Ballroom dance dresses for samba, waltz, tango...

...presented by the Viennese fashion house of the European department store chain Peek & Cloppenburg in mid-October 2013, right in time for the beginning of the new ball season in Austria. Dancing - especially ballroom dancing, has long tradition in the region of Central Europe. Since the waltz (which is derived from rural dance culture of peasants) became fashionable in all social classes* in cities during the second half of the 18th century, the waltz and ballroom dancing in general carry also an aspect of the history of European democracy.

*Social classes of the 18th century: aristocracy, workers, peasants - last mentioned fought for hundreds of years for more rights before the workers had similar problems.

fig.: The image in the middle, shows Peek & Cloppenburg's selection for 'Slow Waltz'. The gown makes the dancer appear like she wears only golden jewellery with blue gemstone embellishments. P&C's selection for 'Slow Waltz' was inspired by the elegant style of Hollywood actress Ginger Rogers. The sleeveless dress with sequins and stones embroidery is designed by Jora.

P&C's 'Dancing Queens' selection came together with dance-step instruction images of the most common social dances such as samba (image left shows the dress by Unique with rich decoration made from ornamental stones in flower pattern) and tango (the selection of the fiery red dress is inspired by the style of Hollywood actress Rita Hayworth; design by Luxuar Fashion). The prices of the ballroom dresses on this page range from 219.- to 429.- Euros; some of the outfits selected by P&C (not on view here) start at around 99.- Euros.

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