READ MORE: THE 59 HATS AND 1 SALT PIG OF JOAN OF TEESDALE Her niece, Amanda Raine has been delving into her decades of fashion choices and clothing favourites to see what they tell us about her times. Here she starts an occasional series by looking at her..
. Joan's legwarmers Legwarmers JOAN wore these for her weekly keep fit class in Romaldkirk Village Hall. Her friend, Madeleine Walton, recalls: “Joan was one of the leading lights of the keep fit group.
She encouraged me to join as I was new to the to the village and it was the start of a great friendship. Joan ran a tight ship, welcomed everyone and spoke her mind without fear or favour – she was a lovely lady.” Leg warmers are tubular sleeves for the legs, used by dancers to keep their leg muscles warm.
Ice hockey players and cyclists sometimes wear them, too. In 1980, in California in the US, Oakland Ballet Company dancers Tricia Kaye and David Lee developed a pair of footless knit tights that could be folded at the waist. In 1983, they moved to New York, hand knitting garments in their workspace in Manhattan, and their leg warmers became popular among dancers in the dance capital of the world.
Then two great fads of the moment collided to bring legwarmers to a global audience. A dancer from Flashdance, the musical, wearing legwarmers They featured in the hugely popular 1983 movie Flashdance – with Irene Cara singing the theme tune What A Feeling! – and in the TV series Fame, about the students from New York Ci.