Dirty Dancing Analysis: Baby's blossoming depicted by clothing and hairstyle

A blogger named Valerie Frank wrote an article titled An Analysis of Dirty Dancing, which includes this passage:

... the costuming in this movie is brilliant. Baby has a beautiful body, and her clothing just accentuates it. As the movie progresses, Baby starts wearing less and less, another symbol of her coming of age.

In this photo [above], Baby wears a plaid button up and white, high-waisted skinny jeans. According to 1960's fashion blogger Sammy Davis, high-waisted pants were very popular during the sixties, and they are making a comeback now. Plaid prints, then called madras, were standard then as well (Sharp).

In the above photo, Baby wears high waisted jean shorts, white Keds, and a salmon colored leotard.

Keds were actually first marketed as sneakers in the 1960's, so these shoes were a big staple of the time period. It is also evident in the photo that Baby is wearing significantly less than she was just shortly before.

In the photo [above], Baby is looking very seductive. She wears tan dancing tights, a high cut midriff shirt (if you could even call it one), and a black half leotard. She is even (to the evident disapproval of her father) wearing makeup. This marks one of the final transitions of Baby's growth in this movie.

To some extent, Dirty Dancing is an ugly duckling story, in which a plain-Jane girl blossoms into a beautiful woman. Because the Dirty Dancing story lasts only three weeks, Baby's body cannot change significantly. Therefore her blossoming must be portrayed by her increasingly sexy costuming.

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Frank mentioned "fashion blogger Sammy Davis" but did not provide a link to a relevant webpage. Davis writes a website called Vintage Fashion. Her only webpage that mentions Dirty Dancing is a essentially an advertisement -- MY NEW CLASS: Everything You Need to Know About Social Media Right Now -- for a class she offers to help sellers of vintage clothing to market their goods through social media.

3 Reasons Why You Need This Course ....

1.) Because you can do better. You can gain more followers. You can have more conversations. You can meet more customers. You can sell more vintage clothing.

2.) Because you can join me in spreading #vintagelove by making vintage fashion more accessible to the contemporary woman using the tools of the internet that reach potential customers from all around the world.

3.) Because you deserve to understand how to use social media to optimize audience growth, engagement and potential sales … without having to pull your hair out first.

[....]

This is a 1.5 – 2 hour session via popexpert, a video-based platform with digital classroom tools like instant “chat” and an area to take notes which automatically saves for future reference.

Learn how to use social media to your advantage in a fun and painless way. Grow your audience of followers, engage with them and understand the psychology of converting “likes” into “sales.”

Understand the nuances of social media tools today that when learned, will change how you use these free marketing tools forever. Plus, because we all deserve to live a healthy and balanced life: what you shouldn’t be focusing on as much as what you should.

You get structured one-on-one time with me, plus private access to 3+ screenshot videos showing you how to use some of the free tools presented in the class so that you don’t forget anything I’ve taught you.

This class shows you how to act like a major brand – without having to hire a social media manager or spend money on advertising dollars with unknown or ambiguous results.

I must say that it looks like a worthwhile course. Anyway, Davis eventually begins to use the movie Dirty Dancing in her own marketing pitch.

http://sammydvintage.com/vintage-style/social-media-class-popexpert/

The movie Dirty Dancing used in an advertisement
for a course about using social media
to sell vintage clothes.

The Internet created a global economy. And with a global economy comes opportunity to reach far and wide to the followers, fans, supporters, cheerleaders and customers you were destined to have.

But your destined customer base isn’t just going to miraculously “stumble upon you.”

It’s like dating – you still have to “put yourself out there.” Like a single girl on the hunt, you need to put on a sassy dress and hit a few social spots.

Read That Key Word Again: SOCIAL.

So do you want to be sitting at home eating ice cream and watching Dirty Dancing for the 20th time, or do you want to be actually hitting the dance floor with a Patrick Swayze look-alike who just might be your true love?

I thought so.

If you’re a Dirty Dancing fan who wants to hit the dance floor of social media, sign up for my class today.

I can’t teach you the hustle, but I can sure teach you the right way to hustle social media for results that promise fulfilling and fun return.

Browsing through Davis's website, I found the following indicators of 1960s fashion trends.

Clothing Styles
• A-line shift dresses
• Waistless bag dresses
• Mini skirts
• Trouser suits
• Hostess wear
• Drop-waist and empire waistlines

Patterns
• Psychedelic colors
• Pucci prints and imitators
• Colorblocking
• Graphic op-art lines
• Space age shimmer and silver shine
• Funky oversize florals

Material
• Metallic threading
• Transparent meshlike netting
• Brocade material
• Knitwear
• Stretch synthetics

Accessories
• Knee-high boots
• Oversize sunglasses
• Colored tights
• Pillbox hats

Construction & Tags
• Metal zippers & serged seams
• Limited applique treatment or use of buttons and fasteners as decoration
• Missing care or fabric material label (wasn’t required before 1971)
• Decorative and colorful label designs

The next time I watch Dirty Dancing, I will look for those indicators.

In another article, 1960s Fashion Breakout Trends as Seen on Mad Men, Davis points out three other indicators that I seem to remember seeing in Dirty Dancing. In this article here, I will not discuss two of them -- "Big and Bold Jewels" and "Women's Cigarette Pants". The indicator that I will discuss here is the beehive hairdo, which Davis discusses as follows:

THE BEEHIVE

THE TREND: The beehive hairdo, described as such because the style of swept-up, piled-on hair resembles the cylinder shape of an upside down bee’s hive.

The beehive hairdo is an indicator of 1960s fashion.

BREAKOUT MOMENT: Played by actress Audrey Hepurn, Holly Golightly sports a luxurious beehive whilst eyeballing some jewels in the 1961 iconic vintage film, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The movie’s popularity inspires the beehive to take its rightful place on the heads of many an American woman.

Other notable ’60s celebrities further perpetuated the beehive trend, including “Son of a Preacher Man” crooner Dusty Springfield and the era’s “It” girl group The Ronettes (“Be My Baby”).

FASHION SIGNIFICANCE: The beehive do most resembles the powdered wig styles of the Victorian era, and so in a way this style was a modern interpretation of a hairstyle popular 100 years earlier.

Beginning around 1963, detachable hair pieces became popular to buy to help add fullness to a woman’s swept-up, piled-on beehive hair.

Adding hair accessories like jewelry, feather and bands was also a trendy way to style one’s sky high coiffure.

Davis mentions the Ronettes as beehive hairdo exemplars in the 1960s. Their song "Be My Baby" is famously included in Dirty Dancing. Their beehive hairdos looked like this: