Men using women’s fashion
I have been trying to figure out why it bothers me when men (who are not drag queens) wear stilettos. I love drag queens, and I find them very inspiring. This is not about that. This is about regular men, who are not dressed as women –and who may or may not be gay– wearing […]
Vogue Demaciado
As a tango dancer, I have not been graced with the right body or the right beauty. Of course, I want to be the tango princess, with the skinny legs and the delicate shoes (except that I don’t want that boring hair!). But I’m driven to create images that express my ethics, costumes which say something. This comes at the cost of traditional beauty.
Elegance
The message of elegance is exclusive, repetitive, and actually not that interesting. People who have musicality, emotion, and improvisational intelligence to share with us, but who may not see themselves in suits, heels, or extreme postures are driven away by these cliché images which indeed are only one of many facets of Argentine Tango.
Conformity and power
When I started dancing tango I thought “finally, a place to wear fabulous clothes and shoes!” I dressed like a doll, and wore the most fabulous shoes I could find, 15cm heels with 3cm platforms covered in glitter. Everybody knew me for my shoes. I could hear the word “shoes” whispered as I went around […]
Making tango your own
You are investing time, power, and heart into this dance. It may sound obvious, but it’s crucial to remind yourself that you’re doing all this for your own pleasure. Tango is a space of self-expression, elation, and emotional intensity that are very personal. It’s also an authoritarian, righteous, rules-centered, judgmental world. Perhaps too easily, we […]
Vio’s weird shoes
The most common thing for someone to say to me at a milonga is “you can’t dance in those shoes”. About 5 minutes later, they realize they’re wrong. When I started dancing, one of the main attractions was the chance to dress up often, including high heels. Since I was about 14 I’ve had more […]
About Comme Il Faut tango shoes
The most expensive tango shoe company is actually cutting costs by building shoes like legos. They have several fronts, several backs, and several heels, and they just mix and match and change the colors. That is not design and it’s not style. Punto.
