Red, White and Sexy Shoes

THE MOVIE: “Danzon”

THE SETUP: Julia (Maria Rojo), a switchboard operator, spends evenings in downtown Mexico City dance halls, where she partakes of the danzon, a seductive Latin ballroom dance, with a partner named Carmello (Daniel Rergis). When Carmello doesn’t show one night, Julia embarks on a journey to Veracruz to find him in this contemporary love story.

THE COSTUME DESIGNER: None. Director Maria Novaro and art director Marisa Pecanins selected the wardrobe.

THE LOOK: The fashion police would have a field day writing out warrants for these working-class folks, mostly over 50, who are oblivious to nearly every fashion trend of the last decade. But there is still a winning sense of style, exhibited by men and women. On the dance floor, women favor--from the feet up--sexy shoes, particularly high-heeled platform sandals with ankle straps. If they’re metallic leather, even better. And watch the hemlines--minis don’t make an appearance. Dresses are fitted through the waist, full in the skirt to give way to movement, often made of chiffon, always feminine, and accompanied by plenty of costume jewelry. Although Julia is only in her late 30s, her dresses are hemmed just below the knee.

ICONOGRAPHY: While images of dancing men in white suits usually evoke John Travolta in “Saturday Night Fever,” these white suits of cotton and linen are ‘40s holdovers. The most suave types, like Carmello, wear them with white Panama hats and white or two-tone shoes in leather or patent leather; the effect is positively roguish. In Veracruz, men dance in guayaberas, tucked and embroidered white cotton shirts, and white pants, the traditional tropical-weather suit alternative.

WORD OF CAUTION: Dresses of the super-short, spandex variety so beloved by L.A. women are worn strictly by Veracruz prostitutes.

SCENE STEALER: There’s a lot to be said for red--Julia is her most beautiful walking the docks in a red dress, red plastic hoop earrings, red shoes, red lipstick and a red fabric flower behind one ear.

QUOTED: “It’s a must to dance in high heels. It’s the way they make the hips move, the way they make the legs move, and the way they make the legs look,” says director Novaro.

THE SOURCES: Men’s and women’s vintage clothes were purchased at the Mexico City flea market, La Lagunilla. Also, many women’s dresses and shoes were borrowed from real dance hall patrons, while some of the men’s white suits were borrowed from the musicians who recorded the movie’s soundtrack. Carmello’s Daniel Rergis, who in real life is a singer, dancer and worker on the Veracruz docks, wore his own suits.