Midnight Follies First Edition 1921
The Whitehall Room within the Hotel Metropole became the site of one of the first true cabarets in London that transformed London’s nightlife in the 1920s. On the 2nd November 1921, the ‘Midnight Follies’ was inaugurated at the Metropole with a show that was called a ‘super dansant.’ With glorious costumes designed by Dolly Tree it became an overnight hit with all of smart London flocking to see the show designed to ‘brighten London.’
Dolly’s Revels
The first cabaret show to be presented by Harry Foster and Major E.O. Leadlay at the Piccadilly Hotel in Piccadilly, London was called Dolly’s Revels. It was staged by Edward Dolly, the brother of the famous Dolly Sisters in February 1924 and had costumes designed by Dolly Tree.
An interesting discovery of a sketch by the British costume designer Dolly Tree within Leonard Stanley’s book Adrian: A Lifetime of Movie Glamour, Art and High Fashion
A stunning dinner gown created by Dolly Tree for Rita Johnson in Stronger Than Desire in 1939
The Gaby Doll Scene
Recently Doreen Marshall sent me a photo and message on my Jazz Age Club Facebook page of a 1920s Gaby Doll and box. It certainly piqued my interest because it was a representation of a scene from the Folies Bergere in 1923 with the costume designed by Dolly Tree.
It is always annoying when you research, write and publish a book (Dolly Tree: A Dream of Beauty) and then you find an important quote, that should have gone in the book which has just been unearthed.
The hardback of Dolly Tree: A Dream of Beauty is available from me for £70 (RRP £75)
On watching the film closely (once again) I saw something that had not registered before – a rather tantalising and interesting visual connection – that the famous dress-designer Dolly Tree made an appearance in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lodger (1926)
