The quintessential portrait of the Jazz Age, I blame F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (and those beautiful black & white photos from the Harlem Renaissance on display at NYC’s Schomburg Institute) for my obsession with all things inspired by the “roaring twenties”. Considered the 1st generation of “independent” American women, flappers were a generation of young 1920s women who were unapologetic about wearing short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz and had no interest in flaunting what the generations before them considered acceptable behavior. Chartering new territory, these women were breaking all of the rules and having fun while doing it.
The Great Gatsby Party transforms the gilded halls of New York City’s Capitale. More than 3,000 guests turn up each year, decked out in the fashion of the Roaring Twenties–flapper dresses, silk gloves, tuxedos, top hats–to revel the night away under swinging aerialists and the glitter of disco balls. I had an amazing time at the affair filled with gin cocktails, fanfare, and all of the decadence that so defined Fitzgerald’s celebrated novel. Stepping over the threshold that lead from the grand foyer to the main dance floor, I felt like I was stepping back in time watching the Charleston dance that epitomizes the era (originally debuting) in the all-Black musical “Runnin Wild”). Josephine Baker brought the Charleston to Europe during the era.
”Among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.”
