Charleston Shoes - What to choose?

From Han Christian Andersen’s Red Shoes to Cinderella’s glass slippers, dance shoes have often been imbued with magical qualities. So how important is it to get the right shoes when dancing the Charleston? Whilst in many dance forms just bare feet is fine, The Charleston really does require the right footwear. 

The main reason shoes are so important in Charleston is so you can swivel the feet; the foot swivel is a defining characteristic of the Charleston style so non-grip shoes are a must. Back in the day dance floors were waxed and offered a lot of glide, modern dance floors and studios are smooth but not slippy. The dilemma then is getting shoes which offer some glide but not so much that you end up kissing the floor with your bum. Another thing to consider is how much support the shoes offer the foot, if you have weak ankles or collapsed foot arches you will need more supportive shoes.

So here is the low down on shoes we know and love and the pros and cons of each …

Greek Sandals – Cheap, light, strike a good balance between grip and slide. The down side is they don’t offer much support and they definitely aren’t outdoor shoes, so save them for the dance studio and you’ll perfect your swivel in no time.

Jazz Trainers – More on the grippy side but offer good support to the foot, super comfy and hardwearing.

Jazz Shoes – Light and good for swivel, again they offer limited support but one up on Greek sandals.

Toms – These fashion shoes are very popular in the Lindy Hop scene. They are a solid pair of shoes, good on swivel but the soles don’t offer great flexibility.

Character Shoes – A lot of dancer find a bit of heel is actually quite helpful. I’m a big fan of character shoes but would advise going to a dance shop and getting ones which are a really good fit, if the feet are in any way sliding within the shoes you will feel unstable.

Fashion Shoes – Well its luck of the draw but some of the best shoes people have showed up to class in have been bought in Charity Shops – Win! Often in the style of pumps or brogues the best ones tend to be made of softish leather and with leather soles which offer glide.

For a list of recommended shoes, take a look at our shopping list here: https://mycharlestondance.com/shoes

Happy Shoe Shopping!

Fiona

Get the look: 1920s make-up and hair

The hair and make-up of the Roaring Twenties is one of the most glamorous eras of all time. We often get asked about the style, so here are some easy ways to recreate the most popular looks at that time.

MAKE-UP
The most defining make-up look of the 1920s was super-strong smokey eyes, with rose-coloured cheeks, dark-red lips and strikingly arched eyebrows.

Amy, our Savoy Kicks member, with 1920s make-up look

The lips
The upper lip was heart-shaped with a thinner lower lip, which creates a round looking mouth.
To recreate the lips, you should start by covering your lips with foundation or concealer to get a smooth base for your lipstick. Then the best way to continue is by lining your lips with a dark lip pencil following your lip shape with light strokes, emphasizing the bend in your upper lip. After this, fill in your lips with a similar colour and your good to go. You may not want to go with the full ‘cupids bow’ but
stick to dark red shades to get the best 20s throwback, because in this decade the dark red lips was the only colour available.

The eyebrows
The eyebrows were dramatically dark, arched and much thinner than we tend to do now.
To get the 20s look: take a dark brown or black and darken your eyebrow. Try to do just a really thin and arched eyebrow, by turning your eyebrows slightly downwards with the eyebrow pencil. Extend the ends to make them look extra long.

The smokey eyes
The eye make-up in the 1920s was super-smokey, which means that with just a smudgy dark pencil you would be good to go. Or you could start off with a lighter grey shade by using this as your base and than just apply a dark eyeshadow on to your eyelids. The more dramatic, the better!
To top it off use a black eyeliner around the eyes, especially on the top lip and curl your lashes or use false lashes to make your eyes stand out even more.

If you need more inspiration for 1920s make-up looks here is the link to the Pinterest board we have created.

Louise Brooks with the popular straight bob

Greta Garbo and typical eyebrows of the 1920s

HAIR
In the 1920s there were many different types of hairstyles, but the most popular ones are straight bobs or finger waves.

Finger waves
To recreate finger waves hairstyle you need a lot of hairspray and pins to hold your hair in place.
If you have longer hair start by making a bun at the nape of your neck, which should be a little bit off-center, but leave some hair out of the bun on the side with more hair on it, so you can create the finger waves.
Now comes the tricky part: Take the hair you left out of the bun and a straighters and start by clamping your iron down on that piece and do half rotation outwards, to create a little wave. Hold it for a few moments and then move a little bit down to do this process again, but this time do a half rotation inwards. Do this as long as it takes you to complete the piece you left out. Now take the pins and pin your waved hair to the side of your face, secure it with hairspray and you are finished.

You could add a 1920s hair band or other hair accessories, which were typical for the 1920s to top off your look, but this isn’t a need.

In the YouTube tutorial below another easy way to do the 1920s finger waves is shown.

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If you are looking to do a faux bob, check out blog piece here. and If you need more inspiration for your perfect 1920s hair and make-up look, you can visit our Pinterest board. MyCharleston put together a board with typical hairstyles and make-up looks. If you want to have a look, simply click here.

If you manage to recreate the look, email in your pics at hello@mycharlestondance.com

Charleston Shoes - Where to look?

The most important thing for a dancer is the shoe. For us Charleston dancers it is important to find a footwear, which we are stable in and which has a smooth sole, so that we can swivel over the dance floor. In this blog we would like to introduce you to some shops, which are worth checking out in the search for your perfect dance shoe.

Charlie Stone shoes

Aris Allen
Aris Allen is a shoe brand which offers dance shoes with a suede sole for women and men. The shoes are designed by swing dancers for other swing dancers.
Price range: £39 - £62
https://arisallen.com/

Charlie Stone
This brand offers Greek Sandals with a unique design with hidden elevation for better arch, ankle and knee support. All shoes have leather upper and lining and a smooth sole, so that you can swivel perfectly over the dance floor
Price range: £82 – £93
https://www.charliestoneshoes.com/collections/all

Slide&Swing shoes

Bleyer Shoes
Bleyer Shoes offers many different styles of dance shoes for both, men and women. The brand is run by a UK based company called The Swing Dance Company Limited.

Price range: £40 - £115
http://bleyershoes.com/

Slide&Swing
Slide&Swing is a really new brand, which established in Spain in 2013. You can get dance shoes for both men and women there, and they are all handmade with an upper, lining and sole all in leather, so the shoe is very light and smooth.
Price range: £111 - £155
https://www.slideandswing.es/shop/

Saint Savoy
These dance shoes for men and women are a bit more pricey, but you get really beautiful classic dance shoes with leather soles or synthetic soles. All shoes are tested by professional dancers to see if the shoe really makes a good dance shoe considering the comfort of your feet while dancing.
Price range: £165 - £196
https://www.saintsavoy.com/

Saint Savoy shoes

If you don’t want to buy dance shoes, because you already have shoes which fit your feet perfectly and you know you could dance in them all night long, but the sole is not smooth enough, you could resole your shoes with a leather sole.

We already wrote a blog about the different types of shoes there are. If you want to know which shoe could be fitting for you and the pros and cons of each type of shoe, you should have a look at Fiona’s blog too!

Get the look: 1920s make-up and hair

The hair and make-up of the Roaring Twenties is one of the most glamorous eras of all time. We often get asked about the style, so here are some easy ways to recreate the most popular looks at that time.

MAKE-UP
The most defining make-up look of the 1920s was super-strong smokey eyes, with rose-coloured cheeks, dark-red lips and strikingly arched eyebrows.

Amy, our Savoy Kicks member, with 1920s make-up look

The lips
The upper lip was heart-shaped with a thinner lower lip, which creates a round looking mouth.
To recreate the lips, you should start by covering your lips with foundation or concealer to get a smooth base for your lipstick. Then the best way to continue is by lining your lips with a dark lip pencil following your lip shape with light strokes, emphasizing the bend in your upper lip. After this, fill in your lips with a similar colour and your good to go. You may not want to go with the full ‘cupids bow’ but
stick to dark red shades to get the best 20s throwback, because in this decade the dark red lips was the only colour available.

The eyebrows
The eyebrows were dramatically dark, arched and much thinner than we tend to do now.
To get the 20s look: take a dark brown or black and darken your eyebrow. Try to do just a really thin and arched eyebrow, by turning your eyebrows slightly downwards with the eyebrow pencil. Extend the ends to make them look extra long.

The smokey eyes
The eye make-up in the 1920s was super-smokey, which means that with just a smudgy dark pencil you would be good to go. Or you could start off with a lighter grey shade by using this as your base and than just apply a dark eyeshadow on to your eyelids. The more dramatic, the better!
To top it off use a black eyeliner around the eyes, especially on the top lip and curl your lashes or use false lashes to make your eyes stand out even more.

If you need more inspiration for 1920s make-up looks here is the link to the Pinterest board we have created.

Louise Brooks with the popular straight bob

Greta Garbo and typical eyebrows of the 1920s

HAIR
In the 1920s there were many different types of hairstyles, but the most popular ones are straight bobs or finger waves.

Finger waves
To recreate finger waves hairstyle you need a lot of hairspray and pins to hold your hair in place.
If you have longer hair start by making a bun at the nape of your neck, which should be a little bit off-center, but leave some hair out of the bun on the side with more hair on it, so you can create the finger waves.
Now comes the tricky part: Take the hair you left out of the bun and a straighters and start by clamping your iron down on that piece and do half rotation outwards, to create a little wave. Hold it for a few moments and then move a little bit down to do this process again, but this time do a half rotation inwards. Do this as long as it takes you to complete the piece you left out. Now take the pins and pin your waved hair to the side of your face, secure it with hairspray and you are finished.

You could add a 1920s hair band or other hair accessories, which were typical for the 1920s to top off your look, but this isn’t a need.

In the YouTube tutorial below another easy way to do the 1920s finger waves is shown.

---

If you are looking to do a faux bob, check out blog piece here. and If you need more inspiration for your perfect 1920s hair and make-up look, you can visit our Pinterest board. MyCharleston put together a board with typical hairstyles and make-up looks. If you want to have a look, simply click here.

Now you have got the moves why not learn the 1920s Moves with our online course.

How to get the perfect 1920s Bob

Having long thick blonde hair is far cry from the traditional flapper girl bob of the 1920s but when it came to our photo shoot earlier this year I needed to make my hair a lot shorter without taking a pair of scissors to it.

Usually for performances we tie our hair up with a Heidi roll which is perfect for events as it keeps hair in a place for energetic shows but when it came to the photo shoot we wanted to capture the 20s look in a more authentic way.

To make my hair bobbed I followed this guide where I divided the hair into two sections. Firstly, with the undercut I made a small bun then with the rest curled each section using moose and spray the night before the shoot.

In the morning I look all the clips out and brushed them out and clipped the curls into the bun. After a few cans of hairspray the look was complete and just about stayed in place.

Once the shoot was all over and all the clips were out, my hair decide to try another look and embrace my inner Bonnie Tyler…

Elena

Goodwood Vintage Revival

When you run a vintage business, you might think the last thing you want to do with your day off is go to a vintage event, but not me! I’ve heard of Goodwood Revival and this year I finally went with a group of friends.

We had all carefully planned our outfits but when it came to the festival itself no one knew what to expect. Surprisingly, a lot of people still seem to be in the dark about Goodwood Revival, so here is my guide to this event.

Central to the day is the car racing, but if the idea of vintage cars revving their engines and doing laps doesn’t appeal, don’t worry there’s lots more to do and see. 

Our day started in the Butlins tent, which we’d ducked into to shelter from the rain. All the staff were dressed in 1950s Butlins uniforms and they had a roller disco with skates which were free to hire. We popped them on and soon discovered that our skating skills had somewhat diminished since we were twelve years old!

We then went for a wander, admiring as we went the wonderful vintage outfits on display. If you’re thinking of going then you should know this is most definitely a dress-up event. On display were the full range of vintage styles, from land-girls (very practical for that days weather) to sixties chic and some super stylish 30s, 40s and 50s inspired outfits. A quick stop for the loo (and it was quick, the facilities were spotless and we felt extra happy to see the men queuing while the women didn’t have to wait!), then we crossed over the bridge into the main site.

Now none of us our petrol heads but the array of vintage vehicles had us all oohing and posing for pictures by these fabulous old cars. We then found an area with live music by a wonderful band called the The Class of 58  they are a family outfit and really got the crowd going with songs like Hand Jive.

More wandering took us to the fabulous Betty’s Vintage Hair and Beauty Salon where you can get your vintage makeover.  The vibe was so friendly; when my sister used the mirror to fix her hair one of the ladies offered to style her for free!

The whole day was full of similar friendly encounters and if I were to rate this festival on friendliness it was a definite 10 out of 10. Other activities on offer were dance classes in swing and jive, fairground rides (all included in the price of your ticket) and a fashion show that was brilliantly staged with dance, projections and of course amazing outfits.

After a fun-packed day we took the free shuttle bus back to Chichester station and met even more lovely people on the journey.  So we had a final drink with our newfound friends (a group of BA pilots no less) before catching the train home. All in all a great day out and excellent value for money.

Fiona