Bootleg fun at Bourne & Hollingsworth’s Prohibition Party

A warehouse in London Fields became a 1920s speakeasy for a night last weekend, throwing the best dance night I’ve been to in a while: none other than Bourne & Hollingsworth‘s glamorous Prohibition Party. Here’s what you can expect from a night of bootleg fun. As I have already told you in a previous post, B&H’s Prohibition means live bands, DJs on gramophones, dancing troupes and gambling tables helping you relive the spirit of the Golden Age.

We walked through the door of an innocent-looking East London warehouse just after 8 pm on Saturday, only to find ladies and gents trying their luck at the roulette table,  a counter of sweet and savoury treats, never-ending supplies of cocktail coupettes, projections of old movies and a true Gatsby style atmosphere.

Everyone at the party was at their best, with incredibly slick suits, whiskey flasks, hats, flappers and pearls. We found cocktail menus hidden inside books to fool any policeman that were to drop by. I went for the lemon, gin and elderflower Re-Bourne (£7.50) and for the tropical Mary Pickford (£7.50) made of Bourbon with flavours of pineapple and pomegranate, both perfect to get us ready for all that jazz.

The Palace Avenue Dixieland Band delivered some good old New Orleans style entertainment – complete with an unusual but delightful cabaret number by Marianne Cheesecake. We danced until it was time to call our carriages, in a swirl of feathers, pearls, flappers… and a lot of Bourbon. Nothing brings you back in time like a Bourne & Hollingsworth event: so much fun should be illegal.

Special thanks to The Painted Lady in Redchurch Street for fixing my hair in a much better way than I could have done by my hopeless self.

Next September parties by Bourne & Hollingsworth also include the Playback: Back to the 90s party and The Blitz Party.

Pictures by: Kapranos PR, Carolina Are