Your Quickstep Guide to a Roaring 1920s Themed Party!
Elegant, glamorous, decadent, 1920s parties are a fantastic opportunity to get dolled up Gatsby-style and celebrate in a unique fashion!
Whether it’s a birthday, a Saturday or whether your 130-year-old grandma wants to relive her twenties, it’s a fab theme that can elevate a party from mediocre to monumental!
Take a look at our cheap and simple guide to throwing your very own Great Gatsby party below!
The parties were bigger. The pace was faster, the shows were broader, the buildings were higher, the morals were looser, and the liquor was cheaper.
The Great Gatsby
1920s Themed Party Ideas
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Invites
Certainly not a necessity, but it is a great little addition to whet the appetites of the guests, plus it can be done cheaply and easily with the help of some online Gatsby templates.
Party On Top Tip: You could even include a password for them to use on arrival to add to the 1920s speakeasy vibe.
Outfits
Whether you’re going all out or keeping things simple, you can create the classic 20’s attire inexpensively and easily so there are no excuses for people not to make some sort of effort.
Men
A chance to get suited and booted! A classic suit and shoe combo will tick the box, but if you want to style it up a bit more, why not get a bow tie and fedora to complete look?
- White Shirt
- Black Suit (preferably, but any colour will suffice… maybe not bright yellow!)
- Shoes
- Fedora
- Bow Tie
- Suspenders
- Neckties
Women
Flapper women were all about the glitz and the glam! A classic slip dress is a great starting point, then you can add the accessories as you please. We’re talking feather scarves, a sparkling tiara, long leather gloves, silver jewellery, cigarette holders, the works!
- Slip Dress
- Feather Scarves
- Tiara
- Long Gloves
- Silver Jewellery
- Cigarette Holders
OR…
Why not get the guys to dress up as the flappers and the women as the bootleggers?!
Décor
Golds, blacks and silvers are the order of service.
You decide how elaborate you want to go depending on budget and energy levels, but you can get the Gatsby look effortlessly with these three core colours.
Low Key
If you’re keeping things modest, you can set up a drinks table and deck it out in the tri-colour scheme. If you have champagne and accompanying coupes, great! If not, prosecco and flutes will suffice!
Extravagant
Champagne, coupes, large white feathers, Ferrero Rocher towers (the pinnacle of elaborate), pearls, cakes, low lighting… you get the idea!
Food
The classic 20s Gatsby party style will dictate a smorgasbord of appetisers and nibbles ranging from olives and salmon to grilled oysters and deviled eggs, but it depends what you’re going for!
If it’s partying that’s the focus, canapés are ideal, but if you’re thinking sit-down meal, you’ll need something with a bit more substance.
Why not go for a timeless American Mac and Cheese or an Italian-influenced pasta dish which will have just about made its way over to the other side of the Atlantic by this time.
Drinks
Whilst we’re all after a bit of authenticity, we should still steer clear of moonshine made in the bathtub! However, there are plenty of sublime cocktails to get your flappers around!
- Old Fashioned
- Mint Julep
- Champagne (Prosecco)
- Bees Knees
- Mary Pickford
- Negroni
- Grasshopper
Music & Entertainment
Also known as the Jazz Age, the ’20s saw a new hedonistic lifestyle come to prominence. Check out our Party On 1920s Party Playlist on Spotify – the perfect music starting off as a refined affair and moving towards a more upbeat gala!
Lingo
- Cat’s Pyjamas (or Bee’s Knees) – The Greatest
- Giggle Water (or Hooch) – Liquor
- Oliver Twist – Good Dancer
- Dip the Bill – Have a Drink
- Moll – Girlfriend
- Whangdoodle – Jazz
This giggle water is the cat’s pyjamas, put on some Whangdoodle and give it the Oliver Twist!
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