It’s Saturday, January 18th, 2020 and LACMA’s fifth Annual Dapper Day is on! The Los Angeles County Museum of Art hosts this Swinging Soiree after hours in the art galleries from 7:30-11 pm on Saturday night. So we stepped out in style and hit the town for dancing, drinks, mingling, and art viewing amongst all the glitz and glamor!

Below the glow of “Urban Lights” (one of the many LACMA exhibits), we listened to DJ’d swing music and took advantage of their photo op backdrop as we watched all the glamorously dressed people arrive.

The crowd was unbelievably suited for this classy venue and sometimes, it felt like a flashback to a different time and era. Fur coats, pearls, fancy headdresses, bow ties, and top hats were scattered amongst the crowd and at some points, I felt like we were in a Gatsby movie! My eyes zipped around the area in awe as we soaked it all in. Already, this was an incredible LACMA event!

The event is free to the public so several attendees signed up in advance online, but on the day of the event, these tickets were all booked up so there was also a standby line where guests waited to get in. If you didn’t want to chance the free standby line, you could purchase a $25 ticket which grants you access to the museum that day, early entry into the Swinging Soiree, a free glass of champagne and exclusive access to the VIP lounge and bar.

After warming up inside with some bubbly and joining these dapper dames and dons in the lounge, we decided to head into the galleries and enjoy some art! The BCAM Building and Resnick Pavilion featuring Fiji: Art & Life in the Pacific were both open so we moseyed through both galleries.

Although we enjoyed meandering around, somehow we were far more interested in the people than the art itself. Just seeing ladies in heels and men in classic hats and ties felt super surreal and magical set against this artistic backdrop of photographs, statues, paintings, and modern sculptures!

Now it was time to get our dance on! The Roaring Twenties are alive and well in the heart of Los Angeles! Who knew so many folks were primed and ready for classic swing dancing and jitterbugging? We danced through it all (ya gotta check out the video to see everyone in action) and then got a bird’s eye view from the second story balcony overlooking the dance floor and the “Metropolis II” exhibit.

Swinging tunes were brought to you by DJ Professor Watson and he had the crowd dancing up a storm with classics like “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” “Sing Sing Sing,” “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” and “In the Mood.” Mike loves to cut a rug to these old timee jams and here’s proof. :

We danced the night away, but it got super warm in there, so we climbed some stairs for a breathtaking view of the city and a cool breath of fresh air. Such a lovely evening for an unforgettable night out!

So we posed for another quick photo in front of the Dapper Day photo-op backdrop since there was no longer a line and took our leave to get some dinner in the city. Although they had popcorn and pretzels for sale, we were hungry for something delicious and El Coyote was just a mile and a half away, so off we went, all dressed up and all danced out. And what’s a date night out without some late-night grub!

We hope you enjoyed our adventure and you that you seek to find the next Dapper Day at a venue near you! This event was wonderful for us and we look forward to getting all dressed up and attending again next year!

Thanks for reading and watching & keep it classy!

-Mike & Crystal Olguin

OlguinScene.com

Jan. 18, 2020