Inspiration: All That Jazz

So when I named my All That Jazz bracelet, I plucked the name out of the ether.  It's a glittery bracelet, full of silver lined beads in sumptuous rich colours.  It reminds me of Quality Street wrappers when they used to be foil, the colours so rich and indulgent.  There is just something glittery and alluring about it, it's hedonistic and glitzy.

Looking up the roots of the phrase has been interesting.  It was originally the name of a song from the musical Chicago before being the name of a film made in 1979.  In Chicago, it's the opening number which shows Velma Kelly dancing on stage and it is clear the production is missing her sister.  Velma found her sister with her husband and killed them both.  The other main character Roxie Hart shoots her lover at the beginning of the show as he attempts to break off their affair.

The play is set in the Jazz Age which was a time of carefree hedonism and exuberance but it also overlapped with Prohibition Era.  Chicago in the 20s was run by infamous gangs who controlled alcohol supply and the underground scene of the speakeasies was the home of vaudeville and scantily clad ladies who you could pay to dance with you.  The Capone gang looked after the south and 'Bugs' Moran's gang ran the north.  The officials of the time were particularly corrupt in Chicago.

The 20s saw women having increasing freedom.  Fashion was suddenly much more revealing and designed for new dances.  The flapper was born, with revealing clothes and I love the way the fringeing of many of the dresses moves as they dance (I am a huge Strictly fan!).  They drank and smoked and were much freer with men than previous generations.  They had spirit, but they also courted trouble.

In the musical, one of the themes is the pursuit of celebrity.  The two main characters are celebrity criminals but their fame is fleeting.  They were in pursuit of more.

While part of me loves the idea of the freedom and creative growth of the 20s another part of me sees an awful lot of shadows.  I think the dancing, music, clothes and freedom would have been great fun but you link that to gang culture and a society that largely wasn't ready for woman's liberation and there was also the potential for great suffering and misery.  

The misery of extreme hedonism is also explored in the film All That Jazz, which is semi-autobiographical of the director Bob Fosse who directed and choreographed Chicago in 1975.  The main character, Joe Gideon, is a chain smoker, workaholic and womanizer who uses stimulants every morning.  He develops heart issues but refuses to change his ways and despite surgery, eventually dies.

When I think of All That Jazz, it's that rich over the top creativity, the women in their beautiful dresses and the incredible art deco movement of the time.  It is an inspiring time and looking back, the excess and darkness is just as fascinating as the beauty.  

I made a 20s board on pinterest!