We have reached peak Mrs. Roper revival.
Helen Roper was the busybody landlord on the sitcom “Three’s Company,” played by the late actress Audra Linley between 1977 and 1984. Generations who came after Mrs. Roper’s TV prime have come to know and love this unlikely icon the way all cultural trends are funnelled and revived these days: via social media. But tribute is being paid to her in real life too, with gatherings of fans known as Mrs. Roper Romps, notable for their spirit of jubilant inclusivity.
Mrs. Roper was known for her colourful caftan collection, penchant for large-format, gaudy plastic jewelry, and vibrant halo of curly red hair. She was, despite her meddling, an early example of an ally on television. The premise of the show was that her tenant Jack, played by John Ritter, was a straight guy pretending to be gay in order to be allowed to share a Santa Monica apartment with two women, Chrissy and Janet, played by Suzanne Somers and Joyce DeWitt. The sitcom launched all three of their careers.
The first known Mrs. Roper Romp took place in 2013, when some 50 caftan-clad revellers gathered in New Orleans for an LGBTQ+ parade called Southern Decadence. Subsequent events, which typically involve bar crawls and a fundraising element, pottered along for a decade, but the size and frequency of Mrs. Roper Romps have picked up steam lately, popping up in such diverse settings as Halifax and Sylvan Lake, Alta., Seattle and Topeka.
Toronto hosted two spirited Romps in quick succession last fall. “We just started walking down Queen Street East with a Mr. Microphone playing the Three’s Company theme song,” said Kelly Freeman, co-owner of Doll Factory by Damzels boutique, which hosted a Mrs. Roper Romp in September. “One hundred Mrs. Ropers, the best group of like-minded weirdos, all dressed up in caftans with crazy red wigs. Cars were honking madly. It was absolute joy.”
Freeman heard of the Romps via social media about a year ago, after events took place in Nashville and Austin. “We thought, somebody needs to do this in Toronto. Our clients said, ‘That needs to be you guys.’”
It was the nostalgia factor that drew her in. Freeman calls herself “a typical latchkey ’70s kid who grew up on ‘Three’s Company.’ Mrs. Roper was strong, funny, independent and gave zero f—-s. She stood up for herself, and others, and had a sense of humour about it.”
Just as the Damzels were about to hit send on the newsletter announcing the event, they noticed another Romp on the horizon. East end real estate agent Erin Keaney had planned her own event for October in the same area. They immediately got in touch.
Keaney had also gotten the idea from social media, and decided it would be a fun twist on her annual fundraising drive. She raised money for Nellie’s and The Red Door Shelter; both events also supported the Toronto Humane Society. A longtime Damzels fan, Keaney was thrilled the two Romps could support each other. “I went to their event, and some of the people from theirs came to mine,” she said.
Because the traditional Romp format is a pub crawl, both groups also sought to drive business to local establishments. “We wanted to bring a little love and life back to restaurants and bars in the neighbourhood,” said Freeman. The Damzels’ event wound up at Poor Romeo; Keaney’s Romp ran from Henrietta Bodega to the Legion on Coxwell Avenue, where karaoke ensued and “a lot of dancing.”
Keaney was surprised by the wide range of ages. People came in family groups and gaggles of women, and many came by themselves. “It turned into a great way to meet people,” she said.
The only problem was temperature-related. “It was October, but those wigs are hot,” Keaney said. “The sun came out on the parade route and I looked back and it looked like a sea of about 50 Annies.” For that reason, she’s hoping to host the next Romp before summer hits. “A lot of the women are menopausal, and while the caftans are breathable, of course, we want to get out there before things really heat up under those wigs!”
Aside from the flame-hued curls, the caftan is the main common denominator at a Mrs. Roper Romp. “Once you know the magic of a caftan, your life is never the same,” said Freeman. “It is the great equalizer.” The garment is a staple on the racks at Doll Factory by Damzels, which opened its original location on Queen East in 2006; a second is on Roncesvalles. It fits into the shop’s style: modern takes on vintage, expressed in vibrant colours and patterns.
Caftans date back tens of thousands of years to the Paleolithic era, points out Cameron Silver, owner of L.A. vintage store Decades and author of the recent coffee table book “Caftans, From Classical to Camp.” A caftan is genderless, for every age and size. Silver calls it “the universal garment” and likens it to a basic, like a T-shirt.
Mrs. Roper wore sunny California department store versions of this trend that hit hard in the 1970s. The caftan craze trickled down from the bejewelled high end in Paris, with Yves Saint Laurent influenced by traditional garments from his home in Morocco, to American sportswear with Halston’s ethereal painted scarf fabrics. In Palm Beach and Palm Springs, they became the epitome of resort wear and remain chic today. You can dress a caftan up with fine jewelry and velvet slippers, down with jeans and sneakers, or, of course, throw it over a swimsuit for a day spent poolside. And you can always break it out for the next Mrs. Roper Romp.
