The Beautiful and Damned

Imagine the scene, it’s a cool Saturday night, you slip in from the street and give your name to the hostess, one last check in the mirror then descend the marble staircase. Moving through the stone clad corridors, bathed in furtive red hue the swinging sound of the Charleston grows louder as the twang and slap of the double base wafts through the air. Enter the basement, don’t look back…just indulge.

The 1920s is a decade that draws plenty of fascination today, especially with the latest American export,  Boardwalk Empire making even the most hardened sauvingon blanc drinker, long for a straight bourbon. 
As Hemingway named them, "The Lost Generation” would dance and drink their worries away wanting to forget the horror of World War I and have some fun away from the prying eyes of the law.


Back in the modern day, against the backdrop of protests in London, it was the perfect escape for latest generation X.

As the fabulous Art Deco Bloomsbury Ballroom swirled with an atmosphere of anticipation and excitement, in the shadowy light emitted from small candle lit tables dotted around the room, the sport of people watching was buoyant and endless. Right from the off, guests are transported back to the clandestine atmosphere and inherent fun of a New York Speakeasy with a secretive feel.

The room can hold up to 600 revelers and by the end of the evening was definitely a sell out event, each and every one of us decked out in our best versions of such a renowned fashion period.

Girls upped the glamour factor in fringed flapper dresses, dropped waist gowns, stoles, boas and the obligatory headband. With styles ranging from hen party style tat to die hard vintage fans draped in antique silk and lace there was a place for everyone, keeping the ambiance light and fun. Our male counterparts did not disappoint a few opting for the Americana Al-Capone-esque spatz, stripes, Trilby's and Tommy Guns, with others keeping the stiff upper lip style of Lloyd George alive.  

Cocktails play a big part of the night. This does make the service a bit slow and expensive, but the entertaining and authentically dressed barmen make the experience of ordering a drink a fun and visual experience. The novelty of slurping a gin fizz from a china tea cup and saucer makes it worth the wait. A limited but creative cocktail menu is tucked away inside the covers of books keeping the hidden prohibition feel alive, the rest of the moonshine on offer is of a high standard and is plentiful, and is certainly better tasting then the ‘bathtub gin’ of the era.

While the girls enjoyed the dressing up box fashion show, cocktails and cupcakes...the boys were well catered for  with whisky, a saucy burlesque show and a large roulette table set up for some serious gambling though money is fake, (you're given a $100 chit when you arrive), it’s the perfect accessory for a flapper to snuggle into her garter for safekeeping.

With doors opening at 8pm, entertainment starts at 9pm and the underground party not being rumbled by the fuzz till 2am, making the £15 entry fee acceptable. It does make for a long party, with cocktails checking in at on average £7 and certainly matching bootleg liquor in strength, being able to pace it is certainly a required skill. Over the course of the evening, feathers adorned the floor and cigarette holders were abandoned as quickly and carelessly as our inhibitions, reenacting and embracing the hedonistic spirit of the age in every sense.

See more pics: click here 

Prohibition is organised by the Bourne and Hollingsworth Group vist the Prohibiton website for more details