Yoga has filled the void of group exercise in my life, I still wanted more DANCING!

Since hanging out with Toronto Vintage Society peeps and being invited to judge ‘Best Dressed’ at various Electro Swing events, I have been itching to learn how to Lindy Hop and Charston …. I wanna be a Swing Kid! (minus all the sad bits of the movie, of course. I’ve yet to see the flick – it’s on my To-Do list!)

I’ve signed up for the 2-month “Crash Course” of Beginner Lessons to Swing Dance at Lindy Hop Revolution – eek!

My first lesson was a ton of fun! The instructors were Natalia and Luis – both from Spain, both encouraging, fun and funny. Best part — you don’t need a partner to learn how to Swing Dance!!! It’s a social dance….which means we swap partners throughout the class. I came alone, but after the hour I got to know Barbra, Donald, and two more delightful dudes (who’s names escape me) as they were the Leads with whom I got to boogie with.

My arms do not want to cooperate what-so-ever. And this constant ‘bouncing’ that is required doesn’t seem to keep the beat in my feet as it should. Buuuuuut, I had a grand ol’ time and can’t wait for next week! Although my footwork was a hot mess – my outfit was on point!

Here’s what I wore:

I picked up this cute swing dress from Winners – for $25!!! Just loved the dainty lil’ black n’ white flower pattern and capped sleeves. I had hoped to wear my tan moto leather jacket with it…But since winter windchill won’t leave Toronto, wearing the dress solo was not gonna cut it.

Ended up wearing my two-toned pink & tan cardi …..since it was lightweight enough to get me from A to B under a fall jacket. (I refuse to wear my winter coat any longer – it’s April for christ sake!

Stay tuned for my updates on how I’m progressing in my journey to becoming a Swing Kid …and to see what I wear to class every week! 🙂

How I Got The Look:

Shoes and Dress both from Winners — see more deets on the shoes here

Two-toned cardi from Target

#TVS: Electro Swing TO with Good Co.

We were at it again folks – Toronto Vintage Society was invited to judge the Best Dressed at Electro Swing TO’s March event this past Friday! And that meant I got to get all dressed up in 1920s inspired look to mingle with fabulously dressed people and dance the night away to big band electro swing vibes with my friend Liz, a fellow TVS member and blogger at The Vintage Inn.

Here’s all the pieces of my 1920s inspired look for Friday night’s Electro Swing party:

I finally got a chance to see the remake of The Great Gatsby flick …. and totally fell in love with that glam and glitter of all the dresses and headpieces.

In fact, I’ve been playing around to see how I could incorporate more headscarves into my wardrobe. And then on one of “window shopping only” walks home from the office … I saw the most gorgeous headchain in the window of this little shop specializing in ladies accessories in the P.A.T.H. of Commerce Court downtown. Needless to say it came home with me … and this Electro Swing party was the perfect reason to wear it…FINALLY!

Richard aka MedicineMan, Revival Bar’s event organizer, met us at the door, we pow-wowed quickly about how the event would roll out, how the contest and prizing would work. And then the fun began with Charleston lessons by Lindy Hop Revolution. Believe it or not, I kicked up my heels pretty good for a first timer – I was lucky to have a strong lead partner.

Check out Liz doing her thang. Oooooo….. I can’t wait to start taking lessons!

And so we mingled and schmoozed around the room with the fabulous attendees to chat up what Toronto Vintage Society was all about and how they could join/get involved AND of course, tapping those who were on our short-list of BEST DRESSED for the night! I even bumped into a few familiar faces I met at the last Electro Swing shindig 🙂

Here are a few colloages of all the fun that was had …

Dashing Doll went to Loryn and Dapper Dude went to Teddy … both were winners of a $50 gift certificate from Doll Factors by Damzels!

Good Co. was the fantastic Electro Swing Band that came all the way from Seattle to party with us at Revival, keeping the crowd dancing with their own renditions of Macklemore’s hit and The Four Season’s “Beggin'” tune were my personal faves of the night! Their performance ended with each member of the band climbing up onto the bar and toasting with shots – divinely outrageous!

I was fortunate enough to bump into them in Revival’s green room as I was leaving and they were kind enough to take a few ‘Ellen-inspired’ selfies with me. Weeeee!

Be sure to visit the Electo Swing TO’s FB page in the next few days, where professional shots of last night’s event can be found, taken by D.Tom … his camera & skills totally trumps my iPhone. 🙂

How I got The Look:

Layered dress from DressBarn + Black sueade Mary-Janes from Payless

Accessories: Black diamond cocktail ring from Jaipur, India; Necklace gift; Earrings from Swarovski; Headchain from…I forget the name of the shop (will find out and update soonest)