Tag Archives: Jazzy

Chez Victor

Chez Victor

One of the most exclusive members-only night-club in London in the mid to late 1920s was Chez Victor, owned and run by the Italian Victor Perosino. It had a glittering, but short, 4 year career becoming‘a popular haunt with the gilded youth and flapperdom’ before it was targeted by the police and closed down in early 1928. Victor moved across the Channel and with noticeable panache re-opened various other Chez Victor’s in Paris and elsewhere. But Victor’s story, and his deportation, hide a scandal that eventually became public in 1932

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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.

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Lido Mania

Lido Mania

The fascination of Venice made the nearby beach resort of the Lido a natural extension of its attractions in the summer. Although it was popular from the turn of the century it suddenly became ultra-fashionable in the mid 1920s and world renowned as the ‘Pajama Beach’.

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The French Casino Project

The French Casino Project

Following the example of the Ambassadeurs theatre-restaurant in Paris, an ambitious business consortium conceived the idea of a chain of luxurious theatre-restaurants and at one time in the mid 1930s they had branches in Chicago, New York, Miami and London. Clifford Fischer (who owned the Ambassadeurs) staged extravagant, French inspired revues that were created to tour each venue and were hailed as being the best cabaret entertainment ever seen.

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The Boudoir Doll Craze

The ‘Boudoir’ Doll Craze

During the Jazz age, Europe and America were immersed in a ‘doll craze’. By the mid 1920s, all smart women had to have a ‘poupee’ doll and they were seen everywhere. They were not played with but were decorative or used as an accessory and took many different forms with a huge range of styles and costumes.

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