The Windy City Open (https://www.thewindycityopen.com) was this weekend. I was there, along with my teacher & the rest of the team. We danced quite well, and placed well. Part of that was because there was not a great deal of competition in our age category, however. We need more mixed-amateur couples in their 30s and 40s!
Here’s a publicity photo they took on Thursday:
That would be my teacher. Astute observers will also recognize that the author of this post is also in the picture.
If you know what to look for you can probably tell some other stuff. Start with the costumes…you can tell that it’s some sort of rhythm dance. Specifically, it’s American Rhythm. I’m not clear on whether there’s a distinct difference in the costuming for American Rhythm vs. International Latin, but you can for sure tell that it is neither American Smooth nor International Ballroom/Standard.
Smooth/Standard dresses are longer, American Smooth dresses are more likely to have a leg slit, and in International the guy will be wearing a tailcoat. All of the costuming is highly stylized, but (in smooth) American style is basically a bastardized form of black tie, while International is a much-less-bastardized version of white tie.
Naturally I’m more familiar with the guys’ costumes because that’s what I wear. They look like suits (well, smooth costumes do), but they are tailored quite differently. For one thing, a conventional suit tends to bunch up when you put your arms up into frame. It’s worse if the arm holes are cut low, and even worse if the jacket is buttoned. They solve this by putting a great deal less structure into the shoulders, cutting the arm holes quite high, and using stretch fabrics.
What isn’t actually stretchy fabric is usually polyester gabardine. Think of the cheapest polyester suit that you could possibly imagine…yeah, it’s that stuff. It’s hideous. Fortunately a) that’s what everyone is wearing, b) the lighting is fairly low and c) there’s some distance between you and the audience/camera. If you go really high-end, some of them are actually made of wool gabardine which would be quite a bit more similar to an actual suiting fabric; however I’ve never actually seen a costume like that.
Patterns are a bit difficult to come by — I certainly don’t have any, although I’ve (somewhat idly) looked. If you try to alter one, you will notice right away some oddities. The waistband is not split in the rear, so if you want to take the pants in or let them out you have to take the whole thing off and then re-attach it. There usually aren’t pockets — but if you have them, they are so tiny as to me almost completely useless. Also the shirts are designed as a “body suit,” which means that they snap together under your crotch. This does keep everything tucked in quite effectively, at the expense of certain other, er, inconveniences. I can’t prove this but it has been credibly suggested to me that a lot of this stuff is more typically found in women’s clothing.
I will say that certain aspects of the way that the jackets are made tend to make them easier to alter than a typical sport coat. It isn’t lined, so the seams are quite accessible. However, on mine (I have to take the waist/hips in by several inches) the manufacturer glued a tape around the inside of the hem, which significantly complicates the process of taking out the seams. I’ve just started on this project; hopefully I can have it finished & looking halfway decent by the next comp which (tentatively) will be in mid-June.
I have been wanting to start a side hustle of some kind, for purposes of easing the strain on my finances; it has occurred to me that if I can get to be good at this, it would potentially be a good way to do that. Take a sewing machine and a variety box of colored thread to a comp, and charge people for last-minute repairs & alterations. Or something of this nature. Maybe this is that. The more of this kind of stuff that I can do for myself, the less dependent I have to be on the corporations. It’s worth a shot. Gotta start somewhere. Only one way to find out.
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