Time to dress up: Choreographer Jane Shortall shows off her party-season outfits
There may be no office parties and a Cinderella curfew on nightclubs this Christmas, but that’s no excuse not to dress up for the season after months of hanging around in loungewear at home.
Choreographer Jane Shortall’s mantra is that it’s about confidence. “If we feel good on the outside, it makes us feel better about ourselves on the inside,” she says. A teacher whose passion is showing people how to let go and have fun dancing and who works with actors, Shortall was the movement coach for Daisy Edgar-Jones in Normal People.
“She had never worn high heels before and I had to teach her how to walk and dance in heels wearing a tiny little black dress,” she recalls. “After a few rehearsal sessions, she nailed it and that scene was a showstopper.”
Last year Shortall hosted an online dance course from home called Twirl and promoted it by dressing up in a mix of glitzy designer and high-street party pieces. This year she is doing the same, choosing her favourite party season outfits and outlining why she likes them to coincide with her Dance Movement showreel and to highlight her forthcoming Confidence masterclass outdoors at the People’s Pavilion at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in January
A recent report in this paper highlighted how the Doorstep Dance project, another dance class, helped older women cope with the pandemic. Margaret McKenna, a semi-retired pharmacist assistant, spoke about how participating in a dance programme with a dance teacher provided a lifeline for her during the pandemic. “I have a spark again. I’m alive. I am now rehearsing for a flash mob performance of the twelve days of Christmas”, she said.
Dancing and dressing up go hand in hand. Shortall’s choices range from a silver sequin jumpsuit for €49.99 and a pink floral mini for €80, up to €1,920 for an elaborate puff-sleeved print long dress .
What to wear to the gym? Here’s the best gear that also looks good
She is small, wiry and super trim, with a silhouette honed from daily fitness and dance sessions that are her life’s work and business. Jane Shortall is well known for her Confidence workshops and is messianic about fitness, strength and confidence rather than weight or size. Regularly booked for work on movies and TV commercials advising actors on poise and posture, she is also her own best advertisement for what she does. Being style conscious, she is always on top of the latest and best leisure and active wear.
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Fashion
What to wear to the gym? Here’s the best gear that also looks good
Jane Shortall of Confidence urges people to find an activity they enjoy this new year
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Jumpsuit by Michi €245 from Skulpt in Powerscourt – a performance bodysuit with mesh insets. Photograph: Brid O Donovan
Deirdre McQuillan’s face
Deirdre McQuillan
Mon Jan 13 2020 – 00:00
She is small, wiry and super trim, with a silhouette honed from daily fitness and dance sessions that are her life’s work and business. Jane Shortall is well known for her Confidence workshops and is messianic about fitness, strength and confidence rather than weight or size. Regularly booked for work on movies and TV commercials advising actors on poise and posture, she is also her own best advertisement for what she does. Being style conscious, she is always on top of the latest and best leisure and active wear.
Donova
Oakwood leather bomber jacket M/L €570; Erie black and silver lounge pants S/M/L €90 both from Madison, Gastrula, Co Dublin. Photograph: Brid O Donovan
January is Health Month in The Irish Times. Throughout the month, in print and online, we will be offering encouragement and inspiration to help us all improve our physical and mental health in 2022. See irishtimes.com/health
This being the month when gym membership soars after Christmas, Shortall cautions about people being over ambitious about getting fit and going at too fast a pace to keep up, and then giving up and reverting back to old habits. What is key, she argues, is to find an activity you enjoy, that raises the adrenalin and that gives such “a kick of energy” that you want to do it again, whether it is Pilates, yoga, dance, running or whatever – “and there is something out there for every age, type and size,” she says. In her experience, “if you exercise for one hour three to four times a week at medium intensity, you will start to notice the difference and feel lighter and less sluggish after three to four weeks”.
In the meantime, what to wear to the gym? Performance fabrics in the past few years have changed active and leisure wear dramatically, with compression and breathability elements that slimline the silhouette and, after hot yoga or running, leave you odour free with quick dry pieces. Seam-free jacquard sports bras and four way stretch fabrics, for example, are designed for comfort and movement
For those like Shortall who want the best gear that works but also looks good, with brighter, bolder colours, she has selected some workout items here that do duty both in the gym and on the street. Matching sets, when top matches bottom, can often look the best, but there are other options too.
Hit the gym: Stylish fitness gear for bodies of all shapes and sizes
There’s no better month for workout motivation than January and this is traditionally when gym traffic increases.
Jane Shortall is a Dublin-based dance instructor, who developed a series of fitness “Confidence” classes. Dance, she says, burns fat, tones muscles and improves the cardiovascular system. Such movement, she continues, also increases brain function, concentration and releases endorphins – hormones which make us feel more alert.
If you are a member of a gym or were given a gift membership for Christmas, your first question might be about your workout wardrobe. Not all of us want to wear tight, figure-hugging synthetics, and not all of us are whisper slim, despite the brand images of aspirational shapes that are foisted on us. Hitting the gym in stylish clothes should be possible for all body shapes. Larger women may prefer dark colours when working out, says Shortall.
Modern activewear is really shaping up in this regard, with technologically advanced seamless tops; raised waistbands which make legs look longer; the use of luxury fabrics such as velvets alongside lyre and mesh; and the borrowing of patterns and prints from high-fashion ready-to-wear pieces.
Bodysuits are often bought as much for night-time glamour as for day-time yoga, and leggings now supplant jeans as everyday wear with big sweaters.
Shortall shows how a gym kit thrown on first thing in the morning can be both stylish and practical before you hit the barbells or follow her choreographed routines to the best of uplifting tunes, whether Sister Sledge or Beyoncé.