Creating an institution

Cocktail drinking moved from a pastime to a full-blown culture – not least in Europe – in the heady days of the colourful 1920s. In the Bohemian London of the Bright Young Things, British novelist Alec Waugh, brother of Brideshead Revisited author, Evelyn Waugh, made his own contribution to the culture. “What one needs is some kind of a party that starts at half-past five, that lasts ninety minutes, at which alcohol is served, but not too much food,” he famously declared. And with that, at a stroke, the cocktail party and the cocktail hour were born. Meanwhile in 1926, celebrated French fashion designer, Coco Chanel, unveiled her simple, straight-lined, calf-length black dress. This became a stencil for the cocktail dress and variations of it quickly became the uniform for the cocktail soirées of this decade. Accessories such as hats, shoes and gloves quickly joined it and cocktail fashion was born.