Tag Archives: 1920s
The Social Season in the Jazz Age
The Social Season in the Jazz Age
The social season in the Jazz Age was a well established pattern of behavior where the elite, rich and famous members of society moved with the seasons like a flock of migratory birds from one nesting place to another enjoying a range of activities and events.
Who was Ninette?
Who was Ninette?
A few years ago I spotted a series of rather simple, yet wonderful adverts that appeared in several theatre programmes from the early 1920s for the fashion house of Ninette. With two outlets in London at 47 Cranbourne Street and 79 Shaftesbury Avenue, Ninette was rather well placed. But who was Ninette? At first, all attempts to locate any further information were elusive, so who was behind this rather wonderful British fashion house that flourished in the Jazz Age but now completely forgotten?
Restaurant Maxim, London
Restaurant Maxim, London
In a London street, not known for its smartness, shone Restaurant Maxim, a beacon of culinary delight, providing dinners, suppers and dancing all for half a crown in 1914.
The Elegance of Roseray and Capella
The Elegance of Roseray and Capella
Roseray and Capella were one of the most famous French dancing acts of the Jazz Age. Not only were they accomplished acrobatic and adagio dancers but they were also extremely elegant and beautiful if somewhat audacious in terms of the brevity of their costuming which some thought rather salacious. Indeed, if the gossip about them being mother and son were true, it was an extraordinary act.
The Ambassadeur Show 1926
The Ambassadeur Show 1926
Edmund Sayag’s first show at the newly renovated Café des Amabassadeurs was Lew Leslie’s all-black production Blackbirds of 1926. Direct from New York, Blackbirds capitalised on the success of The Revue Negre, featuring Josephine Baker, staged earlier in 1925 and was an instant hit.
The Lorraine Sisters
The Lorraine Sisters
The Lorraine Sisters (Edna and Della) were a glamorous American sister act in the Jazz Age, who started off in vaudeville in America but swiftly found fame in Europe in the 1920s.
Lido des Champs Elysees
The Lido des Champs Elysees
Clearly inspired by the growing status of the Lido in Venice as a fashionable haunt of high society,the Lido des Champs Elysees, Paris, opened its doors on 18th February 1928 and was a novelty being a unique combination of a swimming pool, cabaret and restaurant and was described as ‘the seaside resort of Paris.’
Adagio Dancing
Adagio Dancing
In the Jazz Age of the 1920s, acrobatic dance routines became extremely fashionable and the dances were either described as ‘whirlwind’ or ‘adagio’. But what does adagio mean?
Twenties London by Mike Hutton
I was rather excited to find this book and needless to say the wonderful cover did its trick in attracting my attention!
