This was written exclusively for M.I.S.S. To view this post in its original format please go to Fashion Meets Music: Shake it Out. Big thanks to C_Rocka for doing all of my FMM images, no matter how late I get them to her.
Blame it on the economy, Boardwalk Empire or next year’s Great Gatsby release but designers have gone head over heels for the Jazz Age. In almost perfect timing, Florence Welch is embodying the joie de vivre of the prohibition era in the video for her latest single, “Shake It Out.”
Before I dig in on the inspired and inspiring fashion sported in the video, I have to talk about the track itself. As the second single from Florence + The Machine’s upcoming album Ceremonials, slated to drop on Halloween, “Shake It Out” is filled with the beautiful and stirring lyrics that we’ve come to expect from Flo and Co. Seriously, “Shake It Out” will be to Ceremonials what “Dog Days Are Over” was to Lungs, you know the catchy, poppy hit that strikes a chord with everyone from self help devotees to Gleeks. The magic one this one is not only in the lyrical content, which is spectacular, but the instrumentation as well. It literally makes you want to get up and shake the bad juju out of your hair before attempting to start again.
Sartorially speaking the entire video is a send up to the raucous all weekenders that we who did not live through it associate with the Jazz Age thanks to a Mr. F. Scot Fitzgerald. While the fashion isn’t 100% true to the era that brought us the little black dress and the bob, it does touch on important high notes of the defining style of the time. Florence floats ethereally in a flowy red dress, becomes the life of a masquerade in a gilded sheath with serious back emphasis--a hallmark of evening gowns form the 30’s--and gives us a little Victor Victoria vibe in a black dress that would be at home in the decade preceding Gatsby and Daisy’s. Not only are Florence’s looks beyond ideal but the looks of her fellow revelers, clad in 1920’s-ish pieces and Venetian masks, hints at next spring’s love affair with decade that perfected excess a generation before the 80s .
Incorporate a little 20’s glam into your wardrobe, and look like such the trendsetter by picking up on next season’s trend before it hits the mags, by seeking out pieces that pour on the glitz. Think dropped waists, t-strap, moderate hight heels--leave the super high skyscrapers at home, lots of gold, silver, sequins and feathers, and rich fabrics and colors. A perfect way for girls no blessed with Florence Welch’s mile long legs to get in on this trend and the video’s vibe is to pair a knee length dress like this one by French Connection with t-strap heels, a great cocktail ring and a perfect red pout--lipstick only came in varying shades of red way back when. Taller girls can shake it all out in a dress similar to the red chiffon number that Florence gets down in and float into their next fete with all eyes on them. Just be sure to top it off with costume jewelry to bring the look together.
