I was following links about the London fleadh, and eventually came to an area in the home counties, illustrated with photos of young women, dressed as if someone had eaten the Books of Kells and then vomited over them, as someone else has previously said.
When did this curious style of dress be deemed necessary for showing off irish dancing ? And why ?
On st paddys day, we visited a local pub after playing a wee gig at a nursing home. A girl at the bar had her hair in that poodle cut. Presumably she was an Irish dancer and had performed earlier. Think it looks ridiculous on stage? It looks even more hilarious on someone sitting in a normal setting. Boing boing boing....
where have you been these last few decades, Pete van Winkel?
Even worse, much much worse, and wait for it...
..my 14 year old daughter was in Top Shop, Oxford St. yesterday (teacher's strike, in case you're wondering) and her and her mates were trying on quasi-Irish dance dresses! These were mass-produced little numbers, now in the teenage market, designed for the consumption by today's young teenage trendies, but at the back of the store for the more Indie chicks. They were in no way anything close to the hand made expensive technicolour chunders of which you speak. So the next teen disco you attend in London, expect to see these in abundance. The weans aw sprachlin' and caperin' wi' thon, waed they had auld Nick fiddlin'.
But who are we to complain?
Did ye never jig a jig to Jig-a-Jig, by East of Eden? (which was a reel in actual fact)...or stuff by The Pogues, and now, it seems, The Corrs.So now they don't just listen to bits and pieces of their musical cultural horizon they dress up to go out to whatever.
I saw the Chieftains in Newark,NJ the day after St Patrick's day and they had a group of these girls from a local Irish Dancing School, in Medusa coils and vomited dresses, dancing. Paddy Maloney didn't even know they were going to come out to dance. He said he missed the note taped to his monitor onstage. They were just paraded out during one of the rare musical interludes of the evening. In addition, there were a few enthusiastic young tap dancers (no, they weren't step dancers) who just wouldn't stop tapping. And the special guests, the Cottars, dance while fiddling (yawn).
I would like to say I heard the Chieftains, but there was so much percussion from the dancing, the music was just about lost.
I would have given anything to have a team of shaky egg shakers instead of tap dancers.
ROFLMAO...Yes the dresses do look like a "technicoloured yawn" as we aussies say.
I think there is a ruling from the Irish Dancing Commitee (IDC) which states that..."all competitors must dress in full regalia (including funny coloured wigs) whilst performing Irish dance steps. At all times participants must be prepared to upgrade their costume regardless of taste and financial matters."
I can remember in the late '80's the commotion when one of the dancers in Australia paid Au$1000 for a dress from Ireland. I think I could buy 2 Clifford Essex Paragon tenor banjos for the price they charge now.
Not to say that dress makers don't deserve every cent Zina
We call 'em 'playing card dancers' because those stiff fore'n'aft panels look like cards.
Ciaran Carson goes on at hilarious length about them, I think in "Last Night's Fun" or maybe it's in his guide to ITM book. He calls them 'fascist' as I recall. That's had a great influence on me... <GG>
Unfortunately, with the States in an orgy of passion for conformity just now, the schools that teach this stuff are shaping a lot of the American regard for things Irish. *sigh*
Necessarily, we come across these cadres of dancers fairly often, and I tried to explain Munster sean nós dancing as we had experienced it, to some of the stage-mad parents,. They couldn't really grasp that anyone would just dance, without costume, competition nor regimentation.
We've had a lovely girl, who's outgrown the regimented gang version of this costumed competition, dance with us at some festivals, and it's been very nice to have her and folks loved to see her dance. It's nice when we do a 'show,' but I'd rather play for a ceili or a contra dance.
Wherever in history this stuff has come from, it's now a part of American/Irish culture, and it's often a vital source of patronage for the music and it brings a lot of people into some awareness of Irish traditions.
We were loading our equipment into a room for one of our gigs during this past Paddy"s Day season only to find a wee little girl with a bouncy wig and decked out in the aforementioned dress was doing her routine on the stage with her mom looking on proudly. As we stood there waiting for her to finish before setting up in her performance area I was reminded of something... but I wasn't quite sure. Then it dawned on me -- JonBenet Ramsey.
I posted my little note, then went off to bed.
So........Danny, I haven't been asleep, it's just that they come to look weirder and weirder through all the years. And what mother of a growing girl can afford to buy one every year so they often seem not quite the right size.
You might have thought Riverdance would have changed all that, but no...except that we were asked to play at, of all places, a bingo hall, where the irish manager was celebrating his birthday, and, in the aftermath of Riverdance, the dancers were determindly cool in black.
JonBenet Ramsey I know not.
And..is this why Zina's quiet these days, she's too busy sewing ?
Cheers Pete - hope you appreciated I was just jesting. I tried to find the pseudo-Irish dancing dresses on the Top Shop website but to no avail. OK, maybe it wasn't them, but one of the big high street fashion retailers, you know what I mean. I kid you not.
You should try doing the curling - many hours of tears and that was just me.
At least 10 or so years ago we were talking more head full of bouncing curls rather than the more formal ringlets that are the norm now. Cat stopped competition dancing just before wigs became common place so we didn't have to put up with that, although it might have been easlier than the bl***dy curlers. Realistically , it is a process just like any other sort of formal dancing . I met an awful lot of pushy parents but you find them everywhere - orchestras are very good for that as well.
There were kids who did it because their parents told them to, there were kids who got a kick from competing and winning, there were kids who got into the music that way, there were kids who were out of it as soon as teenage rebellion let them. There were kids who you knew were little princesses and kids you knew were urchins at heart (mine for a start).
Yes the outfits have got a wee bit out of hand - A friend and I used to have quite a lot of fun at feis looking for the worst ones - you would think some people had absolutely no idea what colours went together at all. A fair comparison would be with ballroom dancing or even modern dancing competitions and what is worn for them. The main difference is that Irish dancers usually do displays because the people involved are at least partially routed in the community and they want to contribute in someway ( or show off their kids if you want to choose to look at it like that). We did do a lot of nursing homes, charity events etc. After Riverdance quite a few display teams did change to simpler dresses but it did mean that if you were a competition dancer you still needed a competition dress as well ( although some of the eldest dancers did simplify the competition dresses at that time and it looked very effective) and to tell the truth some of the short black dresses were totally unsuitable for little girls.
Have had the somewhat strange job of storing such dresses between performances at a celtoid festival, they're heavy, hot, ugly things which seem to be designed to torture the poor young things who are saddled with them. Can these dresses be made of some breathable material so the victims aren't dehydrated after dancing in the summer sun? Maybe Nike or Adidas can get in on the act. Most need something for the post-performance odour too.
Watching Irish dance is easier now that I'm not always hungover whenever I'm subjected to it.
I don't mind the dresses, some of them look quite pretty but it's the make-up and wigs etc that bother me. Girls shouldn't be made up to look like women.
Hmmm - BUT the competitors like to get dressed up - it makes them feel special. I have a daughter who dances and I think she looks great in her outfit.
The boys are a bit luckier - time was they had to wear kilts! Nowadays they just dress in regular clothes - black trousers, shirt and tie.
And if the designs really are from the book of Kells - sure isn't that a great way to celebrate one of our county's national literary treasures?
Literary? The text is in Latin and was copied. Art, certainly! I'm sure the kids do like to get dressed up but apart from clean and tidy kit the marking should concentrate on the dance. Mind you, I'm with a rapper dance team and used to be certain that we were being marked down for wearing brown shoes.
When, as I have, you see little girls puking offstage because the pressure is getting to them, you know things are getting a bit too regimented, and the fun is being lost. It is sad, but many women I know who have come up through the dance schools now don't want to have anything to do with it. There is a young waitress at the local pub, who danced for years, who I have only persuaded to dance once during our session, by daring her to dance a jig if I did. Fortunately, I have done some ceilidhe dancing and had a few adult step dance classes with my wife, so I didn't appear a total fool--I did the best a 250 pound, post-50 man in hiking boots could do! And our waitress did very well for herself--it was good to see someone laughing while they danced, something you rarely see among the "playing card dress" crowd.!
This thread reminds me of a joke I once heard:
Q: What is the difference between a pit bull and a dance mother?
A: The dance mother wears lipstick.
In any "hobby" like this you will get people who put the pressure on. I've seen mothers praying with their daughters in the toliets and I'm sure it wasn't about everyone having a good time. But I have also seen these kids mucking about sponataneously and having a wonderful time. Displays where things have gone hidously wrong and they just adapt and keep going. A wedding where the bride and bridesmaids danced at the reception. Quite a lot stop completely but will come back later or just bring their kids. I don't think my daughter will dance again for a while but that was because her boyfriend rather than enjoying her skill is embarrassed about public dancing.
I do agree that I dislike the wigs and makeup on pre teens but its no worse than other forms of dance for that.
Are they still using titty tape to hold their socks up? I am out of the loop now, but I remember them giving us tape to put around the top of the socks, so they didnt fall down!
I also prefered the dresses when they were embroidered in less hallucnagenic colours. Now they almost look cheap and tacky.
On a vaguely related tangent, I’ve observed in the issues of Treoir that in the photos of Comhaltas players, the men are usually in relaxed collared shirts and slacks, looking like they’ve just ditched their tie and left their office cubicles, while the women are invariably in velveteen gowns with some vaguely ren-fair cut to them. Probably comes from my US perspective and I don’t wish to offend, but it seems odd, this double standard or maybe just idealization of the role of women in what is, after all, a conservative music.
Last I looked, the wigs (or falls) weren't compulsory, it just seemed that way. They used to be forbidden for younger competitors, as wearing wigs by children was considered trashy. The dress designs rarely even remotely resemble anything from the Book of Kells, or even anything Irish or Gaelic. They "celebrate" Las Vegas, not Irish culture.
JonBenet Ramsey was a 6 year old "beauty" pageant contestant from a wealthy family in Colorado, sexually abused and brutally murdered. The case is still unsolved. The publicity brought to wide public notice the garish show-girl costumes, makeup, tiaras and sexualized posturing these young girls endure for the sake of competition. Current Irish dance competition wear is very much in the same mold.
According to the North American Feis Commission rules (and probably elsewhere), " ... wearing of shorts or other unconventional dress is prohibited. Authentic Gaelic dress is desired. Modest attire is encouraged when competitor is not dancing. " Also, "The use of make-up and false tan is not permitted in competitions for dancers under the age of 10 years..." I'm just waiting for a courageous adjudicator to enforce these rules. I'd like to think that this development is confined to North America, but a cruise though the galleries of Irish, UK and Australian dance school web sites proves otherwise.
This story was ubiquitous in US media for a long time and became tabloid material before it slipped into obscurity. It now remains as a weird blip in the American collective unconscious.
First I'll set the scene: We were asked to do a couple of musical sets at a huge auditorium in the suburbs. The local Irish dance schools were to present their dancing in-between our sets. The stage had a front section (that we were set up on) that would rise up to stage level for our sets, and then lower back down with the curtain just behind us opening to reveal a huge stage where the dancers were to perform. Then when they finished, the curtain would close and the front section of the stage would rise just in front of it for our set.
So after the first school presented their bit, the curtain closed, up came the front stage section, and we walked out to it. We were a 4-piece band at that time, but we had arranged to have a harpist join us on the second half. Our harpist was waiting back stage in a big room where all of the different schools were also waiting. Her description of what transpired is where this anecdote actually begins.
She said they resembled armies in uniform who were all sizing each other up before battle. The ladies who were their teachers behaved not unlike generals barking orders to their troops. The "generals" at one point had a summit to negotiate the details of the proceedings when all of a sudden a huge row broke out between them. Their voices were raised in heated tones and they began pointing fingers and making blanket accusations about each other. The troops seemed to be loading their pistols and sharpening their spears -- and everyone was extremely tense.
Meanwhile, we were on stage in the middle of our set without any clue about the drama unfolding back stage. At one point one of the generals ordered her troops to assemble on the stage just behind the curtain we were in front of. (I remember hearing the sound of them marching just behind us during our set) Our harpist backstage witnessing this said the troops were standing at attention just behind the curtain ready for battle... toes pointed forward like bayonets.
Then the general ordered the stage manager to cut of our mics, lower the stage, and load their CD into the cannons. The stage manager had that classic look of a deer caught in the headlights... and was frozen. The general repeated the orders... he remained frozen. Then she went over and started looking for the switch that would lower the stage. The other generals intercepted and physically pulled her away proclaiming her actions were against the Geneva conventions. The general of the troops assembled on stage realized she was outnumbered and perhaps not within compliance of International law regarding such things... and backed off.
Meanwhile, we had just finished our set for the first half, bowed, and as soon as we stepped off the stage it began to lower, the curtain started rising, and the CD began to blare. Then what sounded like a volley of rapid gunfire commenced.
I hated those dresses. My dance school had these aweful metalic shiny ones in bright pink, green, blue, purple, and white for the really good dancers. I thought it would be punishment to wear one. The ones I wore weren't too bad, just purple velvety stuff with embroidery. And the hair! God, I'd never wear a wig, I always curled my own.
It costs a fortune to be a female Irish dancer, and unfortunately, it is the dress and hair that is likely to win you a championship rather than the dancing ability. It all seems to be a cross between Cruft's, Miss World, and Pop Idol.
Oh, yeah, finally remembered who JonBeenet Ramsey was.....do not understand the motivations of parents who put their kids through such stuff, even before the murder............
I seem to have the majority here with me on awfulness of these things.
I also have an aside on the Book of Kells; visited Dublin on the way to the Fleadh in '75; had to stop off and see the library. Book of Kells gets put out in its case, page is turned every day, it's the Gospels for those who don't know, in latin, of course. Me and travelling companion are fairly well educated, not to say also lapsed C of E, so as well as admiring all the gingerbread decorations we're reading it in latin, and then translating it out loud, basic text being familiar to us, to the amazement of various visiting americans. Who says a classical education is a waste ?
The book of Kells was probably produced in Lindisfarne not Ireland and the interlaced style is a an Anglo-Saxon style the Irish borrowed and not indigenous to the "Celts" http://www.fathom.com/course/10701049/session5.html
"The book of Kells was probably produced in Lindisfarne not Ireland and the interlaced style is a an Anglo-Saxon style the Irish borrowed and not indigenous to the "Celts" "
Aye PP, some in Scotland and Ireland may disagree with that. It's generally recognised as having been produced on the island of Iona, off the West Coast of Scotland, and eventually ending up in Ireland.
I thought that the present consensus was that the Book of Kells was made in Iona?
Jaime -- you're so right. I recall seeing a photograph of Mr. Cathryn's niece in her Halloween costume, circa age 11, and for a few horrified seconds, thought she'd dressed up as a prostitute! Nope. She was -- you guessed it.
I can't understand why these dresses are considered "full regalia." At what period in Irish history, prior to the 1920's did girls and women go about with their limbs exposed in that shameless fashion? Historically speaking, if a lady wished to be daring she exposed her shoulders, NOT her ankles.
Is there anything in the tradition that suggests these dresses are authentic? I get the impression that traditional music was enjoyed by centuries of humble and poor people. I find that to be the charm of it....that in this tough, sad and complicated life, there are these tunes that tsimple folks can get involved in, whether its playing the tunes or moving ones feet along with friends.
These dresses, fine and expensive instruments, over-orchestrated recordings, and excesively high expectations at sessions seem to be a corruption of the true joy of the music.
Incidently, I took a tour of ebay. It is worse than I thought!
I was at a pub around St Paddy's day and "the Maid of Ireland" and her court came in. They were persuaded to dance. It was beautiful. They did it in their regular clothes. I put a picture of this event at http://sessionite.feardearg.com/page.php?in=02. (Since I was putting up this picture for you, I thought I may as well put some other pictures you might find curious).
Glitterdot, raw silk, tiaras and wigs: it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that these modern items, now masquerading as "traditional Gaelic dress," don't have much basis in the Irish dancing history of long ago. What did the Irish of old wear to dance?
Early Modern Irish Dancing
The art now known as Irish step dancing is said to have begun in the late eighteenth century, and had even made its way to America during that period. "As early as 1789 John Durang, a dance master in Philadelphia, was recorded as having danced reel, jigs and hornpipes" (Cullinane 1, p.10). During this time, dancers did not have a dance-specific costume; they simply wore their Sunday best, perhaps decorated with ribbons. "In the early 1800s female dancers wore ordinary peasant dresses and ribbons formed into flowers or crosses. The girl's crimson homespun skirt reached down to her ankles over which she wore a simple black bodice" (Flynn 1).
Men typically wore their work shoes, while women went barefoot. According to a writer named Kennedy (1867), dancers performing the Rinnce Fada in 1812 "were in their shirt sleeves, waistcoats, knee breeches, white stockings and turn pumps, all bright colors around their waists and ribbons of bright hue encircling heads, shirt sleeves, knees and boots, the shoulders getting more than was their due, the girls were in their Sunday garb with their hair decked with ribbons" (Cullinane 2, p. 11). Some early dancers went beyond colorful ribbons. Dance masters were known to have a more flamboyant style of dress than the general country people, wearing brighter colors and perhaps striped stockings!
The Nineteenth Century
Throughout the nineteenth century, costume continued to consist of one's Sunday best, which of course changed with the fashion silhouette of the day - though peasant bodices and knee breeches seemed to have continued in their popularity with the Irish. A brat ("braht"), an Irish term for a woolen cloak, was worn often in everyday life, and as well for dancing. "The wool was particularly thick and durable, being resistant to the weather. Black, red, blue and grey were the most popular colors" (Whelan, p. 39). The mid-nineteenth century also saw a dramatic change in the dance form: females began to dance hard shoe dances in counties Cork and Kerry, though this did not spread elsewhere until the late 1920s (Cullinane 2, p. 63). This was seen as unladylike at first, but was slowly accepted as the norm.
By the late nineteenth century, a dancing costume began to evolve out of the Gaelic Revival, a movement to increase support for the traditional culture of Ireland. The Gaelic League was created in 1897; the organization's purpose was to preserve and promote Irish culture, including language, music, sports, and dance. At the time, a style of female costume known as the "Colleen Bawn" was popular with stage performers in Ireland. It consisted of a dress with an apron over it, and a hooded cloak. This style however was generally regarded with disdain, as it reinforced stereotypical Irish characters, and thus was falling out of favor by the 1910s (Cullinane 2, p. 15).
It was replaced by a long white dress and shawl or cloak, lighter versions of the former brat. Cloaks covered both shoulders and often tied at the neck, while shawls were "apparently held only at one shoulder, with some embroidery on both the dresses and shawls" (Cullinane 2, p. 15). The photos that Cullinane refers to are some of the earliest documented evidence of embroidery on Irish dancing costumes, a feature that would define and dominate the twentieth century costume.
Men often continued to wear knee breeches, though by this time waistcoats were no longer popular. Instead, the usual look was a white dress shirt and cummerbund. Large, colored cravats also seemed to be popular. Some younger men, such as Ambrose Brunton (Cullinane 2, p. 14, Photo 2), have been photographed wearing a waistcoat and jacket (usually reserved for formal occasions, such as getting one's photo taken); in the photo on page 14, which is dated circa 1892, Ambrose is also carrying a walking stick and wearing a broad-rimmed hat, both which are noted as unusual.
The Gaelic Revival
Due to the Gaelic Revival, contests for the best version of "Gaelic dress" became popular at dance and music competitions during this decade, and were the prototypes for what would become dance-specific costumes (Cullinane 2, p. 31). A straight dress with embroidery on the bodice, cloak or shawl became the norm for girls. White seemed to be by far the most popular color for girls' dresses, with green, crimson, and saffron also being used for accent colors in decorative Celtic knotwork, or for the base of women's dresses. A less popular color combination, though known to have been used on at least one very nice silk "Irish costume," consisted of teal and purples. Dresses could be of a simple straight fit, or in the case of girls' dresses, ruffled. Some girls also wore white headbands or berets; while headbands continue to be popular in the twenty-first century, the berets were popular only until roughly the mid-twentieth century. Females also wore shoes to dance by this time; black ballet-like soft pumps became popular during the 1920s, and dancers wore black stockings, or white or colored knee socks with them.
Curiously, the introduction of the ballet pumps seems to have changed the style of the soft shoe dances. One dance, the slip jig, "was originally performed by men as well as women but with the introduction of the ballet shoes the style changed; the slip jig became more balletic and more and more feminine, and is now almost exclusively performed by the females" (Cullinane 2, p. 61). Recently the slip jig has become more powerful and less balletic, leading at least one region in the United States to continue to hold slip jig competitions for males, whereas in rest of the country, such competitions are unusual.
For men, the saffron kilt had become popular to wear for everyday wear or for language and music competitions, but they often still changed into a shirt and knee breeches or long trousers to dance - breeches or short trousers being worn by the younger boys (Cullinane 2, p. 33). "Kilts had been worn by members of the Gaelic League for some 30 years or so before they became accepted as Irish dancing costume" (Cullinane 2, p. 33). Ironically, "[t]here is no evidence that the kilts were ever worn by the Irish at any time prior to the 1890s" (Cullinane 2, p. 39). Once kilts were accepted in the 1930s and '40s, they became the staple of the male Irish dancer's wardrobe until the mid-1990s, those wearing trousers during this period being marked as unusual. Meanwhile, kilts as everyday wear by the general public were nearly abandoned; they are only enjoying a revival at present, due to the overwhelming popularity of all things Celtic.
The unchanging look of the male costume during this period serves as a sharp contrast to the female dancer's costume. For a time, the saffron kilt was worn by some female dancers with a white blouse, green jacket, and saffron cape (Cullinane 2, p. 40, Photo 20). This kilt has survived throughout the years in the form of the pleated skirt, which is now most often worn by beginners with a white blouse and neck ribbon. The ballet-like pumps were still worn for soft shoe dances, while leather shoes with wooden soles, or leather soles with small nails pounded into the tips and heels, were used for the battering hard shoe dances.
Through the mid-twentieth century, dancers often wore their earned medals from competitions on an apron over their costume, though not usually during competition (Cullinane 2, p. 44). Presently, it is illegal for a dancer to wear their medals during a competition.
Twentieth-Century Evolution
During the 1930s through the 1960s, the female dancing costumes evolved to a more recognizable cousin to today's dresses. Jackets over dresses or blouse and skirt combinations seemed most popular; berets and sashes, the former occasionally decorated with a feather and the latter often worn from shoulder to waist with a loose end draped down the front of the chest, were quite popular in Australia and New Zealand (Cullinane 2, p 68, Photo 42). Simple colored dresses with small shoulder-to-waist shawls, cords round the waist, and small amounts of embroidery were worn since the 1930s, and caught on though the decades, being covered with more embroidery until the style reached its peak in the 1970s.
Dramatic Changes
The 1980s saw a few of the most dramatic changes in the history of Irish dancing costume: the advent of "ghillies," or low-cut softshoes with criss-cross lacing, replacing the black pumps for all but beginners; fiberglass tips and heels for hard shoes, making them louder; and the enormous popularity of tightly curled hair that continues to this day. Oddly enough, though it's often claimed that curled hair is traditional, photographic evidence shows that dancers often preferred their everyday hairstyles that were popular at the time. One explanation for the popularity of the "big hair" is that it balances out the heavily stiffened dresses, which were another 1980s fashion innovation.
The bright colors of the earliest dancers are repeated in present-day dance dresses. In the early 1990s, dress bases were predominantly a dark color, made of velvet and heavily embroidered with bright colors. In the mid-1990s, two-color-based dresses become popular, as well as satin appliqué in addition to embroidery, and dressmakers began to experiment with lighter-weight dresses, helping to alleviate the problem of too-heavy, too-hot costumes. Raw silk and polyester shantung replaced velvet and gabardine for the base of most solo dresses, and fancier materials such as glitterdot are now preferred over satin for appliqué work. Embroidery is presently at a minimum, and the designs have unfortunately often become more geometric than Celtic. The word now is "stage presence" - all that sparkles and shines is popular. While headbands continue to be popular in the lower levels, tiaras and cloth tiara-like embroidered crowns are far more popular amongst those of higher competitive rank. Female dancers have also moved from styling their own hair to donning the much-appreciated wigs; that certainly save many headaches for both parents and dancers, and give dancers a curler-less night's rest!
Another major event struck Irish dancing in 1994: Riverdance. Originally a one-song choreography to be performed at the judging interval at that year's Eurovision contest (which was hosted by Ireland and broadcasted across Europe), it soon grew into a dance show sensation, spawning too many offshoots to count. There was a small trend at the time for women to move to the simpler, show-inspired costumes, but the heavier, more adorned costumes won popularity over those.
A far more lasting change has been in men's costuming. Prior to this, despite a growing discontent for them especially amongst younger boys, jackets and kilts were the norm - and by this time, to deviate was unheard of. However, Riverdance and its counterparts changed all of this - in fact, the President of An Coimisuin (The Commission, the largest governing body of Irish dancing competitions) announced at the World Championships in 1994 that there were no official rules that boys were to wear kilts. The dancing community had simply pushed it! As one may expect, the vast majority of young men changed to black trousers, and these - along with a nice shirt and tie, or shirt, vest and tie, or shirt and cummerbund - became the standard. White or colored shirts and cummerbunds were quite popular in the mid-1990s; cummerbunds were soon replaced with colored or black vests, though they can still be seen occasionally. A very popular combination currently is black trousers, a black shirt, and a solid-colored satin tie, which looks very sharp - though kilts have a small but growing following, especially in tan or black colors.
Irish dancing costumes have gone through a shocking variety of styles only within the past 100 years. Though dance fashion continues to press onwards, it is hoped that the majority of costumes will never lose their truly Irish feel.
I always thought the dresses those poor girls had to wear were a bit garish. But when I 13 or so, I was invited to sing with a Celtic band at a ceilidhe, and one of the other bands had this drop dead gorgeous lead singer. Her hair was dark and cropped short and she wore a big, billowy black linen dress. When she started dancing in the middle of one of the songs, it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
Ever since then I've been an avid supporter of "simpler is better."
Vomiting the Book of Kells
Vomiting the Book of Kells
I was following links about the London fleadh, and eventually came to an area in the home counties, illustrated with photos of young women, dressed as if someone had eaten the Books of Kells and then vomited over them, as someone else has previously said.
When did this curious style of dress be deemed necessary for showing off irish dancing ? And why ?
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
To say nothing of hair "styles" which look impossible to grow naturally.
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by lazyhound
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
On st paddys day, we visited a local pub after playing a wee gig at a nursing home. A girl at the bar had her hair in that poodle cut. Presumably she was an Irish dancer and had performed earlier. Think it looks ridiculous on stage? It looks even more hilarious on someone sitting in a normal setting. Boing boing boing....
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by Splendid Isolation
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
where have you been these last few decades, Pete van Winkel?
Even worse, much much worse, and wait for it...
..my 14 year old daughter was in Top Shop, Oxford St. yesterday (teacher's strike, in case you're wondering) and her and her mates were trying on quasi-Irish dance dresses! These were mass-produced little numbers, now in the teenage market, designed for the consumption by today's young teenage trendies, but at the back of the store for the more Indie chicks. They were in no way anything close to the hand made expensive technicolour chunders of which you speak. So the next teen disco you attend in London, expect to see these in abundance. The weans aw sprachlin' and caperin' wi' thon, waed they had auld Nick fiddlin'.
But who are we to complain?
Did ye never jig a jig to Jig-a-Jig, by East of Eden? (which was a reel in actual fact)...or stuff by The Pogues, and now, it seems, The Corrs.So now they don't just listen to bits and pieces of their musical cultural horizon they dress up to go out to whatever.
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by Alf Tupper
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
it's better (and much more decent) than looking like britney spears, as far as i'm concerned.
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by jaime!
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
I saw the Chieftains in Newark,NJ the day after St Patrick's day and they had a group of these girls from a local Irish Dancing School, in Medusa coils and vomited dresses, dancing. Paddy Maloney didn't even know they were going to come out to dance. He said he missed the note taped to his monitor onstage. They were just paraded out during one of the rare musical interludes of the evening. In addition, there were a few enthusiastic young tap dancers (no, they weren't step dancers) who just wouldn't stop tapping. And the special guests, the Cottars, dance while fiddling (yawn).
I would like to say I heard the Chieftains, but there was so much percussion from the dancing, the music was just about lost.
I would have given anything to have a team of shaky egg shakers instead of tap dancers.
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by bigpalooka
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
ROFLMAO...Yes the dresses do look like a "technicoloured yawn" as we aussies say.
I think there is a ruling from the Irish Dancing Commitee (IDC) which states that..."all competitors must dress in full regalia (including funny coloured wigs) whilst performing Irish dance steps. At all times participants must be prepared to upgrade their costume regardless of taste and financial matters."
I can remember in the late '80's the commotion when one of the dancers in Australia paid Au$1000 for a dress from Ireland. I think I could buy 2 Clifford Essex Paragon tenor banjos for the price they charge now.
Not to say that dress makers don't deserve every cent Zina
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by Greenwiggle
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
We call 'em 'playing card dancers' because those stiff fore'n'aft panels look like cards.
Ciaran Carson goes on at hilarious length about them, I think in "Last Night's Fun" or maybe it's in his guide to ITM book. He calls them 'fascist' as I recall. That's had a great influence on me... <GG>
Unfortunately, with the States in an orgy of passion for conformity just now, the schools that teach this stuff are shaping a lot of the American regard for things Irish. *sigh*
Necessarily, we come across these cadres of dancers fairly often, and I tried to explain Munster sean nós dancing as we had experienced it, to some of the stage-mad parents,. They couldn't really grasp that anyone would just dance, without costume, competition nor regimentation.
We've had a lovely girl, who's outgrown the regimented gang version of this costumed competition, dance with us at some festivals, and it's been very nice to have her and folks loved to see her dance. It's nice when we do a 'show,' but I'd rather play for a ceili or a contra dance.
Wherever in history this stuff has come from, it's now a part of American/Irish culture, and it's often a vital source of patronage for the music and it brings a lot of people into some awareness of Irish traditions.
stv
http://cdbaby.com/Culchies
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by stv culchie
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
Another triumph of style over substance? Would they really mark down someone who wore last years costume?
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by Paul_draper
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
We were loading our equipment into a room for one of our gigs during this past Paddy"s Day season only to find a wee little girl with a bouncy wig and decked out in the aforementioned dress was doing her routine on the stage with her mom looking on proudly. As we stood there waiting for her to finish before setting up in her performance area I was reminded of something... but I wasn't quite sure. Then it dawned on me -- JonBenet Ramsey.
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by Phantom Button
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
I posted my little note, then went off to bed.
So........Danny, I haven't been asleep, it's just that they come to look weirder and weirder through all the years. And what mother of a growing girl can afford to buy one every year so they often seem not quite the right size.
You might have thought Riverdance would have changed all that, but no...except that we were asked to play at, of all places, a bingo hall, where the irish manager was celebrating his birthday, and, in the aftermath of Riverdance, the dancers were determindly cool in black.
JonBenet Ramsey I know not.
And..is this why Zina's quiet these days, she's too busy sewing ?
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
Cheers Pete - hope you appreciated I was just jesting. I tried to find the pseudo-Irish dancing dresses on the Top Shop website but to no avail. OK, maybe it wasn't them, but one of the big high street fashion retailers, you know what I mean. I kid you not.
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by Alf Tupper
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
"Medusa Coils" pretty much sums it up!
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by wormdiet
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
You should try doing the curling - many hours of tears and that was just me.
At least 10 or so years ago we were talking more head full of bouncing curls rather than the more formal ringlets that are the norm now. Cat stopped competition dancing just before wigs became common place so we didn't have to put up with that, although it might have been easlier than the bl***dy curlers. Realistically , it is a process just like any other sort of formal dancing . I met an awful lot of pushy parents but you find them everywhere - orchestras are very good for that as well.
There were kids who did it because their parents told them to, there were kids who got a kick from competing and winning, there were kids who got into the music that way, there were kids who were out of it as soon as teenage rebellion let them. There were kids who you knew were little princesses and kids you knew were urchins at heart (mine for a start).
Yes the outfits have got a wee bit out of hand - A friend and I used to have quite a lot of fun at feis looking for the worst ones - you would think some people had absolutely no idea what colours went together at all. A fair comparison would be with ballroom dancing or even modern dancing competitions and what is worn for them. The main difference is that Irish dancers usually do displays because the people involved are at least partially routed in the community and they want to contribute in someway ( or show off their kids if you want to choose to look at it like that). We did do a lot of nursing homes, charity events etc. After Riverdance quite a few display teams did change to simpler dresses but it did mean that if you were a competition dancer you still needed a competition dress as well ( although some of the eldest dancers did simplify the competition dresses at that time and it looked very effective) and to tell the truth some of the short black dresses were totally unsuitable for little girls.
J
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by jfother
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
Have had the somewhat strange job of storing such dresses between performances at a celtoid festival, they're heavy, hot, ugly things which seem to be designed to torture the poor young things who are saddled with them. Can these dresses be made of some breathable material so the victims aren't dehydrated after dancing in the summer sun? Maybe Nike or Adidas can get in on the act. Most need something for the post-performance odour too.
Watching Irish dance is easier now that I'm not always hungover whenever I'm subjected to it.
Peace, Mooh.
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by Mooh
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
I don't mind the dresses, some of them look quite pretty but it's the make-up and wigs etc that bother me. Girls shouldn't be made up to look like women.
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by Compo
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
http://www.buy4now.ie/julkat/p3782carr.jpg
This is like the icing on the poo cake too
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by Ripthecalico
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
Hmmm - BUT the competitors like to get dressed up - it makes them feel special. I have a daughter who dances and I think she looks great in her outfit.
The boys are a bit luckier - time was they had to wear kilts! Nowadays they just dress in regular clothes - black trousers, shirt and tie.
And if the designs really are from the book of Kells - sure isn't that a great way to celebrate one of our county's national literary treasures?
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by breandan
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
Literary? The text is in Latin and was copied. Art, certainly! I'm sure the kids do like to get dressed up but apart from clean and tidy kit the marking should concentrate on the dance. Mind you, I'm with a rapper dance team and used to be certain that we were being marked down for wearing brown shoes.
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by Paul_draper
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
No argument here that the adjudication sometimes leaves a lot to be desired. Indeed, at one féis, an adjudicator commented on the 'glamour girls' !!
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by breandan
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
When, as I have, you see little girls puking offstage because the pressure is getting to them, you know things are getting a bit too regimented, and the fun is being lost. It is sad, but many women I know who have come up through the dance schools now don't want to have anything to do with it. There is a young waitress at the local pub, who danced for years, who I have only persuaded to dance once during our session, by daring her to dance a jig if I did. Fortunately, I have done some ceilidhe dancing and had a few adult step dance classes with my wife, so I didn't appear a total fool--I did the best a 250 pound, post-50 man in hiking boots could do! And our waitress did very well for herself--it was good to see someone laughing while they danced, something you rarely see among the "playing card dress" crowd.!
This thread reminds me of a joke I once heard:
Q: What is the difference between a pit bull and a dance mother?
A: The dance mother wears lipstick.
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by AlBrown
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
In any "hobby" like this you will get people who put the pressure on. I've seen mothers praying with their daughters in the toliets and I'm sure it wasn't about everyone having a good time. But I have also seen these kids mucking about sponataneously and having a wonderful time. Displays where things have gone hidously wrong and they just adapt and keep going. A wedding where the bride and bridesmaids danced at the reception. Quite a lot stop completely but will come back later or just bring their kids. I don't think my daughter will dance again for a while but that was because her boyfriend rather than enjoying her skill is embarrassed about public dancing.
I do agree that I dislike the wigs and makeup on pre teens but its no worse than other forms of dance for that.
J
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by jfother
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
Are they still using titty tape to hold their socks up? I am out of the loop now, but I remember them giving us tape to put around the top of the socks, so they didnt fall down!
I also prefered the dresses when they were embroidered in less hallucnagenic colours. Now they almost look cheap and tacky.
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by blas
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
On a vaguely related tangent, I’ve observed in the issues of Treoir that in the photos of Comhaltas players, the men are usually in relaxed collared shirts and slacks, looking like they’ve just ditched their tie and left their office cubicles, while the women are invariably in velveteen gowns with some vaguely ren-fair cut to them. Probably comes from my US perspective and I don’t wish to offend, but it seems odd, this double standard or maybe just idealization of the role of women in what is, after all, a conservative music.
And, uh, blas, what is “titty tape”?
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by fidkid
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
Last I looked, the wigs (or falls) weren't compulsory, it just seemed that way. They used to be forbidden for younger competitors, as wearing wigs by children was considered trashy. The dress designs rarely even remotely resemble anything from the Book of Kells, or even anything Irish or Gaelic. They "celebrate" Las Vegas, not Irish culture.
JonBenet Ramsey was a 6 year old "beauty" pageant contestant from a wealthy family in Colorado, sexually abused and brutally murdered. The case is still unsolved. The publicity brought to wide public notice the garish show-girl costumes, makeup, tiaras and sexualized posturing these young girls endure for the sake of competition. Current Irish dance competition wear is very much in the same mold.
According to the North American Feis Commission rules (and probably elsewhere), " ... wearing of shorts or other unconventional dress is prohibited. Authentic Gaelic dress is desired. Modest attire is encouraged when competitor is not dancing. " Also, "The use of make-up and false tan is not permitted in competitions for dancers under the age of 10 years..." I'm just waiting for a courageous adjudicator to enforce these rules. I'd like to think that this development is confined to North America, but a cruise though the galleries of Irish, UK and Australian dance school web sites proves otherwise.
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by Tracie
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
I didn't know what you good people were on about so I looked it up and found this:http://search.ebay.co.uk/irish-dancing-dress_W0QQfcclZ1QQfclZ4QQfnuZ1QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1
Good grief!
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by Lurcherjohn
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
"JonBenet Ramsey I know not."
This story was ubiquitous in US media for a long time and became tabloid material before it slipped into obscurity. It now remains as a weird blip in the American collective unconscious.
http://yahoo.eonline.com/On/Holly/Shows/Ramsey/facts.html
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by Phantom Button
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
Time for one of PB's infamous anecdotes...
First I'll set the scene: We were asked to do a couple of musical sets at a huge auditorium in the suburbs. The local Irish dance schools were to present their dancing in-between our sets. The stage had a front section (that we were set up on) that would rise up to stage level for our sets, and then lower back down with the curtain just behind us opening to reveal a huge stage where the dancers were to perform. Then when they finished, the curtain would close and the front section of the stage would rise just in front of it for our set.
So after the first school presented their bit, the curtain closed, up came the front stage section, and we walked out to it. We were a 4-piece band at that time, but we had arranged to have a harpist join us on the second half. Our harpist was waiting back stage in a big room where all of the different schools were also waiting. Her description of what transpired is where this anecdote actually begins.
She said they resembled armies in uniform who were all sizing each other up before battle. The ladies who were their teachers behaved not unlike generals barking orders to their troops. The "generals" at one point had a summit to negotiate the details of the proceedings when all of a sudden a huge row broke out between them. Their voices were raised in heated tones and they began pointing fingers and making blanket accusations about each other. The troops seemed to be loading their pistols and sharpening their spears -- and everyone was extremely tense.
Meanwhile, we were on stage in the middle of our set without any clue about the drama unfolding back stage. At one point one of the generals ordered her troops to assemble on the stage just behind the curtain we were in front of. (I remember hearing the sound of them marching just behind us during our set) Our harpist backstage witnessing this said the troops were standing at attention just behind the curtain ready for battle... toes pointed forward like bayonets.
Then the general ordered the stage manager to cut of our mics, lower the stage, and load their CD into the cannons. The stage manager had that classic look of a deer caught in the headlights... and was frozen. The general repeated the orders... he remained frozen. Then she went over and started looking for the switch that would lower the stage. The other generals intercepted and physically pulled her away proclaiming her actions were against the Geneva conventions. The general of the troops assembled on stage realized she was outnumbered and perhaps not within compliance of International law regarding such things... and backed off.
Meanwhile, we had just finished our set for the first half, bowed, and as soon as we stepped off the stage it began to lower, the curtain started rising, and the CD began to blare. Then what sounded like a volley of rapid gunfire commenced.
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by Phantom Button
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
this is over AU1000. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Look-Stunning-Irish-dance-Dancing-dress-costume_W0QQitemZ9301489286QQcategoryZ315QQtcZphotoQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Some of these dresses look like they should be used as high vis safety devices, or are they that colour so the dancers can still be seens or be used as a torch if the lights go out?
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by Joze
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
I hated those dresses. My dance school had these aweful metalic shiny ones in bright pink, green, blue, purple, and white for the really good dancers. I thought it would be punishment to wear one. The ones I wore weren't too bad, just purple velvety stuff with embroidery. And the hair! God, I'd never wear a wig, I always curled my own.
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by m
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
It costs a fortune to be a female Irish dancer, and unfortunately, it is the dress and hair that is likely to win you a championship rather than the dancing ability. It all seems to be a cross between Cruft's, Miss World, and Pop Idol.
capitalism gone mad.
# Posted on March 31st 2006 by bodhran bliss
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
I used to ride horses competitively, and you think Irish dancing is bad?
# Posted on March 31st 2006 by Joze
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
Oh, yeah, finally remembered who JonBeenet Ramsey was.....do not understand the motivations of parents who put their kids through such stuff, even before the murder............
I seem to have the majority here with me on awfulness of these things.
I also have an aside on the Book of Kells; visited Dublin on the way to the Fleadh in '75; had to stop off and see the library. Book of Kells gets put out in its case, page is turned every day, it's the Gospels for those who don't know, in latin, of course. Me and travelling companion are fairly well educated, not to say also lapsed C of E, so as well as admiring all the gingerbread decorations we're reading it in latin, and then translating it out loud, basic text being familiar to us, to the amazement of various visiting americans. Who says a classical education is a waste ?
# Posted on March 31st 2006 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
Q. Difference between a pit-bull and a social worker?
A. You get your kids back from a pit-bull (who also wears the lipstick)
A local team to us wears all the sequins, armbands, headbands, the lot - they all look like Wonder-Woman off the tv.
The band hide when they appear.
# Posted on March 31st 2006 by geoffwright
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
The book of Kells was probably produced in Lindisfarne not Ireland and the interlaced style is a an Anglo-Saxon style the Irish borrowed and not indigenous to the "Celts"
http://www.fathom.com/course/10701049/session5.html
PP
# Posted on March 31st 2006 by Pied Piper
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
Fidkid ask your Mother/girlfriend/female chums, what titty tape is...............
# Posted on March 31st 2006 by blas
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
"The book of Kells was probably produced in Lindisfarne not Ireland and the interlaced style is a an Anglo-Saxon style the Irish borrowed and not indigenous to the "Celts" "
Aye PP, some in Scotland and Ireland may disagree with that. It's generally recognised as having been produced on the island of Iona, off the West Coast of Scotland, and eventually ending up in Ireland.
# Posted on March 31st 2006 by Ron P
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
Ron that's what I understand to be the correct provenance - produced at Iona by (Irish?) monks at the monastery founded by St Columba.
# Posted on March 31st 2006 by Conán McDonnell
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
Sorry blas. Did a quick google/image search and found some, er, interesting results. Obvious to me now. I’m all for it. Wait, maybe not.
# Posted on March 31st 2006 by fidkid
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
Its alright Fidkid, we used to call it toupee tape or double sided sticky tape.
# Posted on March 31st 2006 by blas
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
Blás, I did some research too, but I couldn't see you on any of those sites. Am I looking in the right place?
# Posted on March 31st 2006 by Conán McDonnell
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
That would be telling big boy!
# Posted on March 31st 2006 by blas
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
...AND?
# Posted on March 31st 2006 by Conán McDonnell
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
Just put 'flute fetish' into a search engine and see what you come up with Conán!
# Posted on March 31st 2006 by blas
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
Spot on Conán.
# Posted on March 31st 2006 by Ron P
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
I thought that the present consensus was that the Book of Kells was made in Iona?
Jaime -- you're so right. I recall seeing a photograph of Mr. Cathryn's niece in her Halloween costume, circa age 11, and for a few horrified seconds, thought she'd dressed up as a prostitute! Nope. She was -- you guessed it.
Of course, anything Zina makes is class all over.
# Posted on April 1st 2006 by cathrynb
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
Checked out one page of that eBay category -- yuck!
Vomit, indeed.
# Posted on April 1st 2006 by cathrynb
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
I can't understand why these dresses are considered "full regalia." At what period in Irish history, prior to the 1920's did girls and women go about with their limbs exposed in that shameless fashion? Historically speaking, if a lady wished to be daring she exposed her shoulders, NOT her ankles.
# Posted on April 1st 2006 by KateG
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
Is there anything in the tradition that suggests these dresses are authentic? I get the impression that traditional music was enjoyed by centuries of humble and poor people. I find that to be the charm of it....that in this tough, sad and complicated life, there are these tunes that tsimple folks can get involved in, whether its playing the tunes or moving ones feet along with friends.
These dresses, fine and expensive instruments, over-orchestrated recordings, and excesively high expectations at sessions seem to be a corruption of the true joy of the music.
Incidently, I took a tour of ebay. It is worse than I thought!
I was at a pub around St Paddy's day and "the Maid of Ireland" and her court came in. They were persuaded to dance. It was beautiful. They did it in their regular clothes. I put a picture of this event at http://sessionite.feardearg.com/page.php?in=02. (Since I was putting up this picture for you, I thought I may as well put some other pictures you might find curious).
# Posted on April 2nd 2006 by feardearg
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
A History of Irish Dance Costume
Glitterdot, raw silk, tiaras and wigs: it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that these modern items, now masquerading as "traditional Gaelic dress," don't have much basis in the Irish dancing history of long ago. What did the Irish of old wear to dance?
Early Modern Irish Dancing
The art now known as Irish step dancing is said to have begun in the late eighteenth century, and had even made its way to America during that period. "As early as 1789 John Durang, a dance master in Philadelphia, was recorded as having danced reel, jigs and hornpipes" (Cullinane 1, p.10). During this time, dancers did not have a dance-specific costume; they simply wore their Sunday best, perhaps decorated with ribbons. "In the early 1800s female dancers wore ordinary peasant dresses and ribbons formed into flowers or crosses. The girl's crimson homespun skirt reached down to her ankles over which she wore a simple black bodice" (Flynn 1).
Men typically wore their work shoes, while women went barefoot. According to a writer named Kennedy (1867), dancers performing the Rinnce Fada in 1812 "were in their shirt sleeves, waistcoats, knee breeches, white stockings and turn pumps, all bright colors around their waists and ribbons of bright hue encircling heads, shirt sleeves, knees and boots, the shoulders getting more than was their due, the girls were in their Sunday garb with their hair decked with ribbons" (Cullinane 2, p. 11). Some early dancers went beyond colorful ribbons. Dance masters were known to have a more flamboyant style of dress than the general country people, wearing brighter colors and perhaps striped stockings!
The Nineteenth Century
Throughout the nineteenth century, costume continued to consist of one's Sunday best, which of course changed with the fashion silhouette of the day - though peasant bodices and knee breeches seemed to have continued in their popularity with the Irish. A brat ("braht"), an Irish term for a woolen cloak, was worn often in everyday life, and as well for dancing. "The wool was particularly thick and durable, being resistant to the weather. Black, red, blue and grey were the most popular colors" (Whelan, p. 39). The mid-nineteenth century also saw a dramatic change in the dance form: females began to dance hard shoe dances in counties Cork and Kerry, though this did not spread elsewhere until the late 1920s (Cullinane 2, p. 63). This was seen as unladylike at first, but was slowly accepted as the norm.
By the late nineteenth century, a dancing costume began to evolve out of the Gaelic Revival, a movement to increase support for the traditional culture of Ireland. The Gaelic League was created in 1897; the organization's purpose was to preserve and promote Irish culture, including language, music, sports, and dance. At the time, a style of female costume known as the "Colleen Bawn" was popular with stage performers in Ireland. It consisted of a dress with an apron over it, and a hooded cloak. This style however was generally regarded with disdain, as it reinforced stereotypical Irish characters, and thus was falling out of favor by the 1910s (Cullinane 2, p. 15).
It was replaced by a long white dress and shawl or cloak, lighter versions of the former brat. Cloaks covered both shoulders and often tied at the neck, while shawls were "apparently held only at one shoulder, with some embroidery on both the dresses and shawls" (Cullinane 2, p. 15). The photos that Cullinane refers to are some of the earliest documented evidence of embroidery on Irish dancing costumes, a feature that would define and dominate the twentieth century costume.
Men often continued to wear knee breeches, though by this time waistcoats were no longer popular. Instead, the usual look was a white dress shirt and cummerbund. Large, colored cravats also seemed to be popular. Some younger men, such as Ambrose Brunton (Cullinane 2, p. 14, Photo 2), have been photographed wearing a waistcoat and jacket (usually reserved for formal occasions, such as getting one's photo taken); in the photo on page 14, which is dated circa 1892, Ambrose is also carrying a walking stick and wearing a broad-rimmed hat, both which are noted as unusual.
The Gaelic Revival
Due to the Gaelic Revival, contests for the best version of "Gaelic dress" became popular at dance and music competitions during this decade, and were the prototypes for what would become dance-specific costumes (Cullinane 2, p. 31). A straight dress with embroidery on the bodice, cloak or shawl became the norm for girls. White seemed to be by far the most popular color for girls' dresses, with green, crimson, and saffron also being used for accent colors in decorative Celtic knotwork, or for the base of women's dresses. A less popular color combination, though known to have been used on at least one very nice silk "Irish costume," consisted of teal and purples. Dresses could be of a simple straight fit, or in the case of girls' dresses, ruffled. Some girls also wore white headbands or berets; while headbands continue to be popular in the twenty-first century, the berets were popular only until roughly the mid-twentieth century. Females also wore shoes to dance by this time; black ballet-like soft pumps became popular during the 1920s, and dancers wore black stockings, or white or colored knee socks with them.
Curiously, the introduction of the ballet pumps seems to have changed the style of the soft shoe dances. One dance, the slip jig, "was originally performed by men as well as women but with the introduction of the ballet shoes the style changed; the slip jig became more balletic and more and more feminine, and is now almost exclusively performed by the females" (Cullinane 2, p. 61). Recently the slip jig has become more powerful and less balletic, leading at least one region in the United States to continue to hold slip jig competitions for males, whereas in rest of the country, such competitions are unusual.
For men, the saffron kilt had become popular to wear for everyday wear or for language and music competitions, but they often still changed into a shirt and knee breeches or long trousers to dance - breeches or short trousers being worn by the younger boys (Cullinane 2, p. 33). "Kilts had been worn by members of the Gaelic League for some 30 years or so before they became accepted as Irish dancing costume" (Cullinane 2, p. 33). Ironically, "[t]here is no evidence that the kilts were ever worn by the Irish at any time prior to the 1890s" (Cullinane 2, p. 39). Once kilts were accepted in the 1930s and '40s, they became the staple of the male Irish dancer's wardrobe until the mid-1990s, those wearing trousers during this period being marked as unusual. Meanwhile, kilts as everyday wear by the general public were nearly abandoned; they are only enjoying a revival at present, due to the overwhelming popularity of all things Celtic.
The unchanging look of the male costume during this period serves as a sharp contrast to the female dancer's costume. For a time, the saffron kilt was worn by some female dancers with a white blouse, green jacket, and saffron cape (Cullinane 2, p. 40, Photo 20). This kilt has survived throughout the years in the form of the pleated skirt, which is now most often worn by beginners with a white blouse and neck ribbon. The ballet-like pumps were still worn for soft shoe dances, while leather shoes with wooden soles, or leather soles with small nails pounded into the tips and heels, were used for the battering hard shoe dances.
Through the mid-twentieth century, dancers often wore their earned medals from competitions on an apron over their costume, though not usually during competition (Cullinane 2, p. 44). Presently, it is illegal for a dancer to wear their medals during a competition.
Twentieth-Century Evolution
During the 1930s through the 1960s, the female dancing costumes evolved to a more recognizable cousin to today's dresses. Jackets over dresses or blouse and skirt combinations seemed most popular; berets and sashes, the former occasionally decorated with a feather and the latter often worn from shoulder to waist with a loose end draped down the front of the chest, were quite popular in Australia and New Zealand (Cullinane 2, p 68, Photo 42). Simple colored dresses with small shoulder-to-waist shawls, cords round the waist, and small amounts of embroidery were worn since the 1930s, and caught on though the decades, being covered with more embroidery until the style reached its peak in the 1970s.
Dramatic Changes
The 1980s saw a few of the most dramatic changes in the history of Irish dancing costume: the advent of "ghillies," or low-cut softshoes with criss-cross lacing, replacing the black pumps for all but beginners; fiberglass tips and heels for hard shoes, making them louder; and the enormous popularity of tightly curled hair that continues to this day. Oddly enough, though it's often claimed that curled hair is traditional, photographic evidence shows that dancers often preferred their everyday hairstyles that were popular at the time. One explanation for the popularity of the "big hair" is that it balances out the heavily stiffened dresses, which were another 1980s fashion innovation.
The bright colors of the earliest dancers are repeated in present-day dance dresses. In the early 1990s, dress bases were predominantly a dark color, made of velvet and heavily embroidered with bright colors. In the mid-1990s, two-color-based dresses become popular, as well as satin appliqué in addition to embroidery, and dressmakers began to experiment with lighter-weight dresses, helping to alleviate the problem of too-heavy, too-hot costumes. Raw silk and polyester shantung replaced velvet and gabardine for the base of most solo dresses, and fancier materials such as glitterdot are now preferred over satin for appliqué work. Embroidery is presently at a minimum, and the designs have unfortunately often become more geometric than Celtic. The word now is "stage presence" - all that sparkles and shines is popular. While headbands continue to be popular in the lower levels, tiaras and cloth tiara-like embroidered crowns are far more popular amongst those of higher competitive rank. Female dancers have also moved from styling their own hair to donning the much-appreciated wigs; that certainly save many headaches for both parents and dancers, and give dancers a curler-less night's rest!
Another major event struck Irish dancing in 1994: Riverdance. Originally a one-song choreography to be performed at the judging interval at that year's Eurovision contest (which was hosted by Ireland and broadcasted across Europe), it soon grew into a dance show sensation, spawning too many offshoots to count. There was a small trend at the time for women to move to the simpler, show-inspired costumes, but the heavier, more adorned costumes won popularity over those.
A far more lasting change has been in men's costuming. Prior to this, despite a growing discontent for them especially amongst younger boys, jackets and kilts were the norm - and by this time, to deviate was unheard of. However, Riverdance and its counterparts changed all of this - in fact, the President of An Coimisuin (The Commission, the largest governing body of Irish dancing competitions) announced at the World Championships in 1994 that there were no official rules that boys were to wear kilts. The dancing community had simply pushed it! As one may expect, the vast majority of young men changed to black trousers, and these - along with a nice shirt and tie, or shirt, vest and tie, or shirt and cummerbund - became the standard. White or colored shirts and cummerbunds were quite popular in the mid-1990s; cummerbunds were soon replaced with colored or black vests, though they can still be seen occasionally. A very popular combination currently is black trousers, a black shirt, and a solid-colored satin tie, which looks very sharp - though kilts have a small but growing following, especially in tan or black colors.
Irish dancing costumes have gone through a shocking variety of styles only within the past 100 years. Though dance fashion continues to press onwards, it is hoped that the majority of costumes will never lose their truly Irish feel.
http://www.diochra.com/library/history-costume.htm
# Posted on April 2nd 2006 by Phantom Button
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
Thanks for posting those beatiful pictures. That's the spirit as I understand it.
# Posted on April 3rd 2006 by cathrynb
Re: Vomiting the Book of Kells
I always thought the dresses those poor girls had to wear were a bit garish. But when I 13 or so, I was invited to sing with a Celtic band at a ceilidhe, and one of the other bands had this drop dead gorgeous lead singer. Her hair was dark and cropped short and she wore a big, billowy black linen dress. When she started dancing in the middle of one of the songs, it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
Ever since then I've been an avid supporter of "simpler is better."
# Posted on April 19th 2006 by cloudbuster