Songful Style Link Party #39: “Chantilly Lace” by The Big Bopper

About Songful Style

Songful Style is a style challenge series hosted by Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge, Marsha of Marsha in the Middle, and Suzy of Suzy Turner, The Grey Brunette.

Each month we will share a song with the lyrics and video and we invite you to use whatever aspect of the song that inspires you to create an outfit. 

It is similar to Style Imitating Art where we use artwork to inspire our outfit creations. Except Songful Style gives you lyrics, music, video, and album artwork to inspire your fashion creativity. You may even find inspiration in a memory triggered by the selected song. It is all open to your own personal interpretation and just a fun way to discover new music and get a little bit more creative with your wardrobe.

Anyone is welcome to join us on a permanent basis or you can just play along without any obligation to do anything other than feel inspired. We are flexible and fun and just want to find more ways to play dress up because it’s what we enjoy doing! 

We will be posting on the last Monday of each month and will announce our song choice for the following month at the end of each post. You are welcome to style your own song inspired outfit and add it to the link party or link anything that you want to share even if it has nothing to do with the song. 

It is my turn to choose the inspiration song for this round. July 10 marks the 19th anniversary of my mother’s passing so I wanted to pick a song that reminded me of her. She loved The Big Bopper and “Chantilly Lace” was one of her favorite songs. It is just as ear-wormy as last month’s “Love Shack” and I find it repeating through my head in my mother’s voice.

The Video

 “Chantilly Lace” by The Big Bopper

The Lyrics

Hello, baby
Yeah, this is the Big Bopper speakin'
Ah-ah-ah-ah
Oh, you sweet thing
Do I what? Will I what?
Oh, baby, you know what I like

Chantilly lace and a pretty face
And a ponytail hangin' down
A wiggle in her walk and a giggle in her talk
Make the world go 'round

Ain't nothing in the world like a big-eyed girl
To make me act so funny, make me spend my money
Make me feel real loose like a long-necked goose
Like a girl, oh baby, that's a-what I like

What's that, baby?
But, but, but, oh, honey
But, oh baby, you know what I like

Chantilly lace and a pretty face
And a ponytail hangin' down
A wiggle in her walk, and a giggle in her talk, Lord
Make the world go 'round, 'round, 'round

Ain't nothing in the world like a big-eyed girl
To make me act so funny, make me spend my money
Make me feel real loose like a long-necked goose
Like a girl, oh baby, that's a-what I like

What's that, honey?
Pick you up at eight and don't be late
But baby, I ain't got no money, honey
Ah-ah-ah-ah
Oh, alright, honey, you know what I like

Chantilly lace and a pretty face
Ponytail a-hangin' down
A wiggle in her walk and a giggle in her talk, Lord
Make the world go 'round

Ain't nothing in the world like a big-eyed girl
To make me act so funny, make me spend my money
Make me feel real loose like a long-necked goose
Like a girl, oh baby, that's a-what I like

About the Artist and the Song

Jiles Perry Richardson Jr., known professionally by his stage name The Big Bopper, was an American musician and disc jockey from Southeast Texas. Born on October 24, 1930, in Sabine Pass, Texas, Jiles was the eldest of three sons born to Jiles Perry Richardson, an oil field worker, and his wife, Elise (née Stalsby) Richardson. After the family moved to Beaumont, Texas, Jiles Jr. graduated from Beaumont High School in 1947. He played as a defensive lineman on the “Royal Purple” American football team and later became a radio disc jockey at Lamar College where he studied law and was a member of the school band and chorus.

While attending college and working part time at Beaumont radio station KTRM, Richardson was offered a full time position and dropped out of school in 1949. On April 18, 1952, he married Adrianne Joy Fryou and was quickly promoted to supervisor of announcers for KTRM. Shortly after, the young couple had a daughter, Debra Joy, who was born in December 1953.

In March 1955, Richardson was drafted into the U.S. Army. After completing basic training in Fort Ord, California, he served his two year contract as a radio instructor at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. He was discharged as a corporal in March 1957 and returned to KTRM radio where he hosted the lunchtime shift from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., every Monday through Friday.

With the suggestion of a new show idea, a station sponsor wanted to change Richardson’s time slot to the 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. shift. Richardson was then promoted to program director for the station. After learning of a dance called the Bop that was popular among college students, Richardson adopted the stage name “The Big Bopper.” He broke the record for continuous on-air broadcasting in May 1957, surpassing the previous record by eight minutes. Richardson performed on air for a total of five days, two hours, and eight minutes from a remote location. He played 1,821 records and took showers during five minute newscasts. He is credited with creating the very first music video in 1958.

The Big Bopper, who played guitar, began his musical career as a songwriter, penning multiple top 40 hits, including “Chantilly Lace.” The song was originally cut for Pappy Daily’s D Label but was purchased by Mercury Records and reissued in August 1958. “Chantilly Lace” was the first song released under the name “The Big Bopper.” Its first issue was on the opposite side of “The Purple People Eater Meets The Witch Doctor,” a parody of “The Purple People Eater” by Sheb Wooley and “Witch Doctor” by David Seville (a song we previously featured in Songful Style). Despite being the flip side track, radio disc jockeys and the listening public preferred “Chantilly Lace” and it quickly became a hit. Peaking at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song spent 22 consecutive weeks in the national Top 40 and was the third most played song of 1958, selling over one million copies by the end of the year and earning gold certification.

Jerry Lee Lewis recorded a version of “Chantilly Lace” in January 1972 which reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart for three weeks. It was also a top 50 pop hit in the U.S. and a top 50 pop hit in the U.K.

With “Chantilly Lace” being a huge success, The Big Bopper took time off from KTRM and joined the “Winter Dance Party” tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and Dion and the Belmonts on January 23, 1959. On February 2, the eleventh night of the tour, Buddy Holly chartered an airplane from their show in Iowa to fly himself and his bandmates Waylon Jennings and Tommy Allsup to their next venue in Minnesota. After some coin flips and sympathy switches, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper swapped places with Jennings and Allsup aboard the aircraft that would be flown by an exhausted young pilot Roger Peterson. The remaining artists went back to their broken down bus to travel to the next venue.

After learning that his bandmates had given away their plane seats, Buddy Holly reportedly joked, “Well, I hope your ol’ bus freezes up again,” to which Waylon Jennings jokingly replied, “Well, I hope your ol’ plane crashes.” The show ended around midnight and Holly, Valens, and Richardson headed to the airport where they would take off at 12:55 a.m. on February 3, 1959. The plane remained in the air for only a few minutes. Shortly after take off, it crashed full throttle at approximately 170 miles per hour into a cleared cornfield just outside of Mason City, Iowa. All three musicians on board and the pilot were killed on impact. It became known as The Day the Music Died. Ritchie Valens was just 17 years old, Buddy Holly was only 22, and The Big Bopper was 28 years old with a baby daughter and a pregnant wife. Two months after his death, in April 1959, the Big Bopper’s son, Jay Perry Richardson, was born. He also became a musician, touring as “The Big Bopper, Jr.” until his death in 2013.

About My Outfit

One might think that styling an outfit for a song called “Chantilly Lace” would be easy. And it might have been easy if I didn’t have too many lacy things to choose from. To avoid haphazardly picking just any lace, I first needed to know some specifics about Chantilly lace. Chantilly lace, named after the city of Chantilly in France, is characterized by its fine ground, outlined patterns, and intricate details. The tradition of Chantilly lace began in the 17th century with the best laces being made of black silk, making them suitable for mourning wear. In fact, very little Chantilly lace was ever made in white.

And I am glad I researched it because I was initially inclined to wear a white lace dress for this challenge. However, I did just style an ivory lace dress for an art challenge so I was happy that black lace made more sense here.

But I didn’t want to go with a black lace dress because all-black outfits are just so darn difficult to photograph. So I opted for a black lace robe over this green, black, and white lace and tulle dress that I received from a brand collaboration a few years back. I also like that the dress is green because it is the color of money…so it jives with the song lyric, “To make me act so funny, make me spend my money…”

I really love this dress. Not only is it the color of money, it also gives me woodland fairy vibes. For jewelry, I wore silver filigree tear drop earrings which remind me of lace and a green pendant to coordinate with my dress (and money). To keep the outfit true to my personal style, I completed it with my big green straw hat and my black cowgirl boots.

Then I went to a local cemetery to take photos. I chose this location not as a sick joke about the untimely demise of The Big Bopper, but because the ponds and surrounding grassy areas in the cemetery are generally abundant with geese. I was hoping to capture some in the background to honor the lyric, “Make me feel real loose like a long-necked goose,” but the geese were avoiding me.

Oh well. That didn’t stop the giggle in my talk and the wiggle in my walk because I felt fantastic in this whimsically wonderful outfit!

I hope you will check out how my songful friends have styled their outfits inspired by The Big Bopper’s “Chantilly Lace.”

• Marsha of Marsha in the Middle 
• Suzy of Suzy Turner, The Grey Brunette

Featured Favorite from Songful Style Link Party #38: “Love Shack” by The B-52s

If you enjoyed our musically inspired outfits for this round, please come back on July 28, 2025, to see how we style Suzy’s next song choice, “Six” by Rose Betts. It is a great way to learn new music and to view your wardrobe from a totally different perspective! 

Keeping it on the edge, 

Shelbee

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