My daughter enjoys shopping with me until I pick up a dress and hold it against my body. She rolls her eyes and says, “For Tango, right? Blah, blah, tango, blah, blah.” She quickly moves a safe distance away to avoid any question I might ask about color or style. I think she dreads that I might show up at her middle school in my tango clothes with a big button on my chest proclaiming “I am Emma’s mother”. 

 

Okay, I admit that most of what I wear to tango is not what I’d wear to work or even out on a date with my husband. If I did, then I would understand if the “What not to wear” folks set up an intervention. I just like that I get to have a dress up box again.  (The box doesn’t have butterfly wings, but it does have a feather boa and wild shoes.) I think part of the fun of dancing tango is dressing up and discovering that night how others have decided to express themselves, too.

 

Yes, I’ve also made tango fashion mistakes…big ones…like dresses that I can’t gancho in or boleo.   An outfit that limits your dance is really the only fashion crime in tango, I think. That is the consequence when you let the little girl inside you choose the outfits to try on, you sometime choose outrageous items just for their appeal and you forget function. However, the little girl inside has also come up with some of my favorite outfits, too. 

 

My approach to tango clothes is that I am not too serious or high fashion minded. I want to look attractive, not desperate for attention. I avoid short, tight and low-cut all in one outfit, but I’ll push the boundaries of appropriate a bit.  There are tango outfits online at places like tangoleve and e.k. clothing, but I prefer to try on things before I buy. My favorite places to shop in Helena are Ross and Dillard’s Junior department. I do get funny looks as the forty year old trying on clothes meant for the under 18 crowd, but they are the right type for tango and a better price than what I’d get as a grown-up in the Women’s department. So if I have to choose a little frumpy or a little tacky, I’ll choose tacky each time. After all, we’ll be dancing in dim light, so a lot will be forgiven in the quality of the garment. 

 

I recommend that you go out and try things on. Don’t be afraid to be daring in your choice.  Tango is an intimate dance full of risks, so go ahead and take a few with your clothes. It is not about dressing for the other men and women at the Milonga. Choose what makes you feel beautiful and empowered. That confidence is what will get you offers to dance.

 

So how do you choose your tango outfits?