Tag Archives: disco clothes

Disco

What to Wear to a Disco

Disco

If you’re planning a trip to Europe, or going to a 1970s themed costume party, you may want to consider the disco look. Disco was very popular in the 1970s. Disco refers to both a type of music, and the type of club that this music is played in. Disco is short for the French word discothèque, which means a dance club where recorded music is played by disc jockeys, instead of being performed live. In the United States, clubs have abandoned the term, preferring to call themselves “nightclubs” or “dance clubs,” therefore dressing for a disco usually means a style reminiscent of the electric 70s.

There are two ways to go about dressing for a disco. The first way is to exaggerate the look. Exaggeration is most appropriate when going to a costume party, or dressing up for Halloween. An exaggerated disco look is one that really expands on the stereo-typical party girl/ guy image of the 70s.

For women to dress in an exaggerated disco fashion, it requires some creativity and a lot of makeup. The hairstyles for women of the 70s were all over the place. Some people wore pin straight hair. Some wore hair with curls at the ends, and winged out bangs. Others wore cropped or pixie hair cuts. Even still, African Americans primarily wore afros and, in an exaggerated look, the afros should be very wide. Whatever hairstyle you choose, make sure it resembles a 70s do. No up-dos. It’s a good idea to invest in a wig to capture the look.

Men wore afros, long, shaggy, straight hair, and uneven hair, or pompadours. When dressing in an exaggerated way, make sure to find a style that’s as big as possible. You’re creating a caricature. A lot of men wear curly afros to poke fun at the disco days. Afros are not only for African Americans. Anyone can wear them, and often to hilarious results.

Exaggerated dress would include tight pants, especially with bell bottoms. The bigger the bell, the better it is. Fortunately, the bell bottom style is returning, so it won’t be hard to find a wearable pair of jeans. A lot of women wore gold lame halter tops, or anything shiny. A popular item on the dance floor, for both men and women, were one piece jump suits. Women often wore mini skirts or mini dresses. Many choose to show off their legs. Paired with mini skirts was a pair of high heel go-go boots. Go-go boots usually came up to the knees. Women sometimes wore mini shorts with go-go boots, so if you’re not shy, you may want to implement this look.

Men were a tad more conservative. They sometimes wore suits to the disco, paired with a butterfly collared shirt. Exaggerate this style by wearing the shirt completely unbuttoned, showing off chest hair. If you don’t have chest hair, you may want to purchase glue-on hair, or draw hair onto your chest with an erasable marker.

If you’re not interested in looking like a caricature, you can instead pay homage to the disco era by dressing in the spirit of the 70s dance craze. To do this, hairstyles should be as natural as possible, but still in keeping with the 70s fashion aesthetic. Women can continue to follow the same rules as the exaggerated look, but no wigs are necessary. Guys don’t necessarily need to have long hair, but slicking back shorter hair is important. There were no spiky hair dos in the disco era.

Dress should feature items that are shiny but easy to move around in. These include glittery tank tops, boot cut jeans, short dresses, and platform shoes. Men should also wear jeans, and an buttoned down shirt, preferably unbuttoned at least partially. Dressing for the disco is part showy, because you want to be seen, and part comfort, because you’re there to party.

Disco

What to Wear to a Disco

Disco

When going to the disco, the styles of the 70’s were memorable for their unique looks. There are several different looks that were suitable for wearing to a disco. Most of them involve polyester and spandex in some fashion.

Leisure Suits

Leisure suits are the ultimate way to dress to go to a disco. The iconic image of John Travolta wearing his white leisure suit in Saturday Night Fever led to years of white leisure suit in discos around the world. Wear a white leisure suit and you will be the best-dressed person at the disco. These suits are usually made from polyester, and they come in plenty of colors other than white. Pastel colors are a particularly 70s look. A light coral orange, powder blue, black and white or a green leisure suit is suitable to wear to any disco.

Hot Pants

Hot pants were extremely short shorts that covered very little of the leg. They generally were worn by women, that there were men who wore them as well. Hot pants were worn in any color and they were generally worn with halter tops or with sequined tops. Hot pants in leopard spots, stripes or in metallic fabric are perfect for disco. Many women wore bright pink hot pants along with a brightly colored top. Hot pants that are made from spandex are usually the most authentic-looking.

Dresses

For women, disco dresses were ones that moved and fit well. They should be tight enough to show off the figure but should be flowing enough to move when the woman dances. The dresses were often in white, beige or in a pastel color. Dresses that are silver or that have glitter or sequins on them are also great for wearing to a disco because of the way the light from the disco ball will reflect off them.

Disco dresses should have a defined waistline. This can be done with a disco belt if the dress doesn’t already have the right tailoring. A disco belt is any thin belt in metallic colors. Common belts were springy gold or silver-colored metal that fastened with a tiny metal buckle.

Shoes

Platform shoes are the ultimate shoes to wear to a disco. Platforms couldn’t be too high or too elaborate. Some of the most elaborate of these has water in the heels with goldfish swimming in them. For women, very high platforms with straps at the top that went several inches above the ankle were not unusual. Both men and women can wear platform shoes to a disco. Women can also wear strappy high heels that are in bright or metallic colors.

Jewelry

For a disco, men should wear gold medallions on gold chains. If you have two or three of these chains and medallions to wear, the look will be even more authentic. For women, too much jewelry would not be appropriate to the look, but small gold details are perfect. Round gold earrings with a small gold charm bracelet are good accessories to wear with a disco outfit.