I haven’t attended many anachronistic dress up events since moving from Boston to Los Angeles / Orange County. While I often hear about Dapper Day and pinup events, I was on a quest to find if roaring 20s events existed. After seeing photos from Greater Boston Vintage Society’s various 1920s themed events, I’ve felt I’ve been missing out and I had a feeling there was an outlet for these types of events in Los Angeles, but I didn’t know where to start. A google search for “Gatsby lawn party Los Angeles” will yield results on funeral homes and burial. I came across Art Deco Festival while going through my Facebook feed. The Queen Mary is not too far from my parent’s house and I decided to try it out for a day.
The Coord
A few weeks before the event, I ended up getting a $10 giftcard from Unique Vintage. I love looking at their 1920s style dresses. While they are on the pricier side, I decide to treat myself for my birthday. I ended up getting a simple black dress since black goes with everything. The shoes are from Payless; it’s just a pair of simple black high heels that I’ve had for the past couple of years. The gloves were from my ever growing gloves collection. I wasn’t quite sure what type of necklace to wear. While long white pearls might be an obvious answer, I really liked the dark black motif the dress was already presenting. Lipstick is Merlot from Besame Cosmetics. Hair done by Reese’s Vintage Pieces. What I like about this outfit is that I feel like a villainess from the Jazz Age. It doesn’t help that I accidentally found the communications room of the Queen Mary.
The Event
I only attended Saturday afternoon. Likewise, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, so I decided to just attend for a day. I bought tickets for the Gatsby Daze Garden Party and Prohibition Mixology. If I could enjoy jazz, drinks, and looking pretty, then my day is made. The Art Deco Grand Ball sounded amazing, but it was too much for my wallet as I had just came back from a trip to Baltimore the weekend before. Most of the space was open to the public; tourists were wandering into the vendor space. I really liked the Vintage Bazaar. Granted many of the things up for sale were out of my price range, but it was nice looking at what was available and getting some inspiration for art deco fashion coordination.I picked up a dress from Loco Lindo LA. My friend, Travis, and I agree this is so Eva Peron (at least in the 1996 Madonna version of Evita).
I ended up attending the Gatsby Daze Garden Party. While it was on the ship, it was still called a garden party. However, it was a nice and intimate atmosphere. Everyone was well dressed. While I didn’t dance (not sure how asking people / being asked works in these venues), I did enjoy a nice Chardonnay on a breezy Saturday afternoon enjoying live music by Gills’s Gin Mill Grifters. There were plenty of seats to relax and have a drink. As someone who enjoys atmosphere, I’m very glad I went up to this part of the festival. People were generally nice and ready for conversation.
I also attended the Prohibition Mixology. I didn’t know what to expect. I thought it would be like a wine tasting room where people filter in and out. What I liked about it is that it was a lecture series on the drinks of the art deco era with drinks! Copies of the presentation were handed out and they also included recipes of the drinks presented. I think I was the youngest one there; most of the people in the presentation were old enough to be in my grandparent’s generation. However, the drinks were very well mixed and I came out having more education about classy drinks.
Additionally, I also enjoyed wandering around the Queen Mary during the down times of the Art Deco Festival. I haven’t been to the Queen Mary since my high school’s junior prom. I haven’t really explored the Queen Mary from a tourist perspective. I just thought there was so much to look at in every corner.
In Conclusion
I’m really glad that I attended one day of the Art Deco Festival. I really did enjoy the people that I met. I came in with low expectations, but came back with lots of good memories. I also ended up joining the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles. I liked how this community was very welcoming. I’m actually looking forward to the society’s upcoming events such as Casino Moderne and the train ride up to Santa Barbara. I would love to come back next year for a day trip. Depending how finances look like and what my calendar looks like, I’ll consider attending the ball.
Links of Interest
LA Weekly: The 20s Roared Back at the Queen Mary’s 12th Annual Art Deco Festival