Don’t walk, Boogie for a ‘Gloss’ effect…
It was with great interest I read that the ‘High Gloss’ look from the late 1970’s disco era is about to make a resurgence. An article I read in ES magazine reported that fashion designer Marc Jacobs would be hosting a party to celebrate the launch of a book appropriately called ‘Gloss‘ by photographer Chris Von Wangenheim who captured ‘all the action’ at the legendary Studio 54, where the word ‘excess’ was obviously ‘deleted’..the idea of this place really excited me even as a child as I just loved disco…the glitter, the glam & of course the gloss! So I was cheered that the dress code for this party demanded ‘Jerry Hall side-swept hair, gold lame turban’s, rollerina chic, sequins, mirrored aviators, gloss-y-skin, & riding on a white horse’ to name but a few of the requirements…he certainly was not ‘messing around’ here…
So inspired by this ‘announcement’ I first had a quick scan of my record collection & found a few contenders that fitted this style, first was my ‘Don’t walk, Boogie’ album from 1978, which has classic’s on it such as Taste of Honey’s ‘Boogie, Oogie Oogie’, La Belle Epoque’s Black Is Black & of course the man himself Sylvester! So I couldn’t resist using the cover text from the album sleeve mixed with a mannequin I shot that was in the window of an arcade in Great Yarmouth…who looks like she’s ready to ‘boogie on down’… Next I found Roxy Music’s ‘Manifesto’ album which looks like the party really did take place at that famous disco heaven. Other ‘disco like’ albums were contenders but were not quite ‘glossy‘ enough…then a ‘brain wave’ a look back into a few of my Harpers & Queen magazines from the late 1970’s revealed this magazine was certainly ‘in tune’ with the times..my first pick is an image that would fit with ‘rollerina chic’ except she’s not wearing roller skates but everything else ‘fits’, a great side-swept ponytail with a cool white/mint-green/silver colour scheme & yes she’s even wearing harem pants + she has a belt with a silver drink canister at the ready! Smart girl!
Next is a Selfridges advert with a fun three piece suit with feather fascinator & silver sandals, it says the colour is ‘Banana’ but it really looks to me to be more of a mustard…a ‘racy’ look comes next from the appropriately titled fashion shoot ‘Split-Shift’ of a model wearing a fuchsia pink silk jersey dress with matching bag & belt & finished off with turquoise peep top Charles Jourdan shoes, (did the shoes escape from a Guy Bourdin shoot?) My final look from Harpers & Queen is a fashion shot of a model in a striking pose balanced on a wall overlooking a beautiful blue sea, the look is certainly ‘Gloss’ with everything she is wearing having a cool iridescent sheen (also ‘like’), and to note the disc bangles & forward looped ponytail & ribbon..
I was also drawn to having a look in some of my vintage Stitchcraft magazines from this era to see if they too picked up on this trend & they certainly did with with this silver & red metallic mac with matching red boots & of course the see-through umbrella (I loved those as a kid…I felt like I was in my own little ‘bubbled cocoon’ looking out to the world..plus I remember having & loving a silver rain jacket..wonder what happened to that?)
Then I spotted a ‘startlingly’ image of 3 models against a silver metallic (very) background sporting knitted bat-winged jumpers, with 2 models in black satin pants, & the central model in ‘gloss-y-gold’ metallic…I can almost hear my ‘Don’t Walk Boogie’ album playing now in the background.
But ‘hold the front page’ on a recent visit to the charity shop I spotted Stephanie with her own version of this ‘gloss-y’ look with new long wig (like!) white satin embroidered & beaded bustier, black draped skirt with an enlarged side buckle, black bangle & black & silver necklace, so it was more of ‘subtle nod’ to this look but it was very definitely a nod to this trend with ‘no nonsense’, a more ‘cleaner approach’ with the black, white & touch of silver..so I say hail! to this look! – thinking ‘I’m going to dig out me roller-skates’, though I don’t know if I will get very far these days….hmmm better call ‘health & safety’ first…!
