MEMORIES:
Disco fever meant a lot more than the music of the Bee Gees, Earth Wind and Fire, and Abba – it meant making the scene and being seen. The disco was a magical world where young adults in droves could leave behind their daily grinds and shine on the dance floor.
The exhibitionism of the disco era turned the dance floor into quite the fashion runway. The bright lights of the nightclubs were perfect for bright white and shimmery fashions, some elegant, some way over the top. Men’s fashions, inspired by the slick get-ups John Travolta wore for his ace dance moves in Saturday Night Fever, got as outrageous as women’s.
The more elegant disco lady favored strappy sandals with high heels, handkerchief hems and ruffles, and a flowing quiana dress that exposed a sexy shoulder. Those who wanted to get more outrageous and daring wriggled into hot pants and leotards, wrapped slinky belts around their waists, and slipped their tootsies into Candies “disco slide” stiletto sandals.
Men wore their shiny polyester shirts open – how else to display the glinting gold medallions that hung around their necks? And with their patented Ban-Roll waistbands keeping their pants high and tight, they could bump hips all night.
Hitting the clubs in disco-fever fashions meant daring to cast aside inhibitions and get down. “Sex and drugs and rock and roll” – or in this case, “and disco music” – weren’t what you had to watch out for so much as the dangers of hustling, bumping, and bus-stopping the night away in lofty platform shoes. Or, for the even braver… “roller disco, anyone?”
