“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
Did you ever read The Great Gatsby in high school? That book is so ingrained in my mind that I can picture the parties as though I had been there. I could just daydream on and on about the decadent dresses, the cars---and of course, the "blue gardens" where "men and girls came and went, like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars."
This weekend, the architecture students at Rice (some of the most Jay Gatsby-ish students on campus) (they always dress so well and look so cool)---put on a 1920's swing costume ball party for the rest of us. Of course, I jumped at the chance to dress up and pretend that I was attending one of Gatsby's glitzy and glamourous parties.
There was only one problem. I didn't know how to swing dance.
Well, my friend Tim and I decided to remedy that problem by teaching ourselves how to swing dance so we wouldn't embarrass ourselves at the party. Several Youtube tutorials, a lot of frustration, and four hours later, we had the basic steps down and we were ready to attend the bash. And what a bash it was!
This was definitely one of the most unusual parties that I've been to in a while: the music chosen was a mix of electro and swing, and there were light shows and even the DJ had on a vest and a boater hat. Turns out that Tim and I didn't have to worry about our dance steps: the upbeat music was more techno than 1920's swing, and you could do whatever dance steps you wanted!
About my look: To imitate the 1920's flapper look, I painstakingly pin-curled my hair (took me over an hour, and I have short hair!) Women in the 1920's seem to be fond of their hairpieces, so I MacGyver'ed a three-tiered pearl necklace as a hairband.
Of course, no 1920's flapper costume look would be complete without a dropwaist dress, and I had one on hand from Zara. A real flapper imitator would add some sequins and feathers to the ensemble, but this is a Rice party, and I didn't want to lose any feathers while I was twirling.
I wore low white heels, mainly because I'd be dancing all night, but also because fashionistas in the '20's weren't into high stilettos yet. This turned out to be the best decision of the night, because Rice guys are surprisingly good ballroom/swing dancers. I was twirled around and dipped and throw backward so much that my head started spinning. My dance partners were impressive!
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The other Rice students also exceeded my expectations: most of them had heeded the costume call and dressed up in their sharpest suits, tallest hats, and headdresses. For a second, as I was on the dance floor, doing some variant of the swing step (which might have looked like the funky chicken for all I know), I felt that at any moment, I could look up and see Gatsby smiling at me......Oh! Is that him?
Just kidding. That's my boyfriend, dressed all dapper-like in his 20's best. But we can pretend for one night, can't we?
Swinging over the moon,
