Dress to Kill: Thursday Night Fever

On Thursday, March 17th, the Student-Faculty Legislature will host a Disco Dance in the "Blue" gym.

But you knew that.

You, like the many people who have come up to me this week, are asking: "What should I wear?"

Well, no worries: Dress to Kill is back for its first print installment: Thursday Night Fever. (A new video episode will be coming soon.)

So when you think of the Disco, the first thing that comes to
mind is Saturday Night Fever, the legendary John Travolta movie.

Men's Look 1: The Mod

Travolta's signature look consisted of the white jacket, white pants, white shoes, white vest, and black collared shirt. This is a great look for the disco scene, but it can be somewhat hard to achieve with what you may have in your closet. I happen to have a white jacket; you might have a very light grey or tan one, which could work. White pants are not too common for men, but you probably can find some light Chinos (very light Khakis), which will suffice. You should be able to find a black or dark grey button-down shirt lying around, but you probably don't have a white vest. Neither do I, so I decided to create the same effect by wearing a white T-shirt and tucking the black shirt into my pants, but tucking it in such that it is completely open (see the picture at the right). Finally, to complete the look, you need to flatten the collar outside and across the Jacket.

Women's Look 1: The Retro
If you're not feeling like a brightly colored dress, opt for the less-mainstream retro skirt and leggings look. What you wear as a top does not really matter, but it is best if it is dark, to contrast your skirt. Your skirt should be bright, and have some volume (bounce) to it. (In other words, you don't want to wear a slim skirt as you would in Look 1.) You should aim to find a skirt which is brightly colored, maybe with a few eye-popping colors. Your leggings should also be brightly colored (match the skirt for bonus points), and should be capped off by pumps or slippers. If you want to be a bit more adventurous, try layering a short skirt on top of a longer one - this might work, but be careful that you don't embarrass yourself - it should look pretty natural (like in the picture on the right).

Men's Look 2: The Hipster
If you don't have a light-colored jacket, or perhaps you want to have a bit more fun, you might want to change it up a bit with The Hipster. The most important component of this look is the shirt - you should be able to find some sort of sparkling shirt from a party/costume shop. After that, all you need are some dark jeans and maybe a wig. (The pants and shirt should both be pretty baggy to create a nice effect when you are dancing.)

Women's Look 2: Flower Child
Now don't get confused: this is the 70's, not the 60's, but flowers were still in for women. Unfortunately, women's fashion in the disco scene can only be described by one word: ghastly. You probably want to find a dress with loose sleeves, on the shorter side with a bright color print (which does not have to be flowers; the important thing is the somewhat gaudy clash of bright colors). A very important component of the look is the long boot. You want to find a slim leather boot, preferably in either white or red that goes up to about your knees. Do not wear leggings as this will ruin the effect. If you do not have a dress like the one described above, you can always create the same effect if you can find a bright print skirt and top. (Again, try to find a top with billowy sleeves like the dress at the right to accentuate the look.)

Last Resort for Men:
If you can't find what you want in Look 1 or Look 2, try wearing dark pants, a black leather jacket, and a brightly colored collared shirt. (Again, press the collar out outside the jacket.)

Last Resort for Women:
If you want to be more versatile and not worry about wearing a dress/skirt, you can wear some slim black pants with a flower-print top over them. Leather pants would be best.

Hair:
The Hair in the 70's was somewhat big. That doesn't mean that everyone had a 'fro, but it did mean that it wasn't as sleek as the styles today. For girls, you probably want to add some wave near the ends. For guys, take comb and comb your hair back. As long as you do this when your hair is dry and you don't put any product in, this should create what I would call, a "Big Hair" look.