The Oxford SYP Great Gatsby Party

Posted on June 25, 2013 in Uncategorized

Last month’s Great Gatsby Soiree social event was a resounding success for the Society of Young Publishers (Oxford). From the second I walked through the door I was handed a white wine spritzer and instantly felt as if I had been welcomed into one of Jay Gatsby’s parties.

Every attendee was glamorously attired in 1920s get-up; the women in elegant flapper frocks and cocktail dresses, not to mention an abundance of accessories to match, and the men all devilishly handsome and sharp in their suits. For those who weren’t prepared to be met by such a glamorous, yet effortlessly cool crowd there was no need to panic as a dressing-up box was provided, featuring everything one needed to step right back into the Jazz Age; silk gloves, black feather boas, bow ties, cigars and pearl necklaces allowed even the most unprepared to blend in as easily as Nick Carraway himself.

It was not just the partygoers that looked the part though; the Cape of Good Hope had also been transformed into a suitably glitzy dancehall that even Baz Luhrman would have approved of. The room was decked out in all manner of glitter, feathers and beads, the tables adorned with a plethora of tea lights, a golden curtain separated the drinking from the dancing (although they invariably mixed after a while), large gold guilt mirrors hung from the walls and a chandelier overlooked the dancers.

In case one didn’t feel authentic enough by this point, various quotations from Fitzgerald were scattered throughout the room to remind the attendees who was responsible for all this decadence. And because no party is complete without music, a jazz duo kept the party swinging all night with an excellent repertoire of classics that encouraged people, along with sufficient quantities of gin, to give the Charleston a good go (albeit with more success for some than others, depending on the level of consumption of the aforementioned gin cocktails). When the dancers got tired there was still ample opportunity to mingle with crowd and discuss the all-important publishing issues of the day over another gin fizz.

All in all the event was a roaring success, the perfect blend of elegance and decadence; a fitting tribute to the man who invented the literary party.

Charlotte Williams