Swing Dance Clothing You Can Dance In

Judy Garland Swing Dancing 1940s

Swing dancing came about in the late 1930’s and had a revival in the 1990’s. Many continue to swing dance and love to dress up in vintage styles. Clothing styles from the 1940s and 1950s have the most appeal to swing dancers. These two eras have iconic clothing styles that are easy to recreate using repro or vintage inspired clothing. Since they were born of the “swing era” the clothing is designed with dancers in mind. This quick guide will get you started on choosing  swing dance clothing that is both vintage in style but with all the modern conveniences we expect to have today.

1940’s Swing Dance Clothing

Swing Dancing in 1946 with an A line floral dress

1940s Style Dress at Modcloth

1940s dress:  For women the 1940s style usually consisted of a dress with a fitted top, a small collar and an a-line shaped skirt. A shirtdress (button down dress) is a good choice. Dresses with buttons that go down just to the waist are fine too. Even a wrap dress is a 1940’s style. A signature color combination to try to look for is an all black, navy blue or other darker colored dress with a white collar. Dresses with floral prints continued to be popular for casual dances. Shop 1940s style dresses. 

1940s bow blouse

1940s Blouse:  An alternative to a dress is a blouse and an a-line skirt. The blouse should be button down, fitted and have a smaller point collar or peter-pan collar. The signature look to both 1940s blouses and dresses is puffy sleeve caps. They extra room makes a big difference when swing dancing with arm raises.

Keep the blouse buttoned all the way up and tucked in. For a more accurate feel, the dress or blouse should be simple, with little to no ruffles, lace or bows. Stick to plain solid colors, plaids or small flower patterns. Consider Hawaiian prints, which were in style in the later part of the 1940s. A thin belt that is the same color as the dress is a nice touch. Try to keep the necklines up and more conservative.

Shop 1940’s style blouses here 

1940s A-Line Skirt and Blouse

1940s skirts were an A line shape- not to full, but with some flair to make them easy to move/dance in. As the decade moved on they became fuller with pleated skirts and wider A-line s with a modest crinoline slip underneath. The length of 1940s skirts is ideal for dancing- right below the knee. Anything shorter can be to immodest and anything longer to difficult to move it. Learn about 1940s skirts and shop vintage inspired styles here. (Tip: For comfort and modesty, be sure to wear tights, shorts, or vintage style underwear under your skirt.)

1940s Wide Leg Pants are fun to dance in

Shorts and pants: An alternative to dresses and skirts are a pair of vintage shorts or pants. Judy Garland in the top picture is dancing in a pair of high waist shorts with a nautical stripe on the side. These are very popular style shorts today but be sure they don’t come up too short in the leg. 1940’s pants had very wide legs that had a swing movement all on their own. They also were high waisted. These are typically harder to find today. Waring shorts and pants may be comfortable to practice in they are not period correct to dance it. Its up to you on how “vintage” you want to be.

Repro Swing Dance Shoes

Swing Dance Shoes! Proper swing dance shoes are a must! This is one nice advantage to modern technology. We now can make vintage style shoes that are made for dancing. Suede soles made spinning easier. No slip insoles absorb sweat and keep your foot in place. Mesh and cutouts help your foot stay ventilated. Hard toe caps protect you toes from the accidental miss step.

Shop 1940’s style swing dance shoes here.  Read this article on how to turn your favorite pair of shoes into dance shoes.

1950s Swing Dance Clothing

Simplicity reissued this 1950s dress pattern

1950s swing dresses expanded in width with full, multiple, layers of petticoats underneath. Fuller, longer skirts, matched with tighter tops, made vigorous swing dancing a thing of the past. The new 1950s swing was much more mellow to dance to. If you want to dance without the major workout a 1950s swing dress or skirt and blouse is ideal for you.

1950s swing dresses today don’t have to be worn with a crinoline. They look better if they are but are more comfortable without. The choice is yours. The full skirts that should end around mid shin wont fly up as much as 40’s styles will. The trend for halter neck or other sleeveless styles also makes them cooler to wear. The colors and large prints offer a lot of variety to choose from. Don’t dismiss the plain colors too. When you add in jewelry, a vintage hairstyle, and a cardigan sweater to wear to and from the dance the whole outfit will shine with 50’s perfection.

A festive circle skirt is eye popping on the dance floor

1950’s skirts were just as full as the dresses. A circle skirt is the most fun to wear and has the most movement. Twirling on the dance floor is a lot of fun in a 50’s circle skirt. The original poodle skirt was a circle skirt. While felt is a nice lightweight materiel, it is also HOT. I don’t recommend dancing in a felt circle skirt. Cotton is best, followed by blends, or a sheer chiffon layered over a light petticoat.

A knit top allows good movement

1950s Blouses: 1950’s blouses were even more fitted than 40’s styles and lacked puffy sleeves. Sleeveless styles were very common along with short cap sleeves. Both styles were ideal for dancing- no arm restrictions! The rest of the blouse was fitted very snug to the body and tucked into the skirt. There are many repro 50’s blouses with an edgy rockabilly feel. These might have motifs of skulls, roses, music, tattoo art or animals. Otherwise a simple button down blouse with collar with or without cap sleeves will work well with you skirt. Shop 1950’s style blouses. 

Men’s Swing Dance Clothing

What about men’s swing dance clothing? My husband wrote an article on how to dress for swing dancing that helps you beat the sweat. Read it here.